Help Desk Understanding Bits and Bytes PDF

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Binary language, units of measure, and computer processing...

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Help Desk: Understanding Bits and Bytes Monday, February 19, 2018 2:35 PM

Binary Language  In order to process data, computers need to work in a language they understand. This is called binary language, consists of two digits: 0 and 1  Everything a computer does, such as process data or print a report, is broken down into a series of 0s and 1s o Each 0 and 1 is a binary digit, or bit o 8 binary digits (or bits) combine to create one byte  In computers, each letter of the alphabet, each number, and each special character (like the @ sign) consists of a unique combinations of 8 bits, or a string of 8 1s and 0s  EX: the letter K is represented as 01001011. This equals 8 bits, or one byte Unites of Measure: KB, MB, GB, and Beyond  Bits and bytes also are what the computer uses to represent the data and information is inputs and outputs o Word processing files, digital pictures, and even software are represented inside a computer as a series of bits and bytes  A kilobyte or KB is about 1000 bytes, a megabyte or MB is about one million bytes, and a gigabyte or GB is about one billion bytes o Personal computers store terabytes (TB) of data (about 1 trillion bytes), and many business companies can store up to a petabyte (PB) of data (1000 terabytes) Computer Processing  A computer is a processing device that performs four major function, including processing data into information  Processor speed is measured in units of hertz (Hz)  Hertz means " machine cycles per second" o A machine cycle is the process of the CPU getting the data or information from RAM and decoding the instructions into something the computer can understand o After decoding, the CPU executes and stores the results back into system memory as the last step of the machine cycle  Number of cores a processor has, as well as cache memory and front side bus (FSB), determine overall power of the processor Data and Information  Data is the representation of a fact, a figure, or an idea o Data can be a number, a word, a picture, or even a recording of sound  Computers are good at processing data into information  Information is data that has been organized or presented in a meaningful fashion o Data supplied to the computer (name, phone number, address, photo) have been processed appropriately so that it could be printed on an ID card  Organized output of data on an ID card is useful information  The information can be stored as digital data on the computer for later use Summary

In order to process data into information, computers use binary language, which consists of two digits: 0 and 1. Each 0 and 1 is a binary digit, or bit for short. In computers, each letter, number, or special character consists of a unique combination of eight bits, or one byte. Kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes, terabytes, and petabytes are amounts of bytes. Strictly defined, a computer is a data processing device that performs four major functions, including processing data into information....