It’s End but It will never end.

This weeks our class has come to the ends. So thats come to our assignments. This is the last day that our blog will be evaluated. SCK 1413 is a subjects that relates to IT but it is only at basic levels. What we learn is only on the surface of IT.

Differs from IT courses that we take on Diploma....

Our group members are all direct intake students which takes diploma before study for undergraduate programes. We have learn almost similar subjects before. Although there are similarity in contents of the course but there is differents approach used by the two lecturers. Madam Sharin seems to be more passionate about IT and these effects on the way she teach us. We are told about update software and harware also the enviroment around IT that occurs recently. For example our assignments is asked to described about something currently being used by the students that are e-learning and Edmodo. If there is no assignments that asked doing such things, we cant even know what features that it software, web can gives benefits to students. Differents when we study at diploma what we learns only on bsic thing such as using the basic microsoft office tools.

It will never end..........

Although there is no class for us on SCK 1413 it doesn’t ,mean that we will stop learning about IT. What has being told by Madam Sharin is an ‘eye opener’ for us to learn more. Information technology is improving from day to day and almost all thing that what we done needs to use information technlogy. Futhermore as students of management technology, IT is very importants either to works or to manage until the small part of works. It is related with human, data, software, hardware and procedure.

Thanks to the lecturer....

We want to say thank you very much to our lecturer, Madam Sharin for all what she have teach to us. Although sometimes we are not very disipline she still insist on teaching us and answer all question that being asked to her. Opinion and passionate that she shows on her teaching really makes us learn and will be used in our future in learning and using IT also in all things that can bring us to improved as a human.

The 5 different generations of languages

          There are currently five generations of computer programming languages. In each generation, the languages syntax has become easier to understand and more human-readable.So, the 5 types is:

Low-level of programming language:

• First generation languages (abbreviated as 1GL)
  Represent the very early, primitive computer languages that consisted entirely of 1's and 0's - the actual language that the computer understands (machine language). 

• Second generation languages (2GL)
  Represent a step up from from the first generation languages. Allow for the use of symbolic names instead of just numbers. Second generation languages are known as assembly languages. Code written in an assembly language is converted into machine language (1GL). 

 High-level of programming language:

• Third generation languages (3GL)
  With the languages introduced by the third generation of computer programming, words and commands (instead of just symbols and numbers) were being used. These languages therefore, had syntax that was much easier to understand. Third generation languages are known as "high level languages" and include C, C++, Java, and Javascript, among others.

• Fourth generation languages (4GL)
• Problem Oriented Language
  The syntax used in 4GL is very close to human language, an improvement from the pervious generation of languages. 4GL languages are typically used to access databases and include SQL and ColdFusion, among others. 

• Fifth generation languages (5GL)
• Problem and Constraint Programming Language
  Fifth generation languages are currently being used for neural networks. A nueral network is a form of artifical intelligence that attempts to imitate how the human mind works. 

Source from: ://www.landofcode.com/programming-intro/computer-programming-languages.php

Technology and UTM People

In this post we are going to discusses about 4 types of people and we wants to relates it with UTM people that we have experience on facing it. The 4 type is  

Proactivity

Proactive persons looks at technology in a positive and realistic way. Proactives means acting in anticipation of future problems, needs, or changes. For example our Madam Sharin can be slotted in this type of person. Not to ask for more marks, our point of view see she passionate about IT and someone who passionate about something  are likely to adapt with change.

Cynicism

The cynics feel that new technology is overated and too troublesome to learn. Some cynics openly express their doubts and others pretend to be interested.

Naivete

Naive people may be unfamiliar or quite familiar with computers. Even those who are familiar with technology often underestimates the time and difficulty of using technology to generate information. From our point of views older generation of lecturer have this kind of attitudes. Sometimes they dont even know how to on the projectors and how to connects theirs microcomputers to it.

