Chapter 2 and Hope College

Chapter two is based on the fundamental activities of a computer. Machine instruction, the fetch/execute cycle and the way a computer connects to outside devices are all important areas that are essential for a computer to be able to run effectively.

When I do anything on a computer, whether it be a click of the mouse or writing this blog, my computer is going through specific instructions that allow what I type to appear on the screen. When we did our lab with BlueJ, I was able to see an introduction to computer programming. It still amazes me how it could take so long to manipulate the methods, yet the computer could spit out what I wanted so effortlessly. It makes me think about what it would be like if our brains worked like computers. To be able to put in information/knowledge once and have it programmed into our minds would be a dream come true. Think about it, no studying, and no stress about tests. All you have to do is listen to the Professor, and/or read the book. And not just that, but being able to recall that knowledge as quickly as you remember your name and birthday. Just image what college could be like if we could operate like computers!

Now bringing ourselves back to reality, our brains operate along the lines of a fetch/execute cycle, except slower. Our "fetching" is more like looking up the information we don't remember perfectly. Once we found our information, then we have to decode it and apply it to the homework we do. Then, if the decoding is working properly, our execution would result in a good grade on homework. (Except the fact that computers don't come up with the wrong answers when completing this cycle.)

A little more off topic is the importance of devices connecting to a computer. On my personal computer, I use connecting devices such as a mouse, flash drive, external hard drive, phone, camera, and ipod. It's interesting to see that most of these things communicate to my computer using the same controller, the USB port. In this way, there doesn't have to be as many ports on my computer for each different thing possible. Most of these aren't as important to me as my flash drive or external hard drive. Being able to store things on my external hard drive means that I don't have to keep all those documents on my computer, allowing it to run smoother.