Hardware and Software

In this topic we will be exploring hardware and software. 

Hardware and software

Hardware

Hardware is the physical part of the device you are using. The device can be a Computer, Phone or any built device.

For a Computer as a device, the Hardware will include the:

  • screen, 
  • keyboard, 
  • mouse, 
  • monitor, and 
  • more physical parts of a computer as shown in the picture above. 
  • The hardware also includes all the electrical components in the circuit board of a computer.

If we are looking at a Phone as a device, the hardware will include

  • the screen, 
  • battery, 
  • camera, 
  • speaker, and 
  • any physical gadget from a phone as shown in the picture above.

Hardwares like Keyboards, Mouse, Buttons and Touch Screens are used as tools for human beings to interact with their Computers, Laptops, Phones or any device. For example, you use a mouse and keyboard to tell a Computer to do something for you and Software will communicate with the Computer, then your response will be displayed on your Computer Screen. Now that we have mentioned “Software”, what is software?

Software

Let's find out more

Software is a collection of instructions that tell the computer how to work. These instructions are conducted on Software Applications or programmes. A Software Application is what most of us call “Apps” – they are simply all the programmes you use on your computer or phone.

Examples of software that you might find in your computers are:

  • Microsoft Word, Chrome, Windows Media Player, Excel, Powerpoint, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Edge, and etc. 
  • If you want to play your TV Games with your Computer, you will install the Game on your computer. That game also comes as a Software so all the games like FIFA, Needforspeed, GTA, Call of duty, and etc are software installed in your Computer too.

The picture above shows some of the software you can find on your computer/laptop. The black rectangle at the bottom of the screen surrounds applications that a user can access through quick access on their computer. Clicking the black Windows logo surrounded by a blue square line on the bottom left corner of your computer screen opens a tab that gives you access to all the software in your computer. The tab that will open is similar to the tab on the left side of the picture above with a box lined in red that has software/applications in it. Some of these applications are also available on your phones.

Examples of software

In your Phones are:

  • iTunes, YouTube App, Spotify App, Notes, UberEats App, and etc.
  • People access social media through apps as well. So apps like Instagram, Whatsapp, Twitter, Telegram, TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat are also examples of software that you can find on your phone.
  • With the world turning into digital and the 4th industry being introduced, most banks have also launched their own apps too. This implies that banking apps such as Capitec, FNB, Nedbank, Standard Bank, ABSA, Old Mutual are also software you can find on your phone.

The picture below shows a bunch of apps displayed on the screen of an iPhone, this is how apps are displayed on other phones as well. One can just simply click on the app to open the app and use it.

Hardwares and software operate together, one cannot operate without the other. However, they are both managed and depend on an Operating System which is the following topic that we are about to discuss, since it is the most important Software.

Before we begin learning about the operating system, let’s watch a video to gain some background knowledge about the operating system. 

Let's watch this video

Is the video a little bit confusing at the moment? That should not be a problem, it will make more sense when we cover more content about the operating system on the following topic.

Next up - Operating systems

Pain Points – specific problems that prospective customers of your business are experiencing. In other words, you can think of pain points as problems, plain and simple.

 A User – is any person that interacts (by inputs) with a program without having to write the code directly. For example, you are the user to the code that makes your browser/website run. When you clicked on this pop-up, that was the input that made this explanation come up when the code detected it.

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Indentation – In the written form of many languages, an indentation or indent is an empty space at the beginning of a line to signal the start of a new paragraph.

Text editor – is the part of the IDE where you write the code. Most text editors highlight words with different properties like functions to help you distinguish them from one another. 

Homogeneous – of the same kind; alike throughout.

Heterogeneous – diverse in character or content; containing different things

Prompt – to  cause or bring about; to make something happen. For example making someone to say or write something.

Troubleshooting is a form of problem solving, often applied to repair failed products or processes on a machine or a system. It is a logical, systematic search for the source of a problem in order to solve it, and make the product or process operational again.

String Built-in Functions/Methods

There are a lot of strings functions/methods in Python. Find full list in course manual. Here’s are some that you find useful in this course:

Functions

  • len(varName) – Returns the length of a list, string
  • join(varName) – Converts the elements of an iterable into a string.

