What is Data ?
In computing, data is information processed or stored by a computer. This information may be in the form of text documents, images, audio clips, software programs, or other types of data. Computer data may be processed by the computer's CPU and is stored in files and folders on the computer's hard disk.
-> At its most rudimentary level, computer data is a bunch of ones and zeros, known as binary data. Because all computer data is in binary format, it can be created, processed, saved, and stored digitally. This allows data to be transferred from one computer to another using a network connection or various media devices.
-> The concept of data in the context of computing has its roots in the work of Claude Shannon, an American mathematician known as the father of information theory. He ushered in binary digital concepts based on applying two-value Boolean logic to electronic circuits. Binary digit formats underlie the CPUs, semiconductor memories and disk drives, as well as many of the peripheral devices common in computing today. Early computer input for both control and data took the form of punch cards, followed by magnetic tape and the hard disk.
-> A bit is the smallest unit of data, and represents just a single value. A byte is eight binary digits long. Storage and memory is measured in megabytes and gigabytes.
-> The term big data has been used to describe data in the petabyte range or larger. A shorthand take depicts big data with 3Vs -- volume, variety and velocity. As web-based e-commerce has spread, big data-driven business models have evolved which treat data as an asset in itself. Such trends have also spawned greater preoccupation with the social uses of data and data privacy.
In computing, data is information processed or stored by a computer. This information may be in the form of text documents, images, audio clips, software programs, or other types of data. Computer data may be processed by the computer's CPU and is stored in files and folders on the computer's hard disk.
-> At its most rudimentary level, computer data is a bunch of ones and zeros, known as binary data. Because all computer data is in binary format, it can be created, processed, saved, and stored digitally. This allows data to be transferred from one computer to another using a network connection or various media devices.
-> The concept of data in the context of computing has its roots in the work of Claude Shannon, an American mathematician known as the father of information theory. He ushered in binary digital concepts based on applying two-value Boolean logic to electronic circuits. Binary digit formats underlie the CPUs, semiconductor memories and disk drives, as well as many of the peripheral devices common in computing today. Early computer input for both control and data took the form of punch cards, followed by magnetic tape and the hard disk.
-> A bit is the smallest unit of data, and represents just a single value. A byte is eight binary digits long. Storage and memory is measured in megabytes and gigabytes.
-> The term big data has been used to describe data in the petabyte range or larger. A shorthand take depicts big data with 3Vs -- volume, variety and velocity. As web-based e-commerce has spread, big data-driven business models have evolved which treat data as an asset in itself. Such trends have also spawned greater preoccupation with the social uses of data and data privacy.