Hardware, software and the path of data

Computer ScienceComputers & HardwareAges 12–13

A block diagram of a computer with an input device, a CPU (control unit and arithmetic-logic unit), main memory (RAM), secondary storage and an output device. Click each block to see its function and example devices. Pick a familiar task (open a file, calculate, save a file, print), then press Run to watch the data move step by step through the blocks, with a sentence describing the step in progress.