TOPIC: INTRODUCTION

TO DATA PROCESSING
In this chapter, you shall learn about what is data and information; the difference between data and
information. Attempt to distinguish between manual and electronic data processing.
DEFINITION OF DATA
The term data means any basic fact which may be input to some processing system. A processing system
is one where computations, comparisons and general manipulation of data are done. The processing may
be people or machine e.g the computer.
Information on the other hand, is the end – result of a processing system. The information is needed by
management for decision making. The relationship between data and information is shown in the diagram
below:
INPUT PROCESSING OUTPUT
WHAT IS DATA PROCESSING?
Data processing is the task of using a collection of basic facts to produce information, usually it has no
value in itself until it is subjected to analysis, validations and comparisons with other data produce result
(information), for example a collection of weights of individuals do not turn useful information for
decision making.
However, when the set of data is processed such as searching for individual with a maximum or minimum
weight or the weight of all concerned in the study, information is produced.
Management can decide on the basis of each information to assign special duties to the fellow with the
maximum or minimum weight. Other use could be made on such information depending upon the
situation prevailing on the organization and their special needs
Therefore, data processing is an operation on computer data which involves the entering, sorting,
updating and retrieving of information using computer.
PROPERTIES OF DATA
1. Collected/Captured
2. Prepared
3. Presented
4. Precise
5. Complete
6. Accurate
7. Purposeful
8. Assigned
DATA PROCESSING CYCLE
The data processing cycle describes the stages of data processing. It involves the following stages:
 Data gathering
 Data collation
 Input stage
 Processing stage
 Storage stage
 Output stage
Element of data processing;

INPUT PROCESSING OUTPUT

Data is often required for various purposes. Even the same item of data may be used in a great variety of
ways depending upon the user’s objectives.
Most data processing work may be viewed as consisting of data, processor and output. Usually, storage
also features since both data and program instructions need to be stored.
DATA PROCESSING ACTIVITIES
Data processing activities involve the following:
1. INPUT: involves three steps; collection, verification/validation and coding
2. PROCESSING: involves classification, sorting, calculating, converting and storing
3. OUTPUT: involve retrieving, converting and communication.
INPUT ACTIVITY
1. COLLECTION: involves gathering data from various sources and assembling it at one location.
2. VERIFICATION/VALIDATION: after data have been gathered, its accuracy and completeness must
be checked. This is an important step that helps to eliminate the possibility of Garbage-In – Garbage-out
(GIGO)
3. CODE: data must be converted into machine readable form so that it can be entered into the processing
system. Entering data via a computer terminal and keyboard is one example of coding.
PROCESSING ACTIVITY
a) CLASSIFICATION: Classification involves categorizing data according to certain characteristics to
make it meaningful to the user. For example, sales data can be grouped according to salesperson, product
type, customer or any other classification useful to management.
b) SORT: This involves arranging the grouped data element into predetermined sequence to facilitate
processing. For example, an employee number can be last. Sorting can be done on numbers, letters,
special characters or a combination of them. After it has been classified, data may be stored.
c) CALCULATION: The arithmetical or logical manipulation of data is referred to as calculation.
Examples include computation of students’ grade –point averages, customers’ bank balances and
employee’s wages.
d) SUMMARISE: reducing large amount of data to concise, usable form is called summarizing. The
logical reduction of data is necessary to provide
information that is useful.
e) STORE: this involves the storing of data not immediately needed; data could be stored on a disk, tape
or CD-ROM.
OUTPUT ACTIVITY
This involves retrieving data, printing data and data communication.
IMPORTANCE OF DATA PROCESSING
The art of management is increasing as our society becomes more competitive and more technologically
advance. The volume of data being generated is correspondingly increasing and becoming unmanageable.
On the other hand, the need to make information available, timely and accurately is becoming more vital
in the competitive world in which we have found ourselves. It is when a large volume of data is required
to be processed speedily and accurately that Data Processing becomes indispensable.