Frustration

Frustrated users are impatient and irritiated about taking time to learn new technology. Often these people have too much to do, find manuals difficult to understand, and feel stupid. For example when madam Sahrin asked students to do assignments about Edmodo and E-learning. Because of these students are come from managements field they find that web analysis is very hard to do  and finally they doing it simply and take it for granted.

Programming language

There are as many ways to determine and rank the most popular computer programming languages. Most programmers have a particular favorite they prefer to write code, and each one has a take on why their programming language of choice should be the one used. That being said, each of the most popular languages has its advantages of disadvantages.

If you want to develope a strong, unique and special program/application, you should choose lower level programming language such as machine and assembly language. Usually this kind of language are being use in large industries to support their business as well as have more secure system.

But if you want to just create a simple program or just for fun, you should use a high level language, because it is easier to use compare to lower level language. It is suitable for small company as long as the programmer is meeting customer requirements on time and within budget and only have sufficient requirement to operate their business.

for more information, visit :
http://www.devtopics.com/most-popular-programming-languages/
http://www.langpop.com/
http://www.ariel.com.au/a/teaching-programming.html
http://www.uaseducation.com/articles/1592/1/Most-Popular-Computer-Programming-Languages/Page1.html

A Journey Through Programming Language Generations

Programming languages have evolved tremendously since early 1950's and this evolution has resulted in over hundreds of different languages being invented and used in the industry. This revolution is needed as we can now instruct computers more easily and faster than ever before due to technological advancement in hardware with fast processors like the 200MHz Pentium Pro developed by Intel®. The increase in quantities and speed powerful computers are being produced now, more capable of handling complex codes from different languages from this generation, like Appware and PROLOG, will prompt language designers to design more efficient codes for various applications. This article will be going down memory lane to look at past five generations of languages and looking at how they revolutionise the computer industry.

We start out with the first and second generation languages during the period of 1950-60, which to many experienced programmers will say are machine and assembly languages. Programming language history really began with the work of Charles Babbage in the early nineteenth century who developed automated calculation for mathematical functions. Further developments in early 1950 brought us machine language without interpreters and compilers to translate languages. Micro-code is an example of the first generation language residing in the CPU written for doing multiplication or division. Computers then were programmed in binary notation that was very prone to errors. A simple algorithm resulted in lengthy code. This was then improved to mnemonic codes to represent operations.

Symbolic assembly codes came next in the mid 1950's, the second generation of programming language like AUTOCODER, SAP and SPS. Symbolic addresses allowed programmers to represent memory locations, variables and instructions with names. Programmers now had the flexibility not to change the addresses for new locations of variables whenever they are modified. This kind of programming is still considered fast and to program in machine language required high knowledge of the CPU and machine's instruction set. This also meant high hardware dependency and lack of portability. Assembly or machine code could not run on different machines. Example, code written for the Intel® Processor family would look very different for code written for the Motorola 68X00 series. To convert would mean changing a whole length of code.

Throughout the early 1960's till 1980 saw the emergence of the third generation programming languages. Languages like ALGOL 58, 60 and 68, COBOL, FORTRAN IV, ADA and C are examples of this and were considered as high level languages. Most of this languages had compilers and the advantage of this was speed. Independence was another factor as these languages were machine independent and could run on different machines. The advantages of high level languages include the support for ideas of abstraction so that programmers can concentrate on finding the solution to the problem rapidly, rather than on low-level details of data representation. The comparative ease of use and learning, improved portability and simplified debugging, modifications and maintenance led to reliability and lower software costs.

These languages were mostly created following von Neumann constructs which had sequential procedural operations and code executed using branches and loops. Although the syntax between these languages were different but they shared similar constructs and were more readable by programmers and users compared to assembly languages. Some languages were improved over time and some were influenced by previous languages, taking the desired features thought to be good and discarding unwanted ones. New features were also added to the desired features to make the language more powerful.

