3. HOW DOES A COMPUTER WORK ?

Before we try to explain the process in technical terms let us try and understand how a computer works in a layman’s
terms
Assuming a Professor is given a very difficult assignment to solve, for which he requires a Team of People with access
to Library for referring Stored Data and preset instructions/logic/ and formulae to draw analysis, solving many
problems in sequence in the process to derive the final result of the given assignment, than in a layman’s terms
You the user gives an assignment (command) to the Computer, The Professor (The Processor ) directs the Team (RAM)
to fetch information from the Library/ Storage space (Hard Disk) using the help of the Librarian, “The Software”. The
Information gathered by “The Team”(RAM) is then compiled using set of instructions (The Program) by The Professor
(The Processor) and the final Output is given to the user. The co-ordinator between different people, i.e. The Professor
(The Processor), The Team (RAM), Librarian (Software/Drivers), Library (The Hard Disk/Storage Space) is The
Motherboard, which translates each’s work without any problem. The whole stage is the computer, where Monitor
Screen shows the input and the output result, Keyboard and Mouse are instrumental in inputting requests only, the rest is
done by the CPU, as explained here above.
Generally speaking, once an instruction is given to a computer via an input device such as keyboard, or mouse which is
processed by the components of the computer such as processor, motherboard, hard disk, RAM, Software Program, etc
and the result is shown via an output device such as a monitor or printer. More information on how it actually works is
dealt with in the next chapter