Introduction to Digital Technologies and Concepts
Desktop Publishing (DTP)
DTP refers to the use of computers to design and publish books, brochures, and other documents. It is a combination of several different processes including word processing, graphic design, information design, etc.
Page layout program is used to import text created in a word processing program, charts and graphs from a spreadsheet program, and drawings and illustrations created in CAD.
Font (high-quality scalable) gives you control over typographic features such as Kerning (space between letters).
Text flow: The ability to put text around graphic objects in a variety of ways.
DTP files are output directly to the printing plates without using film as an intermediate step. This technology is known as CTP (Computer-to-Plate).
Platesetter: Generates printing plates.
Steps in DTP
First, to create; next, when; once; the last.
E-publishing: Digital publishing.
Multimedia Concepts
Types of Multimedia Content
Can combine text, high-quality sound, graphics, photo images, animation, and full-motion video.
Multimedia software often involves hypertext, hypermedia, and interactivity.
Sound card: Captures sounds in digital format and plays them back. Offers two important capabilities: built-in stereo synthesizer and a system called MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface).
MIDI allows your computer to communicate with electronic keyboards and other devices.
Video computing: Refers to recording, manipulating, and storing video in digital format.
Streaming audio/video technology: Content sent in compressed form over the internet and played immediately, rather than being saved to the hard drive.
To Create Movies
Need a digital video camera and video editing software.
Webcast: A live event broadcast over the internet.
Stream: Play sound and video files as they are downloading.
Website Fundamentals
- Companies have websites in order to promote projects and advertise products.
- A website is a collection of web pages (usually including a home page).
- A home page is the introductory page that tells visitors what information is contained on a website.
Steps in Website Design
- Decide
- Write
- Insert
- Link
- Publish
- Upload
Programming Basics
- Machine code consists of 1s and 0s.
- Machine code is too difficult to write directly.
- Machine code and assembly language are called low-level formats.
Assembler: Translates assembly language instructions to machine code.
Programming Language History Notes
- Fortran: IBM, 1957 (Note: 1941 is incorrect)
- Cobol: 1959
- Basic: 1960
- Pascal: 1971
- C: 1980, AT&T
- Java: 1995
Programs written in high-level languages must be translated into machine code by a compiler.
Interpreter: Translates source code line by line.
- Java, developed by Sun Microsystems, is an object-oriented language.
- Java source code (.java) is compiled and converted into a format called bytecode (.class).
- Java is multi-threaded and multi-platform (uses a Virtual Machine).
Related Vocabulary and Concepts
Programming Terms
- Programming, program, programmer, programmable
- Compilation, compiler, compile
- Bug, debug, debugging
- Animated, object-oriented, compiled, interpreted, used, configured, pronounced
- Decided, developed, called, had, based, renamed, could, were, began, supported
Computer-Related Job Titles
- Hardware engineer
- Software engineer
- Blog administrator
- DTP operator
- Network administrator
- Webmaster
- Computer security
- Help desk technician