COBOL (COmmon Business-Oriented Language), a business data processing language is an example of a language constantly improving over the decades. It started out with a language called FLOWMATIC in 1955 and this language influenced the birth of COBOL-60 in 1959. Over the years, improvements were done to this language and COBOL 61, 65, 68, 70 were developed, being recognised as a standard in 1961. Now the new COBOL 97 has included new features like Object Oriented Programming to keep up with current languages. One good possible reason for this is the fact that existing code is important and to totally develop a new language from start would be a lengthy process. This also was the rationalisation behind the developments of C and C++.

Then, there were languages that evolved from other languages like LISP1 developed in 1959 for artificial intelligence work, evolving into the 1.5 version and had strong influences languages like MATHLAB, LPL and PL/I. Language like BALM had the combined influence of ALGOL-60 and LISP 1.5. These third generation languages are less processor dependent than lower level languages. An advantage in languages like C++ is that it gives the programmers a lot of control over how things are done in creating applications. This control however calls for more in depth knowledge of how the operating system and computer works. Many of the real programmers now still prefer to use these languages despite the fact the programmer having to devote a substantial professional effort to the leaning of a new complicated syntax which sometimes have little relation to human-language syntax even if it is in English.

Third generation languages often followed procedural code, meaning the language performs functions defined in specific procedures on how something is done. In comparison, most fourth generation languages are nonprocedural. A disadvantage with fourth generation languages was they were slow compared to compiled languages and they also lacked control. Powerful languages of the future will combine procedural code and nonprocedural statements together with the flexibility of interactive screen applications, a powerful way of developing application. Languages specifying what is accomplished but not how, not concerned with the detailed procedures needed to achieve its target like in graphic packages, applications and report generators. The need for this kind of languages is in line with minimum work and skill concept, point and click, programmers who are end users of software applications designed using third generation languages unseen by the commercial users. Programmers whose primary interests are programming and computing use third generation languages and programmers who use the computers and programs to solve problems from other applications are the main users of the fourth generation languages.

Features evident in fourth generation languages quite clearly are that it must be user friendly, portable and independent of operating systems, usable by non-programmers, having intelligent default options about what the user wants and allowing the user to obtain results fasts using minimum requirement code generated with bug-free code from high-level expressions (employing a data-base and dictionary management which makes applications easy and quick to change), which was not possible using COBOL or PL/I. Standardisation however, in early stages of evolution can inhibit creativity in developing powerful languages for the future. Examples of this generation of languages are IBM's ADRS2, APL, CSP and AS, Power Builder, Access.

The 1990's saw the developments of fifth generation languages like PROLOG, referring to systems used in the field of artificial intelligence, fuzzy logic and neural networks. This means computers can in the future have the ability to think for themselves and draw their own inferences using programmed information in large databases. Complex processes like understanding speech would appear to be trivial using these fast inferences and would make the software seem highly intelligent. In fact, these databases programmed in a specialised area of study would show a significant expertise greater than humans. Also, improvements in the fourth generation languages now carried features where users did not need any programming knowledge. Little or no coding and computer aided design with graphics provides an easy to use product that can generate new applications.

What does the next generation of languages hold for us? The sixth generation? That is pretty uncertain at the moment. With fast processors, like in fifth generation computers, able to have multiple processors operating in parallel to solve problems simultaneously will probably ignite a whole new type of language being designed. The current trend of the Internet and the World Wide Web could cultivate a whole new breed of radical programmers for the future, now exploring new boundaries with languages like HTML and Java. What happens next is entirely dependent on the future needs of the whole computer and communications industry. Microsoft simply says, "Where do you want to go today?"

References

History of Programming Languages, Richard L. Wexelblat (ed.), Academic Press 1981.

Fourth Generation Languages Volume 1: Principles, by James Martin and Joe Leben, Prentice Hall. 1986
High Level Languages and Their Compilers, Des Watson, Addison-Wesley, 1989.

