Midterm 1 - Topics to Emphasize
Review all the notes and assigned readings, but the following topics are most important.
Overview of Computers
What is software and what does it do?
What do each of these computer components do - keyboard, mouse, system unit, floppy disk, hard disk, monitor, and printer?
Software Applications
Why might someone prefer a text-oriented interface to a GUI?
What features does typical word processing software provide?
Why is it difficult to build a good spelling/grammar checker?
How do desktop publishing systems differ from word processors?
Why are page description languages like postscript useful?
Input Devices
When can keyboards be better for data entry than a mouse/menu?
How does a mouse work? How can the computer let you change the speed of a mouse in software?
Why are handwriting and voice recognition not used often as computer input devices?
What does a scanner do?
What is a computer terminal?
The System Unit
What is a bit and a byte?
Why do computers need a character code like ASCII?
What is the instruction set of a CPU?
What are some popular microprocessors?
What does the clock-speed or word size of a CPU refer to?
Memory and Buses
Why are parity bits used?
Output Devices
How do the main kinds of monitor display devices (CRT and LCD) work?
What does the graphics card/adapter do? Why must the graphics adapter contain a lot of memory?
Secondary Storage Devices
Why are each of them useful? What are the relative speed, capacity, and costs?
Why do floppy disks have to be formatted?