What is Computer?
Computer is a device that accepts information (in the form of digitalized data) and manipulates it for some result based on a program or sequence of instructions on how the data is to be processed. Complex computers also include the means for storing data (including the program, which is also a form of data) for some necessary duration. A program may be invariable and built into the computer (and called logic circuitry as it is on microprocessors) or different programs may be provided to the computer (loaded into its storage and then started by an administrator or user). Today’s computers have both kinds of programming.
Computer Systems:
Hardware – Physical components that make up a computer system.
Software – Computer programs and related data that provide the instructions for telling computer hardware what to do and how to do it.
Hardware and Software have a symbiotic relationship, this means that without software hardware is very limited; and without hardware, software wouldn’t be able to run at all. They need each other to fulfill their potential.
Hardware refers to the physical elements of a computer. This is also sometime called the machinery or the equipment of the computer. Examples of hardware in a computer are the keyboard, the monitor, the mouse and the processing unit. However, most of a computer’s hardware cannot be seen; in other words, it is not an external element of the computer, but rather an internal one, surrounded by the computer’s casing (tower). A computer’s hardware is comprised of many different parts, but perhaps the most important of these is the motherboard. The motherboard is made up of even more parts that power and control the computer.
In contrast to software, hardware is a physical entity. Hardware and software are interconnected, without software, the hardware of a computer would have no function. However, without the creation of hardware to perform tasks directed by software via the central processing unit, software would be useless.
Hardware is limited to specifically designed tasks that are, taken independently, very simple. Software implements algorithms (problem solutions) that allow the computer to complete much more complex tasks.
Roldan B. Sebastian 