The used of Software Languages

       
This software languages for creating executable programs. Can create anything from simple console programs that print some text to the screen to entire operating systems. Vary greatly in terms of power and complexity.Types:

• C
  An advanced programming language used for software application development. Originally developed by Dennis Ritchie at Bell Labs in the 1970's and designed to be a systems programming language but since then has proven itself to be able to be used for various software applications such as business programs, engineering programs, and even games. The UNIX operating system is written in C.
• C++
  Descendant of the C language. The difference between the two languages is that C++ is object-oriented. C++ was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup at Bell Labs and is a very popular language for graphical applications.
• Visual Basic
  A language developed by Microsoft based on the BASIC language . Visual Basic is used for creating Windows applications. The VBScript language (also developed by Microsoft) is based on Visual Basic.
• Java
  A powerful and flexible language created by Sun MicroSystems that can be used to create applets (a program that is executed from within another program) that run inside webpages as well as software applications. Things you can do with Java include interacting with the user, creating graphical programs, reading from files, and more. Java is often confused with Javascript, but they are two different languages. Learn Java at our Java tutorials section. 

Source from : www.landofcode.com/programming-intro/computer-programming-languages.php

Web languages

            It used for creating and editing pages on the web. Can do anything from putting plain text on a webpage, to accessing and retrieving data from a database. Vary greatly in terms of power and complexity.

• HTML
  Hyper Text Markup Language. The core language of the world wide web that is used to define the structure and layout of web pages by using various tags and attributes. Although a fundamental language of the web, HTML is static - content created with it does not change. HTML is used to specify the content a webpage will contain, not how the page functions. Learn HTML at our HTML tutorials section. 

• XML
  Extensible Markup Language. A language developed by the W3C which works like HTML, but unlike HTML, allows for custom tags that are defined by programmers. XML allows for the transmission of data between applications and organizations through the use of its custom tags. 

• Javascript
  A language developed by Netscape used to provide dynamic and interactive content on webpages. With Javascript it is possible to communicate with HTML, create animations, create calculators, validate forms, and more. Javascript is often confused with Java, but they are two different languages. Learn Javascript at our Javascript tutorials section. 

• VBScript
  Visual Basic Scripting Edition. A language developed by Microsoft that works only in Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser and web browsers based on the Internet Explorer engine such as FlashPeak's Slim Browser. VBScript Can be used to print dates, make calculations, interact with the user, and more. VBScript is based on Visual Basic, but it is much simpler. Learn VBScript at our VBScript tutorials section.

• PHP
  Hypertext Preprocessor (it's a recursive acronym). A powerful language used for many tasks such as data encryption, database access, and form validation. PHP was originally created in 1994 By Rasmus Lerdorf. Learn PHP at our PHP tutorials section. 

• Java
  A powerful and flexible language created by Sun MicroSystems that can be used to create applets (a program that is executed from within another program) that run inside webpages as well as software applications. Things you can do with Java include interacting with the user, creating graphical programs, reading from files, and more. Java is often confused with Javascript, but they are two different languages. Learn Java at our Java tutorials section. 

Source from: http://www.landofcode.com/programming-intro/computer-programming

Changes in Technology in Business

               

            Technology advancements are changing the business world. The changes in computer, information and communication technology are influencing all aspects of the business world, from marketing and networking to research and development. Understanding and utilizing the advancements in the technology industry are vital for any business owner, worker, or investor if they want to continue growing their business and attracting new customers and clients. So there are:

  Accessibility

o    Advancements in mobile technology allow employers and employees to communicate in newer, faster ways. Laptops, tablet computers and mobile devices like PDAs keep workers constantly connected, raising networking to another level. Companies have access to their clients and customers on-line and vice versa, increasing the frequency and speed of communication, and making companies more available to their customers.

Application

o    By utilizing the connectivity offered by changes in technology, businesses can easily keep customers and clients up-to-date with the latest information and news. They can also use this access to conduct faster research on what clients are looking for, leading to more rapid business development. Many businesses are already using social networking tools like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to stay in constant contact with their customers and learn more about how they can better their company.