TOPIC: HISTORY OF
COMPUTING
EARLY MECHANICAL COUNTING/CALCULATING DEVICES
1. Abacus
2. Slide rule
EARLY ELECTRO-MECHANICAL COUNTING DEVICES
1. John Napier bone
2. Blaize Pascal machine
3. Gottfried Leitbnitz machine
4. Joseph Jacquard Loom
5. Charles Babbage analytical machine
EARLY ELECTRONIC COUNTING DEVICES:
1. Herman Hollerith punch card
2. John Von Neumann machine
Man has put in every effort to have better methods of calculations. As a result of man’s search for fast and
accurate calculating devices, the computer was developed. Essentially, there are three kinds of calculating
devices: manual, mechanical and automatic.
ABACUS
The first calculating device was probably Abacus. The Chinese invented it. It is still in use in some
countries because of its simple operation. It is made up of a frame divided into two parts by a horizontal
bar and vertical threads. Each thread contains some beads. It was used to calculate simple addition and
subtraction.
NAPIER’S BONE
The need for a better calculating device was felt as time passed. John Napier, a Scottish mathematician,
invented a set of eleven rods, with four sides each which was used as a multiplication tool. These rods
were made from bones and this was the reason why they were called Napier Bones. The rods had
numbers marked in such a way that, by placing them side by side, products and quotients of large
numbers can be obtained.
PASCALINE
The first mechanical calculating machine was invented in 1642, by Blaize Pascal, a French
mathematician. Numbers were entered by dialling a series of numbered wheels in this machine. A
sequence of wheels transferred the movements to a dial, which showed the result.
Through addition and subtraction were performed the normal way, the device could perform division by
repeated subtraction and multiplication by repeated addition.
LEIBNITZ CALCULATING MACHINE
Gottfried Wilhelm Von Leibnitz invented a computer that was built in 1694. It could add and after
changing some things around, it could multiply. Leibnitz invented a special stepped gear mechanism for
introducing the added digits and this is still being used.
JACQUARD’S LOOM
Jacquard’s loom was one of the first machines that were run by a program. Joseph Jacquard changed the
weaving industry by creating a loom that controlled the raising of the thread through punched cards.
Jacquard’s loom used lines of holes on a card to represent the weaving pattern.
PUNCHED CARD
During the years1920 and 1930, the punched card system developed steadily. A standard card was divided
into 80 columns and 12 rows. Only one character could be represented in the 80 columns, thus providing
a maximum of 80 characters per card. Punching one, two or three holes in any one column represented a
character. Holes were punched into a blank card by a punch machine whose keyboard resembled that of a
typewriter.
CONCLUSION
We have learnt about the various calculating devices and the various ways they perform their operations.
We learnt also that Abacus was the first calculating devices.
DATA PROCESSING THIRD TERM LESSON NOTES SS 1
NUMBER SYSTEM (REVISION)
To effectively use the computer, it is therefore necessary to know how data is represented and
communicated to it. There are different ways of representing data in the number system, namely:
1. Decimal System
2. Binary System
3. Octal System
4. Hexadecimal Number System.

TOPIC: GENERATIONS OF
COMPUTERS
FIRST GENERATION
Electronic machine which was distinct from mechanical computers evolved about 1945. UNIVAC
(Universal Automatic Computer) is a good example of this generation of computers. Other examples are
ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) and EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable
Automatic Computer)
Computers of this generation were characterized by:
1. They used Vacuum tubes.
2. They were very large and expensive.
3. They were very bulky.
4. They had a low retentive memory.
5. They generated a lot of heat.
SECOND GENERATION
Second generation computers were the replacement of vacuum tubes. Second generation computers
utilized primary discrete TRANSISTORS. They had limited capability but were more advanced than the
first-generation computers.
FEATURES
1. They were more reliable than the first generation.
2. They could perform calculations.
3. They had a more efficient storage facility.
4. They generated lesser heat compared with the first generated computers.
THIRD GENERATION
Third generation computers utilized INTEGRATED CIRCUIT [ICs] technology, Small Scale Integration
[SSI] with more sophisticated software capability like multi-programming, multi-processing and
operating systems as resource managers.
The following can be noted in third generation computers:
1. Faster input and output.
2. Increased storage capability
3. Increased process capability
4. Ability to display pictures and musical sound
CONCLUSION
We have learnt that the first-generation computers used vacuum tubes, second generation computers used
TRANSISTORS while the third-generation computers used integrated circuits.
FOURTH GENERATION
Fourth generation computers appeared at about 1975. The technologies that characterized these machines
were LARGE SCALE INTEGRATION (LSI) and VERY LARGE-SCALE INTEGRATION (VLSI). The
computers produced at this period were of a higher capability in terms of speed, storage and of superior
performance over their counterparts of the third generation.
FIFTH GENERATION
These generations of computers made use of ARTFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AL). This category of
computer was built around the following objects.
1. To build super computer i.e computers which could perform operation in the range of 10 billion
instructions per seconds.
2. They were designed to have capacities like sight and hearing as well as capability to stimulate
human thoughts e.g robots.
CONCLUSION
We have learnt features of the fourth and fifth generations of computers i.e the fourth generation used
Very Large Scale Integrated (VLSI) and ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AL)

