SOFTWARE CONCEPTS

Hardware and Software

are equally important for the
Acomputer consists of both hardware and software and both
working of the computer system.
see and touch are
Hardware: The electronic components of acomputer system that we can
called hardware.
control the operations of the
Software : It is a general term used for computer programs that
computer.
A program is a sequence of instructions that
perform a particular task. A set of programs formn a
software.
use without software and
The software gives hardware its capability. Hardware is of no
software cannot be used without hardware.
Application Software
Types of Software - i) System Software i)Utility Software and ii)
related to coordinating
System Software: System Software is the software that is directly computer
utilizing
computer operations and performs tasks associated with controlling and
hardware. System software can be further categorized into
O
Operating System
DLanguage Translators
Operating System : It is a set of programs that control and supervise the hardware of a computer
is
and also provide services to application software, programmers and users. When a computer
switched on, the operating system is the first program that is loaded onto its memory. The
operating system acts as an interface between the user and the computer hardware.
Examples of popular operating systems are DOS, Windows, Unix, Linux, Solaris, etc.
Need for an Operating System :
1. Operating system provides a platform, on top of which, other programs, called
application programs can run.
2. It is designed in such a manner that it operates, controls and executes various
applications on the computer.
3. It also allows the computer to manage its own resources such as memory, monitor,
keyboard, printer etc.
4. The operating system controls the various system hardware and software resources and
allocates them to the users or programs as per their requirement.
Functions of an Operating System: The major functions of Operating System are
A. Processor management
B. Storage Management (Memory Management)
C. Information Management.
 Processor management : It is the allocation of processors to onc program. The
A. the system (CPU). There are di
Operating System controls the jobs submitted to
methods. Some of them are ) Job Scheduling
i) Non Preemptive Scheduling
i) Preemptive Scheduling
)Job Scheduling : It assigns priority to jobs and admit new
jobs for processing. The
basic terms in this are Process, Program,,
Active,
Process is a program currently being executed. It can be any of four states New,
Waiting or Halted.

Active
Halted
New

Waiting

ii) Non Preemptive Scheduling: In this method, a scheduled job always completes
before another scheduling is made. There are three ways
a. FIFO (First In First Out) b. Shortest Job Next (SJN) c. Dead Line Scheduling INDIAN
INST
a. FIFO (First In First Out) : This algorithm is based on queuing. The process (A process
is basically a program in execution) that enters the queue first is executed first by the
CPU, then the next and then the next and so on.
b. Shortest Job Next (SJN): This algorithm is based on the size of the job.
E.g:Take two jobs A and B. A=5 kilo bytes B=8 kilo bytes First the job SCIENCE
Awill OFE
be assigned processor time after which B gets its turn.

c. Dead Line Scheduling : In this, Earliest deadline first (EDF) or least time to go is a
dynamic scheduling algorithm used in real-time operating systems to place processes in
a priority queue. Whenever a scheduling event occurs (task finishes, new task released,
etc.) the queue willbe searched for the process closest to its deadline.

iii) Preemptive Scheduling : In this method, a scheduled job is taken even another
scheduling is going on. There are two ways a. Round Robin b. Response Ratio schedule.
Round Robin : Jobs are assigned processor time in a circular method.
For example take three jobs A, B, C. First the job A is assigned to CPU then job B
and after Bjob C and then again A,B and C and so on.
Response Ratio: In this method, the job with highest response ratio is preferred over
others. The Response Ratio is caleulated as follows
Response Ratio = Elapsed Time
Execution time received
 Memory Management :(Storage Management)
An cperating system keeps track of the memoy and identifies the
portion of memory that is curently used and also identifies the
user who is using it

It also recognizes the memorycells that are fiee

In a multiprogramming envitonment, the 0S decides the ptOcess
that should get memory and also the timne and amount of memory
1equired for the process is decided by the operating system.
Operating system finally reclaims the memory when the process no
longer needs it or when the process has been terminated.
This prOcess is maintained and performed with the help of the
following mechanisms
They are
o Contiguous Storage Allocation
Non Contiguous Storage Allocation
Vitual StorageUsing Paging
Vitual Storage Using Segmentation
C.Information Management:

" The file system of the operating system keeps track of the
information, its location, use status et.
" It also decides on which user should get the resources first and
enforces protection requirements and also provides accessing
routines.

Necessary information like opening a file, reading a file is taken

care by the file system and finally it reclaims the resources like
closing a file.
Commonly Used Operating Systems :
1. Windows: Microsoft launched Windows 1.0 operating system in 1985 and since then
Windows has ruled the world's software market. It is a GUI (Graphic User Interface) and
 h
Viarious versions of Windows have been launched like Windows 95, Windows 98, Win
Windows XP, Windows 7 and the latest being Windows 8.11
2. Linux: Linux is a free and open software which means it is freely available for use and sin
tS SOurce code is also available so anybody can use it, modify it and redistribute it. It can be
downloaded from www.linux.org. It is avery popular operating system used and supported oy
many companies.
3. BOSS (Bharat Operating System Solutions): This is an Indian distribution of GNU/Linux. lt
consists of Linux operating system kernel, office application suite, Bharateeya 0, Internet
browser (Firefox), multimedia applications and file sharing.
4. UNIX: It is a multitasking, nmultiuser operating system originally developed in 1969 at Bell
Labs. It was one of the first operating systems developed in ahigh level language, namely C.
Due to its portability, flexibility and power, UNIX is widely being used in anetworked
environment.

