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The control Unit
ALU:Arithmetic and Logic Unit
Input/Output Unit or device
Memory Unit
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The CPU (includes ALU and AGU)
Input devices
Output devices
Storage devices
Memory
This question is really open to interpretation. If I was looking for a general purpose description, I might say:
Computer, Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor and Printer
Or I might view it from another perspective:
Computer, Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor and Operating System
Or I might view it from even another perspective:
Motherboard, CPU, RAM, Video card, and Hard Drive
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JordanThe basic unit of the modern computer is the binary digit, or bit for short. Bits can store one of only two states, which we represent by the digits 1 and 0. Combining sequences of bits in various way allows any form of data, or datum, to be symbolised as a numeric value, a binary number, that the computer can understand. Although binary numbers can be converted to decimal numbers that we can understand, this is only meaningful if the datum is a decimal number to begin with. Floating point numbers and all other forms of data are represented by other means, and would be meaningless if converted to a decimal value.
Binary numbers are merely symbols for data. That data could be an instruction or it could be a variable to be used by an instruction (an operand). The computer recognises the difference as an instruction always comes first, and the type of instruction determines the number and type of its operands, if any. The binary language permits sequences of instructions and their operands to be processed, sequentially, as a symbolic language -- machine code.
When writing machine code that a computer can understand, we usually convert the longer binary sequences that the machine understands into shorter sequences of octal (3-bit binary) or hexadecimal (4-bit binary), that we can more easily understand. This is really just a shorthand method of notating binary numbers. However, the computer itself can be programmed to convert from octal or hexadecimal to its own native binary language. High level languages allow us to do pretty much the same thing, but using more English-like sentence structures that can be interpreted or compiled into native machine code by the computer itself.
The computer itself uses high and low voltages to differentiate between the states of a bit. However software storage mediums use a variety of methods to differentiate the two states. Whether it is magnetic tape using positive and negative polarised particles, or optical/laser discs using regulated pits scored into a polymer, or even punch-cards with regulated holes or slots, any medium that can differentiate between two distinct states is suitable for binary data storage -- the storage of sequential bit states.
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