Term of the Moment
DTS
Redirected from: automatic data processing
Definition: data processing
(1) The first industry title. From the early 1900s to the 1960s, data processing was tabulating machines and punch card processing. Thereafter, it referred to computer processing. By the 1980s, the industry title changed to management information systems (MIS) or information systems (IS) and then to the information technology (IT) of today. See punch card.
(2) Processing data, which includes text, images, audio and video. The term may refer to business processing (update orders, print invoices, etc.) or multimedia processing (encode/decode video frames). The most complex forms of data processing are AI, quantum computing and crypto. See AI, quantum computing and cryptocurrency.
Data and Processing - That's All There Is!
Every action that takes place in the computer is processing some type of data (see 3 C's). Essentially, all computers are data processing machines. See data, information, preprocessing and information processing cycle.
To the Computer, It's All Bits and Bytes
Data Processing for Nearly a Century
(2) Processing data, which includes text, images, audio and video. The term may refer to business processing (update orders, print invoices, etc.) or multimedia processing (encode/decode video frames). The most complex forms of data processing are AI, quantum computing and crypto. See AI, quantum computing and cryptocurrency.
Data and Processing - That's All There Is!
Every action that takes place in the computer is processing some type of data (see 3 C's). Essentially, all computers are data processing machines. See data, information, preprocessing and information processing cycle.
All data, no matter the format, are nothing more than bits and bytes to the computer. See data, bit, binary and file.
From the end of the 19th century to the mid-1980s, data processing meant punching holes in cards and running them through a variety of "electronic accounting machines." See punch card and Hollerith machine. (Image courtesy of IBM.)