Managing Information and Technology

PBSAIS 003
MODULE.VII SOFTWARE IS THE KEY
 The Contribution of Higher-Level Direction of Transmission Languages
o An Example of a Special-Purpose Language
o Fourth-Generation Languages Ease Summary Programming
o Programs Are another Network Configurations Alternative
o The Web Browser and Internet Standards
o The Operating System
o Early Systems
o The Next Steps
o Evolutionary Advances
o Operating Systems for Personal Computers

Introduction

Higher. Level languages make the computer easier to program and extend the use of computers to more
individuals. The most significant of these languages appeared around 1 957 and is called FORTRAN (FORmula
TRANslation). This language is designed to facilitate the use of computers by scientists and engineers and is
well suited to solving mathematically oriented problems on the computer. (Lucas, 2009, pp. 200)

Learning Outcomes:
At the end of this module, you can: (Lucas, 2009, pp. 183)

1. Distinguish the various software generations and types of programming languages, as well as their
components and functions and
2. Examine the advantages and disadvantages of various operating systems and programming languages;

COBOL (common business-oriented language) was developed to facilitate programming for business
applications. An example of parts of a program is found in .For years commercial programs in the U.S. were
written primarily in COBOL, creating approximately 30 billion plus lines of COBOL code worldwide.
Organizations are seeking alternatives to this language in order to be more productive. COBOL is associated
with unresponsive, mainframe computer systems, and a large number of firms are only maintaining or
enhancing COBOL programs. They are often doing new development work with newer languages and
frequently are using alternatives to mainframes. It is unlikely that either COBOL or mainframes will disappear
quickly, but the use of COBOL is expected to steadily decline in the future.

The C language is extremely popular today. This powerful language was developed at Bell Laboratories and is
used extensively on minicomputers, workstations, and personal computers for developing systems. C is not a
language for the casual end user. Systems developers are particularly fond of C because it is very powerful and
probably the most portable language around today. That is, software can be moved from one system to another
with minimal effort because there are C compilers for most major computers. Table 9-4 is an example of a C
program.

Object-oriented programming is a relatively new approach to developing software. The idea is to create
objects that are self-contained modules of code. Designers encapsulate a set of data and all valid operations on
that data together in an object. All of the objects in a class inherit the characteristics of that class. A class is an
abstract concept for a group of related objects. For example, if a class is automobiles, the members of that class
inherit the class properties of having four
wheels, an engine, and doors. The programmer can write programs by putting together different modules in
different orders. One attraction of object-oriented development is the presence of libraries of objects and
procedures. If we could reuse code written in the past for a new application, there would be a dramatic
improvement in productivity.

A higher-level language will often be translated into machine language by a program called a compiler. It
accepts a program called the source program and translates it into machine language called the object program

Another strategy is to create programs to be interpreted. The interpreter is a program that looks at each of your
program's statements, decodes it, and performs the instruction. Interpreters make it easier to change a program
and rerun it without recompilation, something useful when writing and debugging a program.
BASIC is a good example of a language that develops programs using an interpreter. When finished, the user
runs the debugged program through a BASIC compiler to produce obj ect code. In general, a compiled program
executes more quickly than an interpreted program.

An Example of a Special.Purpose Language

Special-purpose languages are designed with the same philosophy as higherlevel languages: to extend the
capabilities of the computer to users. Frequently, special-purpose languages are translated into a higher-level
language that is compiled to produce machine language. (Lucas, 2009, pp. 210)

Fourth·Generation Languages Ease Programming

A number of software vendors have developed languages that they advertise as belonging to the "fourth
generation." Just as compiler-level languages are at a higher level than assembly language, fourth-generation
languages (4GLs) are at a higher level than compiled languages. The purpose of these languages is to make it
easier to program the computer. One does not have to construct as many detailed
steps in writing a program. (Lucas, 2009, pp. 210 - 212)

Package Programs Are Another Alternative

Package programs are software programs written by a vendor to be sold to multiple customers. Packages have
been available since the first days of computers, but there has been an explosion in their sale and use. (Lucas,
2009, pp. 212 - 214)

The Web Browser and Internet Standards

A Web browser like Netscape or Internet Explorer is a program that provides a client PC with a graphical
interface to the Internet. With this program, you can obtain information from thousands of Web sites.
Companies have created Intranets using Internet standards; these networks contain large amounts of company
information that is easily available to employees. (Lucas, 2009, pp. 214)
The Operating System

