Computer software
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"Software" redirects here. For other senses of this word, see software (disambiguation).
Computer software (or simply software) is that part of a computer system that consists of encoded information (or computer instructions), as opposed to the physical computer equipment (hardware) which is used to store and process this information. The term is roughly synonymous with computer program but is more generic in scope.
The term "software" was first used in this sense by John W. Tukey in 1957. In computer science and software engineering, computer software is all information processed by computer systems, programs and data. The concept of software was first proposed by Alan Turing in an essay.
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Relationship to hardware
Computer software is so called in contrast to computer hardware, which is the physical substrate required to store and execute (or run) the software. In computers, software is loaded into RAM and executed in the central processing unit. At the lowest level, software consists of a machine language specific to an individual processor. A machine language consists of groups of binary values signifying processor instructions and data, which change the state of the computer from its preceding state. Software is an ordered sequence of instructions for changing the state of the computer hardware in a particular sequence. It is generally written in 'high-level languages' that are easier and more efficient for humans to use (closer to natural language) than machine language. High-level languages are compiled or interpreted into machine language.
Relationship to data
Software has historically been considered an intermediary between electronic hardware and data, which latter the hardware processes according to the sequence of instructions defined by the software. As computational science becomes increasingly complex, the distinction between software and data becomes less precise. Data has generally been considered as either the output or input of executed software. However, data is not the only possible output or input. For example, (system) configuration information may also be considered input, although not necessarily considered data (and certainly not applications data). The output of a particular piece of executed software may be the input for another executed piece of software. Therefore, software may be considered an interface between hardware, data, and/or (other) software.
System, programming and application software
Practical computer systems divide software into three major classes: system software, application software and programming software, although the distinction is somewhat arbitrary, and often blurred.
- System software helps run the computer hardware and computer system. It includes operating systems, device drivers, diagnostic tools, servers, windowing systems, utilities and more.
- Programming software usually provides some useful tools to help a programmer to write computer programs and software using different programming languages in a more convenient way. The tools include text editors, compilers, interpreters, linkers, debuggers, and so on. An Integrated development environment (IDE) merges those tools into a software bundle, and a programmer may not need to type multiple commands for compiling, interpreter, debugging, tracing, and etc., because the IDE usually has an advanced graphical user interface, or GUI.
- Application software allows humans to accomplish one or more specific tasks. Typical applications include industrial automation, office suites, business software, educational software, databases and computer games. Businesses are probably the biggest users of application software and they use it to automate all sorts of functions. Plenty of examples can be found at the Business Software Directory.
Software program and library
Software program is usually the directly executable part of a software. Software libraries can include software components used by stand-alone programs, but which cannot be executed on their own. Thus, programs can include standard routines that are common to many programs, extracted from the libraries, but libraries can also include stand-alone programs. Depending on operating system, a program can be called by another program, by a human being, and can call another program.
Three layers of software
Users often see things differently than programmers. People who use modern general purpose computers (as opposed to embedded systems, analog computers, supercomputers, etc.) usually see three layers of software performing a variety of tasks: platform, application, and user software.
- Platform software
- Platform includes the basic input-output system (often described as firmware rather than software), device drivers, an operating system, and typically a graphical user interface which, in total, allow a user to interact with the computer and its peripherals (associated equipment). Platform software often comes bundled with the computer, and users may not realize that it exists or that they have a choice to use different platform software.
- Application software
- Application software or Applications are what most people think of when they think of software. Typical examples include office suites and video games. Application software is often purchased separately from computer hardware. Sometimes applications are bundled with the computer, but that does not change the fact that they run as independent applications. Applications are almost always independent programs from the operating system, though they are often tailored for specific platforms. Most users think of compilers, databases, and other "system software" as applications.
- User-written software
- User software tailors systems to meet the users specific needs. User software include spreadsheet templates, word processor macros, scientific simulations, graphics and animation scripts. Even email filters are a kind of user software. Users create this software themselves and often overlook how important it is. Depending on how competently the user-written software has been integrated into purchased application packages, many users may not be aware of the distinction between the purchased packages, and what has been added by fellow co-workers.
See also: Software architecture.
Software creation
Look back to Computer software
Software operation
Computer software has to be "loaded" into the computer's storage (also known as memory and RAM).
Once the software is loaded, the computer is able to operate the software. Computers operate by executing the computer program. This involves passing instructions from the application software, through the system software, to the hardware which ultimately receives the instruction as machine code. Each instruction causes the computer to carry out an operation -- moving data, carrying out a computation, or altering the flow of instructions.
Kinds of software by operation: computer program as executable, source code or script, configuration.
Software quality and reliability
Software reliability considers the errors, faults, and failures related to the creation and operation of software.
See Software auditing, Software quality, Software testing, and Software reliability.
Software patents
The issue of software patents is very controversial, since while patents protect the ideas of "inventors", they are widely believed to hinder software development. See Hacker ethic
See also
- Shared meanings: System software, Application software, Computer programs,
