If you’re a beginner, welcome to the world of computing! In this text you’ll find useful information, presented in an educational way, to help you understand the characteristics of the world of computing in a short time.
If you’re a veteran, enthusiast, or already work in the field, this text can serve as a reference when preparing lessons for introductory courses in computing.
The purpose of this text is to give an overview of computing through a mind map, supplemented with links organized according to the map’s structure. This text will be updated with new links based on suggestions in the comments or when I find interesting links to share.
Even if you don’t want to delve deeper into the topics shown here, you should at least understand the importance of computing in our daily lives. Today, computing is used in many fields of knowledge, for example:
- in medicine, assisting with diagnoses
- in buying and selling products (Submarino, Mercado Livre)
- in communication between people, or between departments in companies (email and Messenger)
- in hiring, whether through job announcements on Twitter or through analysis of a candidate’s profile on social networks (Orkut)
The list above includes only a few examples, but there are many other uses of computing, all of which make our lives easier in some way. We are surrounded by and highly dependent on technology: at school, at work, and at home. To take more effective action in this technology-driven age, we can no longer stay on the sidelines. We need to overcome our fear and get started, step by step, to gain the minimum technical proficiency we need to get by. But what I want to suggest is that you try to see technology as a toy, or as something you enjoy exploring. Technology shouldn’t be taught in a boring way. It complements our relationships and helps us, and learning about technology should be gradual and fun—why not?
So, whether you’re a beginner or a veteran, enjoy and have fun with the world of computing!
The central idea is that, in general, computing has three parts: Software, Hardware, and PEOPLE. Software is the programs. Hardware is the physical part you can touch: the electronic components. Finally, as you may have noticed, I put people in uppercase. I did so to make clear that people are the most important of the three components. If the other two were eliminated, people would find a way to recreate new components and programs according to their needs. Technical knowledge is no use either if we don’t know how to deal with people. The biggest problems in institutions are caused by people. If a program or machine freezes, we can easily replace or fix it. But even when the computers and programs are working perfectly, people in their departments can create unnecessary bureaucracy and harm the institution if they don’t want to solve problems efficiently. Another harmful behavior is when a professional throws the blame at someone else instead of solving the problem—“passes the hot potato.” In short, besides understanding the characteristics of the field, people who work with technology need to follow a set of principles that will help them deal with the adversity and dynamism of the job market. Some of these principles are:
- Initiative
- Objectivity
- Technical proficiency. It is important, but on its own it does not produce satisfactory results.
- Understanding that people must come first in an institution.
- Trying to see change as an opportunity; in most cases, it should be welcome.
- Questioning things and asking lots of questions until you find the real cause of a problem. Never stop at the first “why,” because the solution is almost never in the answer to that first question.
- Finally, I suggest trying to optimize the activities and processes you’re involved in by making them simpler. Invent new ways of doing the same thing with the goal of simplifying it.
After this introduction, which describes the personal qualities essential for entering the digital world on the right foot, take a look at a simplified picture of the mind map about computing:
You can find the detailed mind map file at this link: www.slideshare.net/valeriofarias/mapa-mental-informatica
From here on, you’ll find a section of useful links organized by the areas shown in the map above, along with a “Curiosities” section for questions raised during some of the classes I teach, and two more sections: Entrepreneurship and Computing for Exams:
History:
- History of computing - Wikipedia
- The beginning of the digital age (translation)
- How did the Internet begin?
- History of the computer in minutes (YouTube video)
- The birth of the computer (TED video - talk by science historian George Dyson)
- Biography of Alan Turing
- History of computing (free ebook in Portuguese)
Computer Classification:
- Server - Wikipedia
- Mainframe celebrates 45 years
- Mainframe - Wikipedia
- COBOL - A language widely used on mainframes
- Laptop
- Handheld
- Supercomputer
Hardware:
- How a personal computer works
- How processors work
- How hard drives work
- How RAM works
- How the BIOS works
- Architecture and development philosophy of Intel processors
- How the Internet infrastructure works
Data Representation:
Software:
Entrepreneurship:
- Joana's World - an educational story showing Joana's daily life as she tries to work as a photographer in the age of computing and the Internet.
- Getting Real - 37signals shows what they did to become successful.
Curiosities:
- How to extend your computer's useful life
- Is it better to turn off your computer or leave it on all the time?
- Is it worth leaving your computer on all the time?
- How do you create a website?
- Who owns the Internet?
- What is an IP address?
Computing for Exams:
- Visit TreinaTom’s public events section at this link: TreinaTom Public Events. Then click the event link: COMMENTS ON THE COMPUTER SCIENCE QUESTIONS BY WAGNER BARROS. TreinaTom is a distance-learning system created by e-genial.