Made of precisely carried out mathematical instructions that produce lines and objects
Calculating file size of a bitmap image
File Size = Width x Height x Colour Depth
Colour Depth
The number of bits used to represent each pixel's colour
Images have Metadata, this includes; Height, Width (both in pixels), Colour Depth, Geolocation, Date Created, Resolution, Last time edited, File type etc
Character set
A table that matches together a character with a binary value
ASCII
A common character set that assigns 1 character an 8-bit binary sequence, which only allows for 256 characters
Unicode
A more popular character set as it uses a 16-bit binary sequence per character, giving us 65536 characters
Character sets are logically ordered, so that the value of B would be more than that of A
Analogue sound
Sampled to be able to store it digitally (in binary)
Sample rate
The number of times an analogue wave is sampled per second, measured in kilohertz
Bit Depth
The number of bits available to represent each sample
Calculating the size of a sound file
File Size = Sample Rate x Bit Depth x Duration
Lossy compression
Uses an algorithm to remove any data humans cannot see or hear. Lossy removes data permanently and so the file can never return to its original form
Lossless compression
Reduces file size without permanently removing file data. Because of this, it returns to its original form when the file is uncompressed, and no quality is lost
Compression
We compress files to make them smaller. This is a benefit as they can be read from or written to faster, can be transferred faster and take up less space.
Lossy compression
Uses an algorithm to remove any data humans cannot see or hear. Lossy removes data permanently and so the file can never return to its original form. It is frequently used on audio and image files. As the data is permanently removed, the file size decreases a lot.
Lossless compression
Reduces file size without permanently removing file data. Because of this, it returns to its original form when the file is uncompressed, and no quality is lost. Lossless compression is frequently used on executable files such as word documents.
Character sets
Necessary for computers to exchange data and for humans to input characters
ASCII is a common character set that assigns 1 character an 8-bit binary sequence, which only allows for 256 characters
Unicode is a more popular character set as it uses a 16-bit binary sequence per character, giving us 65536 characters
Character sets are logically ordered, so that the value of B would be more than that of A
Metadata
Information about an image, including Height, Width (both in pixels), Colour Depth, Geolocation, Date Created, Resolution, Last time edited, File type etc.
Quality of bitmap images
Dependent on the total number of pixels; the resolution
Scaling up a bitmap image will result in a loss of quality
Vector images are smaller in file size and can usually be scaled up without loss of image quality
Increasing width, height, and colour depth of an image
Increases the image quality, but also the size of the file
Higher sample rate
Better the quality, but the larger the file size
Higher bit depth
Higher the quality but the larger the file size
Calculating size of a sound file
File Size = Sample Rate x Bit Depth x Duration
LAN
Computer systems located geographically close together, such as in a school or an office
WAN
Computer systems located geographically distant from each other, such as the Internet
Client-Server network
A client will send a request to the server, the server then manages the request and responds. The client is completely dependent on the server, therefore if the server goes down, all clients can no longer work
Peer-to-Peer network
Data is shared directly between systems without requiring a central server. Each computer is equally responsible for providing data
Wireless Access Points
Provides a link between wired and wireless networks. It creates a wireless LAN that allows Wi-Fi enabled devices to connect to it
Routers
Used to transfer data packets between networks. Routers receive data packets and use the IP address in the packet header to determine the best route to transmit the data
Switches
A switch is used to connect devices together on a LAN
Network Interface Controllers
Internal pieces of hardware that are required for a device to connect to a network. The card includes a MAC address which is used when sending data across a LAN
Ethernet Cables
Used to transfer data between hardware such as switches
Fibre Optic Cables
Very fast and very expensive and fragile cables used to send data quickly along a WAN. Data is sent as pulses of light
DNS server
Stores a list of domain names and a list of corresponding IP addresses where the website is stored
Steps to display a web page
1. A domain name is typed into the address bar of a browser
2. A query is sent to the local DNS server for the corresponding IP address of the domain name
3. The local DNS server will check if it holds an IP address corresponding to that domain name. If it does it passes the IP address to your browser
4. The browser connects to the IP address of the server and accesses the website
The cloud
Networks of servers accessed on the internet. Cloud computing is an example of remote service provision. Cloud servers have different purposes such as running applications, remote processing and storing data