5. Solaris: It is a free Unix based operating system introduced by Sun Microsystems in 1992. It
is now also known as Oracle Solaris.

Mobile Operating Systems (Mobile OS) :It is the operating system that operates on digital
mobile devices like smart phones and tablets. It extends the features of a normal operating
system for personal computers so as to include touch screen, Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS mobile
navigation, camera, music player etc.
The most commonly used mobile operating systems are- Android and
Symbian
Android:

" Itis a Linux derived Mobile OS released on Sth

November 2007
It is Google's open and free software that includes an
operating system, middleware
Android applications are quiet user friendly and even one can easily
Smartphone with Android OS. customize the
Various versions of Android OS have been released like 1.0, 1.5, 1.6, 2. x, 3.0
etc.
Android3.0 is available only for tablets.
The Android releases have codenames like
and Jelly Bean.
Cupcake, Honeycomb, Ice Cream sandwich
Symbian:
" This Mobile OS by Nokia (currently being maintained by Accenture) designed for
smartphones.
It offers high level of functional
integration between communication and personal
information management.
Symbian applications are easy to shut down as compared to Android
Various versions like S60 series, S80 series, S90 series, applications.
released. Symbian Anna etc have been
 sof Operating System :OS are classified into the following types depending on their
bility of processing
1. Single User and Single Task OS: It is used on a standalone single computer forsingle-user
(PC) are
performing a single task. Operating systems for Personal Computers
manage one task at a time.
OS. Single user OS are simple operating system designed to
Ex : MS-DOS
that allow same data and
2. Multiuser OS is used in mini computers or mainframes time. The users can also
applications to be accessed by multiple users at the same
communicate with each other.
Ex : Linux and UNIX.
a single running process.
3. Multiprocessing OS have two or more processors for processing. Each processor
Processing takes place in parallel and is also called parallel different tasks. Since
or more
works on different parts of the same task, or, on two execution.
execution takes place in parallel, they are used for high speed
Ex: Linux, UNIX and Windows.

OS is also classified as
of more than one tasks or
1. Time sharing Operating System: It allows execution divided amongst different
processes concurrently. For this, the processor time is processor switches
tasks. This division of time is also called time sharing. The
stipulated time is over, the CPU shifts to
rapidly between various processes. After the
next task in waiting,
Ex: Windows 95 and all later versions of Windows.
reai
2. Real Time Operating System: It is a multitasking operating system designed torto be
tasks have
time applications like robotics. In this type of operating system, the
done within a fixed deadline. System performance is good if task is finished within
this deadline. If it is not done, the situation is called Deadline Overrun..

3. Distributed Operating System: On a network data is stored and processed on multiple

locations. The Distributed Operating System is used on networks as it allows shared
data/files to be accessed from any machine.

4. Interactive Operating System: This is the operating system that provides a Graphic
User Interface (GUI) through which the user can easily navigate and interact.

Language Translators (Language Processors) :

The computer understands instructions in machine code, i.e. in the form of Os and ls. It is
difficult for us to write computer program directly in machine code. A program written in any
high-level programming language (i.e. BASIC, C++, Python etc. or written in assembly
language) is called the Source Program or Source Code. The source code cannot be executed
directly by the computer. The source code must be converted into machine language to be
executed. The special translator system software that is used to translate the program written in
 called languageproces
code is
language) into machine
(or Assembly Interpreter and Assembler,.
high-level language are three types- Compiler,
translator program. There
into
Compiler
source progran as a whole in one go
complete
that translates the
The language processorcompiler. Ex : C,C+t, ForTran...etc
machine code is called program. The source code iS
code is called the object
The program translated into
machine errors in the source
successfully ifit is free of errors. If there are any
translated to object code
the end of compilation with line numbers. The errors
errors at
code, the compiler specifies the can successfully recompile the source
code again.
must be removed before the compiler
Interpreter
that translates a single statement of source program into machine code
The language processor
next line is called an Interpreter. Only
and executes it immediately before moving on toontheto the next line for execution.
after removal of the error, the interpreter moves
Ex: Java Interpretor, Python, LISP
SCIENCEAssembler
into machine
The Assembler is used to translate the programn written in Assembly languageunderstandable
machine code by
code. The output generated by assembler is the object code or
the computer. Ex : C can be used as assembler.
Utilities (Utility Software) :A utility software provides certain tasks that help in proper
maintenance of' the computer. The Utility software keep the computer system running smoothly.
This act as ho.sckeeping service for a computer system. Nowadays many utility softwares are
antivirus,
part of the operating system itself. Some of the commonly use utility softwares are :
Disk defragnenter, backup, compression etc.
Antivirus: An antivirus is utility software which detects and removes computer viruses. If the
software is not able to remove the virus, it is neutralized. The antivirus keeps a watch on the
functioning of the computer system. If a virus is found it may alert the user, flag the infected
program or kill the virus.

Ex : Norton, McAfee, Kaspersky, QuickHeal...etc.

Disk Deftagmenter : It is autility in OS designed to increase access speed by rearranging files
stored on a disk to occupy contiguous storage locations, the technique is called defragmentation
Adisk defragmenter scans the hard disk for fragmented files and brings all the fragments
together.
Backup Utility : This utility is used to create the copy of the complete or partial data stored in a
disk or CD on any other disk. In case the hard disk crashes or some other system failure occurs,
the files can be restored using backup software.

Compression Utility: This utility is used to compress large files. Compression is useful because
ithelps reduce resources usage and the file transmission on the network becomes easier.
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