CAS CS 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Von Neumann Architecture, Hard Disk Drive, Kilobyte
11 Mar 2016
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Document Summary
Memory is the part that stores data and programs. Modern computers are digital devices, they store as binary digits (bits) bits are either a 0 or 1 bits = binary digits (cute lil nickname) W/ inc # of bits, you inc # of values, 2 to 3 bits = double # of values bits are the building block of digital memory: by grouping bits, large # values can be represented. Kb = kilobyte, mb = megabyte, gb = gigabyte, tb = terabyte (getting bigger) A gig will hold a billion characters. Kilo = thousand, mega = million, giga = billion, tera = huge. A byte is a collection of 8 bits, so can represent a range of 2^8 = 256 values. Main memory = primary memory = fast and expensive. Data stored as electric signals in circuitry, used to store active data. Memory is volatile, data is lost when computer is turned off.