Benefits

o    Speed is key in both the world of business and technology. Companies are constantly developing their products and services in the hopes of reaching their desired audience first. The changes in all forms of technology today allow workers to communicate with one another and customers from all around the world quickly and easily. Advancements in communication technology in particular opens up more job opportunities, as many companies are allowing their workers to be more mobile, and a potential employee may not need to live in a certain place in order to qualify for a job. It also allows smaller businesses to compete with big business, helping them find customers outside of their neighborhood.

Potential

o    Technological advancements are already having a large impact on business marketing, as most companies have recognized the value of having an updated website and other on-line resources. As changes in technology allow the Internet to become more interactive, businesses will have the opportunity to interact more directly with their fellow employees, their competition and their customers. This change could help the business world become more transparent, leading to growth and development that will benefit workers and anyone who needs the services they provide.

Expert Insight

o    Changes in technology and their effect on the business world can be viewed from a few different perspectives. According to a study conducted by the Center for Information Systems Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, three distinct perspectives include trying to improve a business or company, trying to surpass the success of competitive companies and trying to decide whether or not to join a specific business or industry.

Source from : Changes in Technology in Business | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_6320283_changes-technology-business.html#ixzz1JYfWWENo

IT Department: Internal Or Outsource?

              Today's, Information Technology (IT) is a critical part of the business process that can require technical competence beyond the scope of the current management.So let me share some of the reasons why outsourcing is a better choice for managing the IT department, rather than maintaining IT internally:

Advantages

IT costs become more visible as all billable hours must be accounted for Outsourced services are utilized as needed, and organizations pay only for what services are actually used An outsourced IT department can reduce costs by utilizing its extensive knowledge base of various IT specialists, as opposed to an organization maintaining a comprehensive in-house staff.

Outsourcing Benefits

Outsourced companies make performance reports and measurements available to their clients Communications between business functions improve at all levels and ensure that IT resources are not being misused Outsourced companies can provide 24x7 support at a fraction of the cost Outsource staff tend to drive planning and budgeting improvements Service Level Agreements (SLAs) can be establish.

Staffing Benefits

Staffing levels can be adapted quickly to client requirements, thereby avoiding gaps due to attrition, business growth or economic downturns IT consultants are fully trained on the latest technologies Retention of technically qualified in-house personnel is more difficult when external job opportunities are rapidly changing Continuous IT support coverage without having to rely on only one or two key people.

Advantages Outsourcing

Outsourced services use established standards for equipment and software requirements, saving time and money Outsourced services use approved lists of reliable vendors, which improves the quality of goods and services received Client management can concentrate on core competencies and revenue generating activities, while leaving technology management to IT professionals Management of non-essential core functions is transferred to the outsourcer.

Source form : Network Marketing courses : Benefit from Outsourcing

Rapid Application Development (RAD)

A programming system that enables programmers to quickly build working programs. In general, RAD systems provide a number of tools to help build graphical user interfaces that would normally take a large development effort. Two of the most popular RAD systems for Windows are Visual Basic and Delphi.

ADVANTAGES :

1. Increased speed of development and increased quality. The speed increases can be achieved using a variety of methods including, rapid prototyping, virtualization of system related routines, the use of CASE tools and other techniques.
2. Quality, as defined by RAD, is both the degree to which a delivered application meets the needs of users as well as the degree to which a delivered system has low maintenance costs.
• RAD increases quality through the involvement of the user in the analysis and design stages. Some systems also deliver advantages of interoperability, extensibility, and portability.

DISADVANTAGES

1. Reduced Scalability
•  occurs because: a RAD developed application starts as a prototype and evolves into a finished application
2. Reduced features
• occur due to time boxing, where features are pushed to later versions in order to finish a release in a short amount of time.

for more info, visit :

lhttp://www.bestpricecomputers.co.uk/glossary/rapid-application-development.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapid_application_development

Main difference between a Do While loop and a Do Until loop?

A 'do-while' loop completes steps as long as a certain condition is true. 

A 'do-until' loop does something until a condtion is no longer true.

