This book caters for the National Criteria in Computer Studies as reflected by the regional syllabuses in the GCSE. It is also appropriate to other introductory courses in Computer Studies and serves as a suitable text for many BTEC/HNC/HND courses in Computing and Information Technology. It is suitable for all ability ranges and there are self help questions throughout the text. A summary of each chapter is also provided, followed by a set of self assessment questions and exercises that are similar to those which appear on GCSE examination papers.

 

This book is aimed at the following children: secondary school , university .

There are 240 pages in this book. This book was published 1989 by Pearson Education Limited .

David Booth is a university professor, author and anthologist of more than thirty books. His lives in Toronto, Ontario. Kady MacDonald Denton has illustrated numerous children's titles, including Before I Go to Sleep, 'Til All the Stars Have Fallen and A Child's Treasury of Nursery Rhymes, which won the Governor General's Award. She lives in Peterborough, Ontario.

This book has the following chapters: Part 1: inside the computer; the computer revolution; the computer's brain and memory; input and output; disk drives and floppy disks; processing; solving problems; flowcharts; files; communication; practical problem solving; the computer revolution and the information age; the future. Part 2: the central processing unit; the control unit; the arithmentic and logic unit; the primary storage unit; backing store; input devices; output devices; computer systems; communication between components of the CPU; communication between the CPU and peripheral devices; interfaces; digital transmission; analogue transmission; modems; communication between computers; communication between computers and people; computer memory; the accumulator register; binary coded instructions; assembly code mnemonics; low-level programming languages; first, second and third generation languages; artificial intelligence; procedural and non-procedural languages; fourth generation languages; operating systems; bespoke, off-the-shelf and general application packages; spreadsheets. Part 3: computerizing a manual system; information system development team; the role of the systems analyst; the information system life cycle; terms of reference; the feasibility study; sources of information; data analysis; decision tables; system analysis and design; development of the software; programming concepts; testing and debugging the programme; implementation strategies; installation of hardware, software, file creation and testing; training; documentation and maintainance; working for a large organization; working for a small organization; working for yourself; computer qualifications. Part 4: mail order supplies limited; personalized cicrulars; terms of reference; feasibility report; system design and development; mail-merge documentation; implementation; management and information; the computerized office; management and information systems; business and commerce; the quality of life; the storage of personal information; the accessibility of personal information; processing power; media; learning machines; neuron modelling.