TOPIC: HISTORY OF
COMPUTERS
Consider the table below:
WEEK FIVE
TOPIC: CLASSIFICATION OF COMPUTER BY TYPES
Computers can be classified by types into THREE major types. They are:
 Digital Computer
 Analogue Computer
 Hybrid Computer
DIGITAL COMPUTER
This is the most common type of computer today. It measures physical quantities by counting. Examples
are calculator, digital wrist watches, digital fuel dispenser etc.
ANALOGUE COMPUTER
This type of computer is used to measure and process continuous data such as speed, temperature,
heartbeat etc. Examples are speedometer, thermometer etc.
HYBRID COMPUTER
This type of computer combines the features of digital and analogue computers together. It is a
combination of digital and analogue computers.
CLASSIFICATION OF COMPUTER BY FUNCTIONALITY
Classification of computer according to purpose can be grouped into two (2), namely:
1. General purpose computers
2. Special purpose computers
SPECIAL PURPOSE COMPUTERS
These are computers designed solely to solve a restricted class of problem e.g computer for medical
diagnosis, weapon guidance, traffic control, weather study and forecast etc.
GENERAL PURPOSE COMPUTERS
These are computers designed solely to solve a vast variety of problems e.g it can be used for Word
processing and at the same time used for graphics, database, spreadsheet etc.
READING ASSIGNMENT
Hiit Data Processing For Senior Secondary Education, Pg 13
WEEK SIX
TOPIC: CLASSIFICATION OF COMPUTERS BY SIZE
Computers can be generally categorized into four, namely:
1. Super computers
2. Mainframe computers
3. Mini computers
4. Micro computers
SUPER COMPUTER
These are the largest, fastest and most expensive computers. The cost is several millions of dollars and the
speed is between 600 million to 900 million instructions per second (MIP).
Another name for super computer is MONSTER. Scientists in weather forecasting, exploration make use
of super computers. It can also be used for complex calculations e.g CRAY, X-MP etc.
MAINFRAME COMPUTERS
A mainframe computer is a large computer in terms of price, size of internal memory and speed. It has a
variety of peripheral devices such as printers, plotters etc more than those found with small computers,
except small computers with large amount of external storage.
Mainframe computers usually need a specialized environment to operate, with dust, temperature and
humidity carefully controlled. They are used in large establishments e.g banks, airports etc. Examples of
Mainframe computers are IBM 360/370, NCR-V 8800.
CONCLUSION
We learnt that computers are categorized into four which are: super computer, mainframe computer,
minicomputer and microcomputer
MINI COMPUTERS
Mini computers were developed in the 1970s for specialized tasks (i.e they are special purpose
computers). They are smaller and less powerful and less expensive than mainframes.
Mini computers, as they are called, are easier to install and operate e.g PDP II, VAX 750/6000, NCR
9300, DEC, HP 3000 etc.
MICRO COMPUTERS
A microcomputer is a computer whose central processing unit (CPU) is based on a microprocessor.
Micro computers are at present the most popular of computers. They are very small. The capability is
generally not as many and not as complex as mini computers or Mainframe computers. They are easy to
use. Another name for microcomputer is Personal Computer (PC).
REASONS WHY MICRO COMPUTERS ARE WIDELY USED
1. They are cheap.
2. They have small sizes.
3. They do not require special environment for their operations.
4. They can be used anywhere.
CONCLUSION
Microcomputers are the most popular and most widely used among the categories of computers. Another
name for a microcomputer is Personal Computer (PC).
READING ASSIGNMENT
HiiT @ Schools for Senior Secondary Education Data Processing, pg14-15

ICT IN DAILY LIFE

Education – Through online learning
Medicine – Through the application of 3d printing, you can print bones and also the creation of special
devices which can be used to help track blood rate, etc
Banking – Online banking and transaction, e-commerce (electronic form of buying and selling) eg Jumia
Military – Creation of command jets, drones and weapons
Communication – Availability of different ways to communicate with people eg WhatsApp