What is a Computer System?

What is a Computer System?

A computer system is a mix of electronic hardware and software. It accepts data as input and processes it to provide us with an output. But it can only follow the instructions that we give it. A computer system is made up of three main functions- Input, Process, Output.
Input: At the input stage a computer system accepts data and instructions from Input devices such as a keyboard, sensor or other media are used to collect and provide data or instructions.
Process: Data and instructions are processed by a central processing unit (CPU). A CPU is considered as computer system’s brain that can transform data from input devices into useful information. The CPU can process data really fast but it cannot think or reason, it can only carry out instructions given to it.
Output: At the output stage we can see the results of the processed data. The data has been transformed into useful information that we can see and use. This information is usually shown on a display monitor, paper printout or other media and it should be easy for us to understand.
Storage: Output result are to be stored for certain a period of time. We store for many reasons - future reference, to prevent full loss of data. Storage is vital. There are several mediums on which we can keep output and processed data - hard disk, USB drive, CD.