What is Computer Software, Types of computer software, software are application, software and system software, System Software · 2. Application Soft

What is Computer Software

System Software
PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES
APPLICATION SOFTWARE
computer Software
WHAT IS SOFTWARE
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE
TYPES OF SOFTWARE
FIRMWARE

Computer Software can be divided as:

System Software
Programming Languages
Application Software

System Software

System Software is software that enhances the inherent capabilities of the computer. Examples of how it does this include :

By providing an easy interface between the computer and the user.
By controlling the activities of the computer, and its interaction with peripherals connected to it. These utility services offered by the operating system are part of the system software.

PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES

A program is nothing but a set of successive instructions to achieve results. Programming Language compilers are specialized translators (compilers reprograms that translate high-level language into low-level language) ie. Programming Language compiles translate users’ instructions into machine readable instructions e.g. “C , COBOL, PASCAL FOR. TRAN etc.

APPLICATION SOFTWARE

Application Software is Software that is directly application-oriented. Applications software packages are built to confirm to specific needs of users (for example to enable use of computers for Financial Accounting, Payroll ‘Accounting inventory Control, etc)The bulk of commercially developed Software today falls into this category. Typical application Software packages provide an extremely “user- friendly “interface.

computer Software

The terms hardware and software are frequently mentioned in connection with computers. Hardware is the jargon term given to the machinery itself and to the various individual pieces of equipment It refers to the physical devices of the computer systems. Thu, the input, storage, processing, control, and output devices are hardware. When the hardware is linked together to form an effective working unit we have a computer installation. In fact, what we have described so far in the previous chapters is actually the hardware of computer systems. The term software’ will be introduced his chapter and will be discussed at length in the next few chapters.

WHAT IS SOFTWARE

It is important to note that a computer cannot do anything on its own. It must be instructed to do the desired job. Hence it is necessary to specify the sequence of instructions that a computer must perform to solve a problem. Such a sequence of instructions Witten in a language that can be understood by computers is called a computer program. It is the program that controls the activity of processing by the computer and the computer performs precisely what the program wants in to do. The term software refers to the set of computer programs, procedures, and associated documents (flowcharts, manuals, etc.) That describes the programs and how they are to be used. To be precise, software means a collection of programs and whose objective is vto enhance the capacities of “the hardware machine.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE

In order for a computer to produce useful output, the hardware and software must work together Thus, there is a special relationship between hardware and software. Both are complementary to each other. Nothing useful can be done with the computer hardware on its own and software cannot be utilized without supporting hardware. To take an analogy, a cassette player and the cassette purchased from the market are hardware. However, the songs recorded on the cassette are its software.

To listen to a particular song, fast of all that song has to be recorded on one of the cassettes which should then be mounted on the cassette player and played. Similarly, to get a particular job done by a computer, the relevant software should be loaded in the hardware before processing stats. It is immediately evident that hardware is necessary but the software is vital. Another important point brought out by his analogy is that software production is difficult and expensive. Hardware is a one-time expense whereas software is a continuing expense.It may also be noted that efferent software can be loaded and run on the same hardware to perform different types of jobs just as different can be recorded one by one on the same cassette and layered using the cassette player.

TYPES OF SOFTWARE

Computer software is normally classified into two broad categories: application software and system’s software. Application software, also known as an Application package, isa set of one or more programs designed to carry out operations for a specified application, or example, a payroll package produces pay slips as the major output and an application package for processing examination results produces mark sheets as the major output along with some other statistical reports. Similarly, a program written by a scientist to solve his particular search problem is also an application software. The programs that constitute an application package are known is Application programs and the person who prepares Application programs is known as an application programmer.

Traditionally, application packages were limited to the general purpose functions of inventory control, reduction scheduling, general ledger, general accounting, and payroll because these were the major Application areas or which a company acquired a computer. Because there is such a great demand of these functions, nowadays packaged software supporting them is available on almost every kind of computer hardware. However, the software industry has expanded to serve many specific markets, and specific purpose application packages have also been developed for specialized areas, such as banking, hospital administration, insurance, publishing, manufacturing, science and engineering,etc. In fact, many software companies have started to offer computer systems to o long with their software as turnkey systems for specific industry needs.

Development for specific purpose application packages has expanded along with the increased se of computers in on-financial operations, Systems software, also known as a systems package, is a set of one or more programs, designed to control the operation of a computer system. These programs do not solve specific problems. They are general programs written to assist humans in the use often computer system by performing tasks, such as controlling all of the operations, required to move data into and out of a computer and all he steps in executing an application program.

In general, system packages support the running of other software, communicate with peripheral devices (printers, card reader’s, disk and ape devices, ec,) support the development of other types of software; and monitor the of various hardware resources (memory Peiperl’s, CPU, c). Thus, systems software makes the operation of the computer system more fictive and efficient The programs included in a systems software are called systems programs and the person who prepares systems software is referred to as a System programmer. Systems packages offer several advantages and conveniences to Application programmers and computer users in general.

Good systems Software allows application packages to be run on the computer with les time and effort. Without systems software, Application packages could not be run on the computer system. However, the production of systems software is a complex task that requires extensive knowledge and considerable specialized training in computer science.

Systems programmers, who prepare systems software, are highly tainted computer spe-

cialst and important members of the computer Architectural cam. Because of its technical complexity, systems Software is rarely developed in-house. They are normally developed and distributed by computer manufacturers.

The customer who buy so leases a computer system would usually receive, in addition to

the hardware, some software needed for the effective operation of his computer. The systems software is an indispensable pan of a total computer system. Its function is to compensate for the differences that exist between the user, needs and the capabilities of the hardware. A computer without some kind of systems software would be very ineffective aid most likely impossible to operate.

The relationship between hardware, software and the user of a computer System is shown

in Figure 10.1 at the centre of any computer system is hardware and surrounding the hardware is systems software. Finally, the user interacts with application software.

FIRMWARE

Computer software in the conventional systems is supplied on storage media lice oppes,

taps , disks, etc. However, with the advancement in technology and the reduction in hardware cos, today software is also being made available by many computer manufacturers on rad only memory (ROM) chips. These ROM chips can be easily plugged into the computer system and they form a part of the hardware. Such programs (Software) are made available on hardware ac .known as firmware. Firmware often refers toa sequence of instructions(software) that is substituted for hardware.

For example, in an instance where cost is more important than performance speed, the

computer system architect might decide not to use special electronic circuits hardware) to multiply two numbers, but instead write instructions (software)to cause the machine to accomplish the same function by repeated use of circuits already designed to preform addition. This software will be stored in a ROM chip of the computer system and will be executed (used) whenever the computer has to multiply two numbers. Hence, this software will be known as firmware. To be precise, firmware is software substituted for hardware and stored in read-only memory.

Initially, only systems software was supplied in the form of firmware. But today, even

application programs are being supplied n firmware form. Dedicated applications are also programmed in this fashion and available in firmware. Because of the rapid improvements in-memory technology, firmware is frequently a cost-effective alternative to wired electronic circuits, and its use in computer design will increase. I is expected that in the near future, the firmware will make possible the cost effective production of smart machines of all types.

Join WhatsApp

Join Telegram

What is Computer Software – Types of computer software