Software: System and Application Software Explained (PDF)

SOFTWARE INTRODUCTION A set of programs that help us to use the computer system or other electronic devices effectively The hardware is set to form the body of a computer system Software makes its mind or soul There are two types of software...

SOFTWARE INTRODUCTION A set of programs that help us to use the computer system or other electronic devices effectively The hardware is set to form the body of a computer system Software makes its mind or soul There are two types of software System software Application software SYSTEM SOFTWARE It is a set of normal programs designed to control the operations of a computer They are general programs designed to assist humans in the use of computer system Performing tasks such as controlling the operations Move data into and out of the computer system Do all steps in executing application programs Supports the communication of application software with peripheral devices  System software helps to manage the resources of a computer The components of a system software are: Operating system Language processors Utility software OPERATING SYSTEM Programs that acts as an interface between the user and the computer hardware The primary objective of an operating system is to make the computer system convenient to use It provides an environment for the user to execute programs It helps to use the computer hardware in an efficient manner It controls and coordinates the operations of a computer It acts as the resource manager of the computer  It is the most important system software It is the first program to be loaded from the hard disk in the computer and it resides in the memory till the system is shut down It tries to prevent errors and improper use of computer Examples: DOS, Windows, Unix, Linux, MAC OSX etc. MAJOR FUNCTIONS OF AN OPERATING SYSTEM Process management Allocation and deallocation of processes Scheduling of various system resources to the different requesting processes Memory management Handles or manages primary memory It keeps the track of each and every memory location weather it is allocated to some process or it is free It calculates how much memory is to be allocated to each process and allocates it It deallocates memory if it is not needed further File management It takes care of file related activities such as organizing, naming, storing, retrieving, sharing, protection and recovery  Device management Performs the management of devices attached to the computer It handles the devices by combining both hardware and software techniques The operating system communicates with the hardware devices via the device driver software MCQ A computer program that functions as an intermediary between the user and the computer hardware is called? a) Software b) Hardware c) Operating System d) Driver System software acts as a bridge between the hardware and ----- software a) Management b) Processing c) Utility d) Application  Which of the following is not a computer OS? a) BIOS b) Mac OS c) Unix OS d) Microsoft Windows Which of the following is the core of an OS? a) Ventura b) Kernel c) Xenix d) Device Driver LANGUAGE PROCESSORS Computer languages may be broadly classified into low level languages and high level languages Low level languages are described as machine oriented languages In these languages programs are written using the memory and registers available on the computer Since the architecture of computer differs from one machine to another there is separate low level programming language for each type of computer  Machine language and assembly language are the different low level languages Machine language A computer can understand only binary digits This language which uses binary digits is called machine language Assembly language It is an intermediate level programming language It uses mnemonics Mnemonic is a symbolic name given to an operation Eg: ADD, SUB, MOV It is machine dependent and programmer requires knowledge of computer architecture High level language Simpler to understand than the assembly language or machine language The computer program written in a high level language is to be converted into its equivalent machine language program which is understandable to the computer So it requires a language translator ( compilers or interpreters) NEED FOR LANGUAGE PROCESSOR The program consisting of instructions to the computer containing assembly language or high level language which are not understood by the computer We need language processors to convert such programs into low level language as computer can only understand machine language Language processors are the system programs that translate programs written in high level language or assembly language into its equivalent machine language TYPES OF LANGUAGE PROCESSORS Assembler Assembly language requires a translator known as assembler for translating the program code written in assembly language to machine language An assembler is highly machine dependent Interpreter Interpreter is another kind of language processor that converts a high level program into machine language line by line If there is an error in one line it reports and the execution of the program is terminated It will continue the translation only after correcting the error BASIC is an interpreted language  Compiler A language processor that translates a program written in a high level language into machine language It scans the entire program in a single run If there is any error in the program the compiler provides a list of error messages along with the line number at the end of the compilation If there are no syntax errors the compiler will generate an object file Translation using compilers is called compilation After translation compilers are not required in memory to run the program The programming languages that have a compiler are C, C++, Pascal etc. MCQ Translator for low level programming language were termed as a) Assembler b) Compiler c) Linker d) Loader  Choose the odd one out a) Interpreter b) Compiler c) Assembler d) Machine language UTILITY SOFTWARE A set of programs which help users in system maintenance tasks and in performing tasks of routine nature Some of the utility programs are: ▪ Compression tools: Large files can be compressed so that they take less storage area. These compressed files can be decompressed into its original form when needed. Compression of files is known as zipping and decompression is called unzipping. Eg: WinZip, WinRAR etc. ▪ Disk defragmenter: A program that rearranges files on a computer hard disk. The files are arranged in such a way that they are no longer fragmented. This enables the computer to work faster and more efficiently.  ▪ Backup software: Backup means duplicating the disk information so that in an event of disk failure or in an event of accidental deletion this backup may be used. It facilitates the backing up of disc. ▪ Antivirus software: A computer virus is a program that causes abnormality in the functioning of the computer. Antivirus software is a utility program that scans the computer system for viruses and removes them. As new viruses are released frequently we have to make sure that latest antivirus versions are installed on the computer. Most of the antivirus programs provide an auto update feature which enables the user to download profiles of new viruses so as to identify and inactive them. Eg: Norton antivirus, Kaspersky etc. MCQ Which utility software helps to protect the computer system from viruses and prevent the computer system from being corrupt? a) Disk cleaner b) Disk defragmenter c) Antivirus d) All of them  Which utility software is used to protect the computer system from hackers? a) Antivirus b) Firewall c) Backup wizard d) defragmenter APPLICATION SOFTWARE Software developed for specific application is called application software It includes general purpose software packages and specific purpose software GENERAL PURPOSE SOFTWARE PACKAGE General purpose software are used to perform tasks in a particular application area Such software is developed keeping in mind the various requirements of its users They provide a vast number of features for its users  General purpose software is classified as: Word processing software Spreadsheet software Presentation software Database software Multimedia software WORD PROCESSING SOFTWARE It is designed for creating and modifying documents It helps to create, edit, format and print textual matters easily Formatting features include different font settings, paragraph settings, bullets and numbering, alignments and more In addition to this it can check spelling and grammar in the document, insertion of pictures, charts and tables We can specify headers and footers for every page in this document The most popular examples of this type of software are MS word, Open Office Writer, Apple iWork pages etc. SPREADSHEET SOFTWARE Spreadsheet software allows users to perform calculations using spreadsheets They simulate paper worksheets by displaying multiple cells that make up a grid  It also allows us to insert drawing objects in the worksheet and create different types of charts for graphical representation of numerical data Eg: Microsoft Excel, Open Office Calc, Lotus 123 and Apple i work numbers PRESENTATION SOFTWARE The software that is used to display information in the form of a slideshow is known as presentation software Presentation software allows preparing slides containing pictures, text animation, video and sound effects Microsoft PowerPoint, apple iWork keynote, and open office impress are examples of presentation software DATABASE SOFTWARE Database is an organized collection of data arranged in tabular form Database management system consists of a collection of interrelated data and a set of programs to access those data The primary goal of a DBMS is to provide an environment that is both convenient and efficient to use in retrieving and storing database information They provide privacy and security to data and enforce standards for data Examples of DBMS software are Microsoft Access, Oracle, Postgres SQL, My SQL etc. MULTIMEDIA SOFTWARE Multimedia is the integration of multiple forms of media This includes text, graphics, audio, video etc. Multimedia software can process information in a number of media formats It is capable of playing media files Audio converters, audio players and video editing software are some forms of multimedia software Examples are VLC player, Adobe Flash, Real player, media player etc. SPECIFIC PURPOSE SOFTWARE Specific purpose software is a highly specialized software designed to handle particular tasks These are tailor made software to satisfy the needs of an organization or institution It is also known as customized software Since custom software is developed for a single customer it can accommodate the customers particular preferences and expectations Some examples of specific purpose application software are Payroll system Inventory management system Human resource management system MCQ Application software is developed to accomplish a) Real-world tasks b) Operating system tasks c) Computer centric tasks d) All of the above Which of the following are known as office oriented application software a) Interpreters, compilers, editors b) Network software, backup system c) Word processors, spreadsheets, database d) Both A and C Which of the following is not a kind of application software? a) Word processor b) DBMS c) Browser d) File compressor What is the alternative name for application software? a) End user software b) Utility software c) Specific software d) None of these FREE AND OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE Free and open source software gives the user the freedom to use, copy, distribute, examine, change and improve the software Nowadays these software is widely used throughout the world because of adaptable functionality, less overall cost, vendor independency, adherence to open standards, interoperability and security The free software foundation defines the four freedoms for free and open source software The freedom to run program for any purpose The freedom to study how the program works and adapt it to your needs. Access to source code should be provided The freedom to distribute copies of the software The freedom to improve the program and release your improvements to the public so that the whole community benefits EXAMPLES Gnu Linux it is a computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. It was organized in the GNU project introduced in 1983 by Richard Stallman in the FSF  GIMP it stands for Gnu Image Manipulation Program EXAMPLES Mozilla Firefox It is one of the most popular web browsers created by the Mozilla corporation Openoffice.org It is a complete office suite that contains word processor (writer), spreadsheets (calc) and presentations (impress) FREEWARE AND SHAREWARE Freeware refers to copyrighted computer software which is made available for use free of charge for an unlimited period The term shareware refers to commercial software that is distributed on a trial basis It is distributed without payment and with limited functionality Shareware is commonly offered in a downloadable format on the Internet The distribution of this kind of software aims at giving users a chance to analyze the software before purchasing it Some shareware works for a limited period of time only PROPRIETARY SOFTWARE It is a computer program that is an exclusive property of its developer or publisher and cannot be copied or distributed without licensing agreements It is sold without any access to source code and is therefore cannot be changed or improved by the user Some examples of proprietary software are Microsoft Windows operating system, MS office, Mac operating system etc. HUMANWARE OR LIVEWARE Humanware refers to humans who use computer The term was used in computer industry as early as 1966 to refer to computer users often in humorous context by analogy with software and hardware It refers to programmers, system analyst, operating staff, and other personnel working in a computer system Eg: system administrators, system managers, system analyst, database administrators, computer engineers, computer programmers, computer operators etc. MCQ Microsoft Windows is a ------- type of operating software a) Freeware b) Shareware c) Liveware d) Proprietary software Which of the following is not a downside of OSS? a) Lack of personalized support b) Restricted choice c) No warranty d) Hard to get