Computer Software
Computer software, or just software, is a collection of computer programs and related data that provide the instructions for telling a computer what to do and how to do it. In other words, software is a conceptual entity which is a set of computer programs, procedures, and associated documentation concerned with the operation of a data processing system. We can also say software refers to one or more computer programs and data held in the storage of the computer for some purposes. In other words software is a set of programs, procedures, algorithms and its documentation. Program software performs the function of the program it implements, either by directly providing instructions to the computer hardware or by serving as input to another piece of software. The term was coined to contrast to the old term hardware (meaning physical devices). In contrast to hardware, software is intangible, meaning it "cannot be touched". Software is also sometimes used in a more narrow sense, meaning application software only. Sometimes the term includes data that has not traditionally been associated with computers, such as film, tapes, and records.
The first theory about software was proposed by Alan Turing in his 1935 essay Computable numbers with an application to the Entscheidungsproblem (Decision problem). The term "software" was first used in print by John W. Tukey in 1958. Colloquially, the term is often used to mean application software. In computer science and software engineering, software is all information processed by computer system, programs and data. The academic fields studying software are computer science and software engineering.
Practical computer systems divide software systems into three major classes[citation needed]: system software, programming software and application software, although the distinction is arbitrary, and often blurred.
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| Window Vista |
System software provides the basic functions for computer usage and helps run the computer hardware and system. It includes a combination of the following:
- Device drivers
- Operating systems
- Servers
- Utilities
- Window systems
System software is responsible for managing a variety of independent hardware components, so that they can work together harmoniously. Its purpose is to unburden the application software programmer from the often complex details of the particular computer being used, including such accessories as communications devices, printers, device readers, displays and keyboards, and also to partition the computer's resources such as memory and processor time in a safe and stable manner.
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| A popular programming language |
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:
- Compilers
- Debuggers
- Interpreters
- Linkers
- Text editors
An Integrated development environment (IDE) is a single application that attempts to manage all these functions..
Application software
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| A game software |
Application software is developed to aid in any task that benefits from computation. It is a broad category, and encompasses software of many kinds, including the internet browser being used to display this page. This category includes:
- Business software
- Computer-aided design
- Databases
- Decision making software
- Educational software
- Image editing
- Industrial automation
- Mathematical software
- Medical software
- Molecular modeling software
- Quantum chemistry and solid state physics software
- Simulation software
- Spreadsheets
- Telecommunications (i.e., the Internet and everything that flows on it)
- Video editing software
- Video games
- Word processing
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| Bill Gate and his company |
A great variety of software companies and programmers in the world comprise a software industry. Software can be quite a profitable industry: Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft was the richest person in the world in 2009 largely by selling the Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office software products.
The same goes for Larry Ellison, largely through his Oracle database software. Through time the software industry has become increasingly specialized.
Non-profit software organizations include the Free Software Foundation, GNU Project and Mozilla Foundation. Software standard organizations like the W3C, IETF develop software standards so that most software can interoperate through standards such as XML, HTML, HTTP or FTP.
Other well-known large software companies include Kapersky, Norton, Symantec, Adobe Systems, and Avira, while small companies often provide innovation.
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