COMPUTER SOFTWARE

What is Computer Software?

Computer software, or just software is a general term used to describe a collection of computer programs, procedures and documentation that perform some tasks on a computer system. The term includes application software such as word processors which perform productive tasks for users, system software such as operating systems, which interface with hardware to provide the necessary services for application software, and middleware which controls and co-ordinates distributed systems. Software includes websites, programs, video games etc. that are coded by programming languages like C, C++, etc.

Computer software is usually regarded as anything but hardware, meaning that the "hard" are the parts that are tangible (able to hold) while the "soft" part is the intangible objects inside the computer. Software encompasses an extremely wide array of products and technologies developed using different techniques like programming languages, scripting languages etc. The types of software include web pages developed by technologies like HTML, PHP, Perl, JSP, ASP.NET, XML, and desktop applications like Microsoft Word, OpenOffice developed by technologies like C, C++, Java, C#, etc. Software usually runs on an underlying operating system (which is a software also) like Microsoft Windows, Linux (running GNOME and KDE), Sun Solaris etc. Software also includes video games like the Super Mario, Call of Duty for personal computers or video game consoles. These games can be created using CGI (computer generated imagery) that can be designed by applications like Maya, 3ds Max etc.

Also a software usually runs on a software platform like Java and .NET so that for instance, Microsoft Windows software will not be able to run on Mac OS because how the software is written is different between the systems (platforms). These applications can work using software porting, interpreters or re-writing the source code for that platform.

Software's Relationship to Computer Hardware

Computer software is so called to distinguish it from computer hardware, which encompasses the physical interconnections and devices required to store and execute (or run) the software. 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 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 usually written in high-level programming 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 object code. Software may also be written in an assembly language, essentially, a mnemonic representation of a machine language using a natural language alphabet. Assembly language must be assembled into object code via an assembler.

The term "software" was first used in this sense by John W. Tukey in 1958. In computer science and software engineering, computer software is all computer programs. The theory that is the basis for most modern software was first proposed by Alan Turing in his 1935 essay Computable numbers with an application to the Entscheidungsproblem.

Types of Computer Software?

Practical computer systems divide software systems into three major classes: system software, programming software and application software, although the distinction is arbitrary, and often blurred.

System Software

System Software helps run the computer hardware and computer system. It includes operating systems, device drivers, diagnostic tools, servers, windowing systems, utilities and more. The purpose of systems software is to insulate the applications programmer as much as possible from the details of the particular computer complex being used, especially memory and other hardware features, and such as accessory devices as communications, printers, readers, displays, keyboards, etc.

Programming Software

Programming Software usually provides tools to assist a programmer in writing 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, interpreting, debugging, tracing, and etc., because the IDE usually has an advanced graphical user interface, or GUI.

Application Software

Application Software allows end users to accomplish one or more specific (non-computer related) tasks. Typical applications include industrial automation, business software, educational software, medical software, databases, and computer games. Businesses are probably the biggest users of application software, but almost every field of human activity now uses some form of application software.

The Ethics and Rights of Software Users

Being a new part of society, the idea of what rights users of software should have is not very developed. Some, such as the free software community, believe that software users should be free to modify and redistribute the software they use. They argue that these rights are necessary so that each individual can control their computer, and so that everyone can cooperate, if they choose, to work together as a community and control the direction that software progresses in. Others believe that software authors should have the power to say what rights the user will get.