Computer Software is considered a set of programs or instructions which when executed perform specific tasks.
A program may be defined as a set of instructions written in a computer language, which when executed by the computer generates the required output after processing the data.
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Computer Software
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The operations which need to be performed on the data are coded and to the program instructions. For example, computations of salary of employees generation of salary-slip for the employee database; preparation of electricity, telephone bill, and reservation chart according to the rule and regulations of an organization, it is necessary to code the requirements and objectives in the form of a computer program. The computer produces the required results after the execution of a program. There exists another class of programs, which are necessary to interact with the computer system for the purpose of execution of programs that solves any real word problem.
The operating system and compilers are software, required to execute or run a program for real-world computation. On the basis of utility, the software can be divided into the following broad categories.
- Application software
- System software
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| Application Softwares |
1. Application software:-
The application programs are written by the programmer to solve a real-world problem. For example, writing a program for report generation, queries, and preparation of reports are all application programs.
Application programs or software Are designed and developed for specific real word computer applications. for writing an application program a programmer does not require to control the basic hardware or electronic circuitry of the computer.
A programmer requires familiarity with any programming language skillfully. He may then code the requirement of the data processing in a specific manner, storage, and retrieval of the data in a programming language. These programs are written in either high-level languages or using 4GLS. The application program may be altered, or modified as per the change in the requirement by the programmer.
The application program may further be divided into two broad categories according to the nature of the application.
The application programs written for scientific computations are called scientific applications programs and applications written to solve business applications are called Business application programs.
Although both types of programs may be developed and written in any general-purpose high-level language, some of the programming languages are suitable for a specific type of application. For example, Pascal and Fortran languages provide good construct and features for writing specific application programs.
2. System Software:-
system programs are those programs, which are generally used to create the environment for the development and execution of application programs.
These programs or software are written to make the computer easier to use. Most of the system programs are written and developed by the manufacturers. Operating Systems, Compilers are examples of system programs or system software.
Just think, how difficult it would be to execute the application programs if the operating systems are not there.
The Operating System allows the user to interact with the hardware in the most simple way. It manages the systems resources and hardware, controls the execution of the application programs, usage of main memory, etc.
Operating System is a collection of several system programs and OS facilitates the user to interact with the hardware. The application program written in any programming language needs to be translated into machine-level language before execution. This translation is required because a computer is able to execute and process only machine-level code.
Language translators are the programs, that translate programs written in High-level programming language to machine-level language. The compiler is a language translator, which is used to convert the application program written in a high-level language to a machine-level language program.
Another category of system software is utility programs. These are different from Operating Systems and Compilers. Utility programs are those system programs that are used either at the programmer's request or to help manage the hardware resources.
All accessories or hardware required to be attached to the computer system for upgrading its performance are usually supplied along with their software, popularly known as Driver Programs or Device Drivers. For example, attaching a printer to your computer requires the device driver. this driver program is used to configure your existing computer system to cope with new hardware being attached to your system.
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System Softwares
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