Methods 

  • varName.capitalize() – Converts the first character to upper case.
  • varName.center(length) – Returns a centered string
  • varName.count(“?”) – Returns the number of times a specified value (?) occurs in a string (varName).
  • varName.endswith(“?”) – Returns true if the string ends with the specified value.
  • varName.find(“?”) – Searches the string for a specified value and returns the position of where it was found.
  • varName.format(placeholder = value) – Formats specified values in a string.
  • varName.index(“?”) – Searches the string for a specified value and returns the position of where it was found.
  • varName.isalnum() – Returns True if all characters in the string are alphanumeric.
  • varName.isalpha() – Returns True if all characters in the string are in the alphabet.
  • varName.isascii() – Returns True if all characters in the string are ascii characters.
  • varName.isdecimal() – Returns True if all characters in the string are decimals.
  • varName.isdigit() – Returns True if all characters in the string are digits.
  • varName.isidentifier() – Returns True if the string is an identifier.
  • varName.islower() – Returns True if all characters in the string are lower case.
  • varName.isupper() – Returns True if all characters in the string are upper case.
  • varName.isnumeric() – Returns True if all characters in the string are numeric.
  • varName.isprintable() – Returns True if all characters in the string are printable.
  • varName.isspace() – Returns True if all characters in the string are whitespaces.
  • varName.istitle() – Returns True if the string follows the rules of a title.
  • varName.ljust(value) – Returns a left justified version of the string.
  • varName.rjust() Returns a right justified version of the string.
  • varName.lower() – Converts a string into lower case.
  • varName.upper() – Converts a string into upper case.
  • varName.strip() – Returns a trimmed version of the string.
  • varName.lstrip() – Returns a left trim version of the string.
  • varName.rstrip() Returns a right trim version of the string.
  • varName.partition() – Returns a tuple where the string is parted into three parts.
  • varName.replace(“old”, “new”) – Returns a string where a specified value is replaced with a specified value.
  • varName.rfind() – Searches the string for a specified value and returns the last position of where it was found.
  • varName.rindex() – Searches the string for a specified value and returns the last position of where it was found.
  • varName.rpartition() – Returns a tuple where the string is parted into three parts.
  • varName.rsplit() – Splits the string at the specified separator, and returns a list.
  • varName.split() – Splits the string at the specified separator, and returns a list.
  • varName.splitlines() – Splits the string at line breaks and returns a list.
  • varName.startswith() – Returns true if the string starts with the specified value.
  • varName.swapcase() – Swaps cases, lower case becomes upper case and vice versa.

String Special Characters

There a number of special string characters that have different functions when used inside ” “. Here’re some useful and common ones:

  • \n – Newline – Everything after it goes to next line.
  • \t – Horizontal tab – creates a tab space, similar to when you use ‘tab’ on keyboard.
  • \b – backspace – deletes the character before the it.
  • \r – carriage return – same as \n

In programming Concatenation is a process of appending one string to another. 

\ – escape character is a string character that tell Python that the next character after it should be taken as a string and not as an instruction.

str ( ) is a built-in function that converts and sequence of characters (numbers especially) in to text. 

Mad Libs is a phrasal template word game created by Leonard Stern and Roger Price. It consists of one player prompting others for a list of words to substitute for blanks in a story before reading aloud.

type ( ) is a built-in function (still to cover what built-in functions are later) that determines the Data Type of any data presented. 

input ( ) is a built-in function (still to cover what built-in functions are later) allows a user to insert info into a program/the code. 

print ( ) is a built-in function (still to cover what built-in functions are later) that executes data inside the brackets. The results get printed out on the console/results section.

Integrated Development Environment – A digital environment used to develop games, software, hardware, that offers integration from debugging to compiling. 

Variables

More about variables

Info about variables

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Calling on all high schoolers interested in tech as a career. Join us on Thursday 22 September at 5:30pm.

 

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Calling on all high schoolers interested in tech as a career to join us on 16 September at 5:30pm. If you missed it, we’ll host another one on 18 November. 

We covered the following:

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We will be talking to Jason Suttie from Devson. Jason has been in the tech world since he was six years old. He headed IT innovation unit at RMB and has since left to start up his own software consulting company – solving problems and building solutions for clients around the world. 

Let’s hear more about the trends in the software and programming industries, where jobs are moving to and what kind of skills you’ll need in this exciting world of opportunities out there. 

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