1.2.5 - Compression
Compression is all about making things smaller and take up less space. The need to make things take up less space is certainly not unique to computing and there are countless examples in history of clever techniques and innovations designed to compress data. The goal of compression is to take a file, whether it is […]
1.2.4 - Data Storage - Encoding Sound
The final stop on our encoding journey is sound. In this section we learn how sound waves are translated into a digital, binary form and conversely, how a computer transforms digital data back in to analogue sound. If you have studied image encoding, you will have noticed that not everything in computing and encoding is […]
1.2.4 - Data Storage - Encoding Images
Nearly all computer systems from the simplest of smart TVs or a smartwatch to a fully featured PC make heavy use of graphics or images to display information. We take for granted the fact that a computer can create photo realistic graphics, yet it wasn't that long ago that computers simply didn't have the processing […]
1.2.4 - Data Storage - Encoding Text
In the 1980's "home computers" first became widely available and affordable from popular brands such as Sinclair, Commodore, Acorn and Atari. This isn't too different to today, if you want a computer you can buy one from Dell, Asus, Lenovo, Apple and so on, but with one huge difference - they can all communicate with […]
1.2.4 - Data Storage - Numbers
This section of the specification has the potential to be very large as it covers four distinct topics. I've split it up into those four sections, so this is 1.2.4 - Data Storage Part 1 - Numbers. That's nice and clear isn't it? In this section we focus solely on the three number systems we […]
1.2.3 - Units
A large amount of the content for this section has been covered in 1.2.2 - Secondary storage. This is because it is essential you understand what data actually is before you learn about how it can be stored in large quantities (and what those quantities are). This information is repeated below for ease of access. […]
1.2.2 - Secondary Storage
It is possible to have a computer which does not have secondary storage. This comes with one huge disadvantage: when you turn the power off you lose everything and have to start from scratch. This may sound like complete madness, but actually it wasn't so long ago that this was totally normal in computing and […]
1.2.1 - Primary storage (Memory)
A computer will store lots of information, this includes your photographs, messages, contacts or even the programs and apps we use on a daily basis. All of this data is in the form of binary bits - ones and zeroes. There are billions of them in a typical system and they all need to be […]