Name________Evan Zhang_________

APCS A (HW Ch1 Hardware & Internet Vocab)

Read pages 2-24 and complete the following vocabulary list. If you need an additional source,
check out a free online dictionary of computing at http://foldoc.org/.

1.0 Basic Computer Processing, Software Categories, Digitization

1 hardware
The physical, touchable, material parts of a computer or other
system. The term is used to distinguish these fixed parts of a
system from the more changeable software or data components
which it executes, stores, or carries.
The instructions executed by a computer.
2 program
3

software*

Source code written by humans and executable machine code

produced by assemblers or compilers.

CPU

Central Processing Unit; controls all other parts.

I/O device

The communication unit between the computer and the outside

world or environment.

main memory

The storage device used by a computer to hold the currently

executing program and its working data.

secondary memory

Storage devices such as hard drives and flash drives, CDs, etc.

operating system*

user interface

The software that supports a computer's basic functions, such as

scheduling tasks, executing applications, and controlling
peripherals
the means by which the user and a computer system interact, in
particular the use of input devices and software.

10 application*

A set of computer programs designed to permit the user to

perform a group of coordinated functions, tasks, or activities.

11 GUI

Interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices

through graphical icons and visual indicators.

12 analog technology*

Technology that uses waveforms to transmit information, e.g.

radio

13 digital technology*

Technology that uses digits, 0 or 1, to transmit information. e.g.

modern computers

14 digitized data

Data that has been converted to a series of 0s and 1s that can be

interpreted by a computer.

15 binary number system

The system of numbers by which information is transmitted via 0s

and 1s.

1.1 Hardware Components

16 computer architecture
Specification detailing how a set of software and hardware
technology standards interact to form a computer system or
platform
17 peripheral*
Electronic equipment connected by cable to the CPU of the
computer.
18 controller
A chip, an expansion card, or a stand-alone devince that interfaces
with a peripheral device.
19 data transfer device*
A device that copies or moves data from one place to another via
some kind of network of local connection.
20 bit
Amount of information stored in a single yes-no question;
Quantity of information that can take 2 values, 0 or 1
21 byte

An 8-bit size information value that holds one character.

22 volatility

If memory is volatile then it only lasts while the power is on.

23 RAM

Computer data storage that allows data items to be read and

written in approximately the same amount of time, regardless of
the order in which the data items are accessed.
A storage medium that is very hard or impossible to alter, and is
used mainly to distribute firmware (software that runs hardware)

24 ROM
25 control unit

The part of a CPU that directs its operation.

26 registers

High-speed storage area in the CPU that processes data before it

can be processed by the CPU.

27 arithmetic logic until

Component of CPU that carries out all arithmetic and logic

functions. ALU operations are very simple but extremely fast.

28 instruction register

Part of a CPU that stores the instruction currently being executed.

29 program counter

Register in a CPU that stores the location of the instruction that is

currently being executed.

30 von Neumann
architecture

Older architecture where input goes to CPU, where it is processed

by the CU and ALU and perhaps stored in the memory unit, then
discharged to the output device.
An integrated circuit with all the functions of a CPU in a
computer.

31 microprocessor

1.2 Networks
32 network

A telecommunications network that allows computers to exchange

data.

33 file server

A device that controls access to separately stored files as part of a

multiuser system.

34 network address

The network portion of an IP address.

35 LAN

A group of computers and associated devices that are connected

to a single server and share a common communications line or
wireless link.
A communications network that uses such devices as telephone
lines, satellite dishes, or radio waves to span a larger geographic
area than a LAN.
A global computer network providing a variety of information and
communication facilities, consisting of interconnected networks
using standardized communication protocols.
A wide area computer network of the late 1960s linking U.S.
government, academic, business, and military sites

36 WAN
37 Internet
38 ARPANET
39 protocol

An agreed-upon format for transmitting data between two devices

40 IP

Internet protocol, the method by which information is sent

between any two Internet computers on the Internet.

41 Internet address*

The address of a webpage or website.

42 domain name*

The part of a network address that identifies it as belonging to a

particular domain.

43 subdomain*

The second level of Internet domain names created by the

administrator of the domain or the two or three letters after the
domain for e.g. countries.
The part of an Internet address that identifies an Internet domain,
e.g. edu, com, fr
An information system on the Internet that allows documents to
be connected to other documents by hypertext links, enabling the
user to search for information by moving from one document to
another.
A program with a graphical user interface for displaying HTML
files, used to navigate the World Wide Web

44 top-level domain*
45 World Wide Web

46 browser*
47 URL*

Universal Resource Locator, the address of a web page.