What is Computer Software Â
- System Software
- Â PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES
- Â APPLICATION SOFTWARE
- computer Software
- WHAT IS SOFTWARE
- RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE
- TYPES OF SOFTWARE
- Â FIRMWARE
Computer Software can be divided as:
- Â System Software
- Â Programming Languages
- Â Application Software
 System Software
 System Software is software that enhances the inherent capabilities of the computer. Examples of how it does this include :
- Â 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.Â
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.
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.Â