In the first generation of computers, and for many second-generation installations, the operator of the system
had a central role in controlling its use. The operator placed each new program, which had been punched on
cards, in the card reader and loaded an assembler on tape. The assembler translated the object program and
wrote it on tape; then a loading program loaded it and began execution. For production jobs to be run
repeatedly, the object program would be saved on tape or on cards and loaded before execution. It would not be
assembled each time it was used. (Lucas, 2009, pp. 215)

Early Systems

Batch Monitor The earliest operating systems were simple batch monitors (the terms monitor, executive
program, and operating system are synonymous in this discussion) that read special control cards. (Lucas, 2009,
pp. 216 - 217)

Multiprocessing During the second generation, at least one manufacturer offered a multiprocessing system-a
computer system featuring more than one central processing unit. In reality, this system consisted of two
complete computers. The smaller computer had an operating system and controlled both machines.

On-line Systems During the 1960s, the need became evident for on-line computer access for applications such
as inventory control and reservations. The first on-line systems featured custom-designed operating system
programs to control the computer resources. Applications programs in an on-line system express the logic of the
application and are called by systems programs.

The supervisor in an on-line system establishes a series of queues and schedules

service for them. First, the system assembles an incoming message in a communications
buffer. This message may have to be converted into a different code
and moved to an input queue in memory by an applications program.

The Birth of Time-Sharing As computer systems became more heavily loaded during the 1950s and early
1960s, the debugging of programs became a frustrating and time-consuming process. A programmer might be
allowed only one test run a day or one run every several days. Programmers found their schedules and lives
controlled by machine availability.

The Next Steps

By the early 1 960s, most university and job-shop computer centers used batch monitors, and the commercial
time-sharing industry was becoming established. Many business users also used operating systems for their
equipment. When the next generation of computers was announced in 1 964, manufacturers had clearly
embraced the idea of an operating system.

Multiprogramming In our discussion of hardware, we mentioned the development of data channels to take some
of the I/O burden from the central processing unit. There was still an imbalance between CPU and I/O,
however, even with channels. (Lucas, 2009, pp. 219)
Evolutionary Advances

The 1970s brought improvements and modifications to operating systems. The major advance took virtual
memory out of the exclusive domain of time-sharing and included it in batch systems. Many packages are
available to help reduce the problems of developing on-line systems. . (Lucas, 2009, pp. 220)

1. The memory
2. The process manager
3. The device manager
4. The information manager

Operating Systems for Personal Computers

Our discussion has traced the development of operating systems, and the examples were drawn primarily from
large systems. Personal computers also have operating systems, though originally they had fewer features than
their mainframe counterparts. The functions of PC operating systems are similar to those of any operating
system: to manage the computer's resources. (Lucas, 2009, pp. 221 - 223)

Summary:

Programming can be a time-consuming and tedious task. However, in the span of four decades, software
development has advanced tremendously and computer languages are becoming easier to use.In a short period
of time we moved from machine language to graphical user interfaces and extremely powerful packages for
PCs. Each stage depends on the ones that preceded it. A key task of management is to determine what
development approach andlanguage are appropriate in a given situation. For most organizations today, the first
choice is to buy a package program rather than develop a custom system. Because there is so much software in
existence, we should expect to find widely varying standards of quality and functionality. You may encounter a
mainframe system that was written 10 years ago and changed through minor enhancements. It is unfair to
compare this system with the newest software for Windows 98 ! No organization can afford to redo all of its
software at one time. There may be very good business reasons for continuing to use a l O-year-old system,
even though its interface and even its functions are outdated. As a manager, you will have to decide how to
allocate scarce resources among maintenance, enhancements, and entirely new systems. Operating systems are
extremely important components of a computer. Large mainframes from IBM use OS/390 and run many legacy
COBOL applications. Midrange computers tend to run Unix, and Windows 98 (or its predecessor) is dominant
for PCs. Windows NT is positioned as an operating system for servers, though a number of companies are using
Windows NT on clients as well. There is still much to be done to remove the software bottleneck that exists in
developing applications. In later chapters we discuss some strategies to reduce the cycle time for developing
applications.

Activities

Lecture: MODULE.VII SOFTWARE IS THE KEY

 LEARNING OUTCOME ASSESSMENT
1. distinguish the various software generations and types
of programming languages, as well as their
components and functions
2. examine the advantages and disadvantages of various
operating systems and programming languages

Reference:

 Lucas, H. C. (2009). Information Technology for Management. Www.Bigbook.or.Kr.

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nagement_Henry_Lucas.pdf