This book covers Kannur university BCA first year student’s subject, General Awareness 1: Informatics for Computer Applications. This book is presented in simple and easily understandable manner. This book, we hope will be very useful for all first year BCA students for theory examinations of Computer Application department. we have made a humble attempt in this book to support students to pass the theory exams. End of each chapter, we have added previous year questions with answers. Additionally added machine learning based concepts with codes, we hope that, it may be helpful for them in their final year projects.

The book is structured to cover the key aspects of major topics in the subject. It is specially designed to meet the expectations of Kannur University, Kerala.

Unit 1:

Concept of Hardware and Software: Computer Languages – Machine Language, Assembly Language, High Level Language, Language translators: Complier, Interpreter, Assembler, Features of good Language.

Unit 2:

Basic Computer Organization: Von Neumann model, Input Unit, Output Unit, Storage Unit, Control Unit, Memory hierarchy, RAM, ROM, PROM and EPROM, cache memory and registers. Secondary storage devices, Storage capacity: Bit, Byte, Nibble.

Unit 3:

Introducing Input output devices with examples. Introduction to operating System: need of OS, Types of OS Functions of OS (introduction only). Introduction to Computer Networks: definition and applications.

Unit 4:

Introduction to Linux: Basic commands in Linux such as listing files, viewing contents in files, creating and deleting directories, moving and copying files and/or directories, man pages, setting permissions on files/ directories and vi editor. Steps to install Linux OS.

Unit 5:

IT & Society – issues and concerns- digital divide, IT & development, free software movement, cyber ethics, cybercrime, cyber threats, cyber Security, privacy issues, cyber laws, cyber addictions, guide lines for proper usage of computer, internet and mobile phones.