What is difference between data and information?: The difference between data and information is as follows.
Data | Information |
| 1. Data is unprocessed raw facts about a particular entity. | 1. Information is processed form of data. |
| 2. Data is used as input in the computer. | 2. Information is the output of computer. |
| 3. Data is normally huge in its volume. | 3. Information is normally short is its volume. |
| 4. Data is the asset of organizations and is not available to people for sale. | 4. Information is normally available to people for sale. |
| 5. Data is difficult or even impossible to reproduce. For examples. If Government lose the data of census, if will be almost impossible to reproduce it. | 5. Information is easier to reproduce if lost. For example, if the list of illiterate citizens is lost, it can be reproduced easily because the data is still stored. |
| 6. Data is used rarely. | 6. Information is used frequently. |
| 7. Data is an independent entity. | 7. Information depends on data. |
Define file, record and field in detail.
Field: A combination of one or more characters is called field. It is the smallest unit of data that can be accessed by the user. The name of each field in a record is unique. The data type of a field indicates the type of data that can be stored in the field. Each field contains one specific piece of information. A field size defines the maximum number of characters that can be stored in a field.
Record
A collection of related fields treated as a single unit is called a record. For example, an employee’s record includes a set of fields that contains Employer Number, Employee Name, Grade and Designation etc.
File
A collection of related records treated as a single unit is called file. Field is also known as data set. Files are stored in disk like hard disk, CD-ROM or DVD-ROM etc. a student file may contain the records of hundreds of students. Each student’s record consists of same fielde but each field contains different data.
