How Data Flows Through Your Computer

Understanding how our computers work can be a difficult and confusing journey. Today we will discuss the flow of data through our computer and discover exactly what happens to the data along this journey.

There are four devices involved in the flow of data through your computer.

Input Devices - These are devices used by the operator to send data into the computer. Some basic examples of input devices would be your keyboard and mouse.

CPU - (Central Processing Unit) This is the brain of your computer and where all the processing of data takes place.

Storage - This is a device used to store data either permanently or temporarily. Some examples of storage devices are Main Memory, ROM, RAM and floppy disc.

Output - An output device sends processed information from the computer to the operator. Some basic examples would be your monitor and your printer.

Now that we know the devices involved in our data flow lets start our journey. We can think of our data flow like a trip to the doctor.

Our operator will input the letter d into his word processing program using his keyboard.

This could be compared to our doctor's receptionist taking our information.

Our keyboard contains a small chip that has the binary codes for each key stored. This binary code is then sent to our computers RAM.

You could think of this as the receptionist giving our information to the nurse.

The easiest way to think of RAM is as a temporary storage bin where data waits to be processed. Our d is now sitting in our storage bin waiting for the computer to send it to the CPU.

This would be much like our information being put into the pile until the doctor is ready to see us.

The CPU will read the binary code and follow the coded instructions. These instructions tell the CPU where to send the data next. In this case our d will be sent to our graphic card and then displayed on our screen.

The CPU would be like our doctor examining us, deciding on a treatment, and carrying it out.

Let's do a quick review.

Input a Operator types the letter d on the keyboard. a The keyboard sends binary codes for our letter to our RAM a Our letter d waits in RAM until the CPU is ready to process it a Our CPU reads the binary code and sends it to our graphics card a Our graphic card displays our letter d on our monitor a Output

We have now followed our letter from input to output. We should have a very clear idea of what happens to our data on its journey through our computer.