Notes Range And Scope Of Computer Appln

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BUKIT VIEW SECONDARY SCHOOL COMPUTER STUDIES – Unit 1 The Range and Scope of Computer Applications Learning Objectives When you have finished this chapter you will be able to: • Work out the uses of different computer systems by looking at the way that they are made up • Describe some of the uses of computers and be aware that there are many more • Recognize some application areas from brief descriptions supplied Introduction All computer systems have the following four basic parts: • Input – something that needs to be put into the computer and a way of putting it in • Processing – work that is going to be done on what has been put in • Output – the result of the work and a way of getting the result out • Storage – somewhere to store things so that they are not lost when the system is switched off. Communications

Input

Processing

Output

Storage Types of applications • There are many different uses for computers, from controlling a washing machine to forecasting the weather. • Whatever the size of the computer, just think about what it is designed to do and when a question asks you to describe a system for a given purpose, remember the parts of the system listed above and try to describe them.

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Question: Name 5 input devices and state where they are used. Answer: Steering wheel – computer games, games arcade machine. • Touch screen – PDAs, tourist information kiosks • Bar Code scanner – library, supermarket check-out counter • Mouse & Keyboard – home PCs • Microphone – video conferencing

Question: List the input, processing, output and storage for a computer game application. What sort of communication is necessary between computers, if any.

Answer:

The input will be the instructions fro what the player wants to happen in the game – in a high-speed race game it might be turning a corner or overtaking another vehicle. There are a lot of input devices available for getting these instructions into the computer, such as wheels and pedals, gamepads and joysticks.

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Processing will involve the computer keeping the game moving by responding to the player’s input.

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Output usually consists of fast-moving colour images on a screen together with sound through loudspeakers.

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Storage will be on the computer’s hard disk, though very little needs to be stored except for the rules of the game and perhaps your scores, as we don’t normally turn the computer off halfway through a game.

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Communications: If there is only one player, then there does not need to be any communication. If a number of computers close together are connected so that people can play against each other, then they will probably be linked by wires in a LAN. It is also possible to play against other people over the internet; in this case the computers will be connected in a WAN.

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Expert System What is an expert system?  Is a special type of computer system.  Stores all the knowledge of an expert in a particular subject  People can ask it questions. Examples of expert system  Computer system found in doctor’s office waiting room.  Uses:  Patients type their symptoms  Computer tells them whether they should wait to see the doctor.  The computer contains a lot of facts about illnesses and can give advice to the patient  Microsoft Windows OS trouble-shooting software located in the “help” section of the taskbar menu.  Microsoft has designed their expert system to provide solutions, advice, and suggestions to common errors encountered throughout using the operating systems.  Other examples of expert system  Medical diagnosis  Criminology system  Mineral Prospecting  Career planning  Weather forecasting  Chess system  Car Fault diagnosis  HP fault diagnosis Steps needed to create an expert system  Collecting data from experts in the field  Create/Design knowledge base  Entering data into knowledge base  Design/create rule base  Create/design questions & answers  Create/design menus/icons/windows of results (user interface) Advantages of using an expert system  No need for an expert to be present  Can act as a prompt/resource to an expert  Can deal with complex situations much faster than humans  Could be used in hazardous areas  Less likely to make an error  More consistent in diagnosing faults/more accurate.

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Question 1: Identify some other expert systems and decide what data they contain that make them expert. Example 1 Expert system: System found in a doctor’s office Data they contain: Facts about illnesses and can give advice to the patient. Example 2 Expert system: System found in a handphone service centre Data they contain: Information about different handphone problem and how to solve them.

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