In pseudocode examples, it would be like 

do print "OK" until variable = 10

do print "OK" while variable < 10

When I took Visual Basic, the instructor I had favored do until, so I do as well. I can't say one is better than the other since my opinion would be biased. 

Example of do while loop......                                                     do until loop......

UTM SPORT UNITS NEED TO IMPROVED IN DATABASES MANAGEMENT

 

There is a trend in Malaysia nowadays that relates database with software call Microsoft Access. Almost all organization in Malaysia using it because of it functions can faciliate database management. But it is not practically used in all part of the world.

                In Universiti Teknologi Malaysia mostly using Microsoft Access as the software to keep data about their workers, students or things but there also some units that can be called OUTDATED!!.For example log book still be used in keeping data of the athletes to tracked workout that they have done.

WHY IS THIS HAPPENED!! 

1)     Team Manager from each games did not being trained in using Database software like Microsoft Access Management 

2)     Mentality of the UTM athletes that only thing their responsibility of being athletes is only play and not to improved the whole team for example to provide their profile to team manager. 

3)     Software being used in computer that provided in gymnasium still using microsoft excel and the instruction to fill in the attendance not clearly stated. 

4)     Only attendance is being tracked, not how well athletes perform others relates on their performance.

For me database management can be effective way to tracked athletes current performance but to do this it needs planning and structured worked.All people (Students, Staff, University’s top management)should work together in building the team to be more efficient.With The name TECHNOLOGY in our universities name we should be one of the leading universities in using technology not only in engineering part but also  things like database.

Actually Universiti Technology Malaysia  is improved in doing this things, for example there are a change from log book to using computers for tracking attendance, but it is not fully used, for example when students stored their data in computers team manager still using books and pencils to transfer the data from computer to team data.

Batch VS Real-Time Processing

 

Batch Credit Card Processing

In the real world today, providing quick and efficient service is key to a successful enterprise. This is also applicable to the process of accepting credit card payments as processing consumer transactions quickly will also ensure prompt and timely receipt of payments for consumer products. Earn residual income by starting your own successful credit card processing business.

Credit cards can be processed in a variety of ways: either in a batch (batch credit card processing) or in real time. These can be achieved in a number of ways through electronic credit card processing equipment. Electronic processing equipment can help you manage your orders directly via the Internet. This will help simplify your batch credit card processing as it will help you coordinate the many functions that are necessary to process your payments. This form of card processing however has the benefit of being secure and this will certainly be a value added to your customer service.

Credit card processing, whether it's batch credit card processing or real time processing can take place through a virtual machine where mail notifications are manually added. This same function can also be managed by linking your web site directly to the credit card and bank system.

Real time credit card processing usually has the advantage of great processing speed as the transaction is processed almost instantaneously. However this benefit comes with the disadvantage of a lower percentage of security and thus a greater risk of credit card fraud.

Batch credit card processing on the other hand, works well with smaller scale enterprises where several credit card transactions are processed simultaneously, in a batch. With this, there is a definite lower risk of credit card fraud and you will be able to offer your customer and your business the assurance of transaction security.

Whichever method you choose for your own business, be it real time processing or batch credit card processing remember that perfecting this procedure will help you offer fast, reliable and secure transaction services to your customers. This   will help you lay the foundations for a successful business.

Reference source from:

http://www.active-venture.com/credit-card-processing/batch-creditcard-processing.htm

Examples of transactions in our daily lives

For Real Time happens live! And it means there's no turning back!

Batch Processing means things are put into queue and it is processed when a certain amount if items is reached, or when a certain period has passed.

Transaction is like real time except that it allows you to rollback, or to undo changes.
For example:In a bank transaction, I tried to deposit money to friends account.

1. In REAL TIME, the money is DEPOSITED right away as soon as i handed the money and there's no turning back!

2. In BATCH PROCESSING, the bank would just queue my request to deposit amount. A better example would be if we try to deposit money to a foreign account (bank account in another country), the bank would just put our request in queue with all the other inter-bank/country requests and process them at the end of the day or when they reach a certain amount.

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