What is Software?

"Software is a set of programs (sequence of instructions) that allows the users to

perform a well-defined function or some specified task."

Software is responsible for directing all computer-related devices and instructing

them regarding what and how the task is to be performed. However, the software is
made up of binary language (composed of ones and zeros), and for a programmer
writing the binary code would be a slow and tedious task. Therefore, software
programmers write the software program in various human-readable languages such
as Java, Python, C#, etc. and later use the source code.

Types of Software
Software's are broadly classified into two types, i.e., System Software and
Application Software.

1. System Software

System software is a computer program that helps the user to run computer
hardware or software and manages the interaction between them. Essentially, it is
software that constantly runs in the computer background, maintaining the
computer hardware and computer's basic functionalities, including the operating
system, utility software, and interface. In simple terms, you can say that the system
acts as a middle man that checks and facilitates the operations flowing between the
user and the computer hardware.

System software is not limited to the operating system. They also include the basic
I/O system procedures, the boot program, assembler, computer device driver, etc.
This software supports a high-speed platform to provide effective software for the
other applications to work in effortlessly. Therefore system software is an essential
part of your computer system. They are the first thing that gets loaded in the
system's memory wherever you turn on your computer. System software is also
known as "low-level software" because the end-users do not operate them.
Companies usually employ the best software development programmers who can
deploy efficient system software.

The further classifications of system software are as follows:

1. Operating System
The operating system is the most prominent example of system software that acts
as an interface between the user and system hardware. It is a group of software that
handles the execution of programs and offers general services for the application
that runs over the computer. There are various types of operating systems available
in the market, such as embedded operating systems, real-time OS, distributed OS,
single or multi-user operating system, mobile, Internet, and various others.

Some of the commonly used examples of operating systems are given below.

○ Microsoft Windows

○ Apple's iOS

○ Apple's MacOS

○ Android

○ CentOS

○ Linus

○ Ubuntu

○ Unix

2. Device Drivers

In computing, the device driver is a type of software that operates or controls some
specific hardware devices linked to your system. They provide a software interface
to hardware devices allowing computer operating systems and other applications to
fetch hardware functions without knowing the exact specifications of the hardware.
Some common examples of such device drivers that connect hardware devices
(printers, sound cards, network cards, hard disks, floppy disk, keyboard, mouse, etc.)
to a system easily are as follows:

○ BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) Device Driver

○ USB (Universal Serial Bus) Drivers

○ Motherboard Drivers

○ Display Drivers

○ Printer Drivers

○ Sound Card Driver

 ○ ROM (Read-only memory) Drivers

○ VGA (Video Graphic Array) Drivers

3. Firmware

In electronic systems and computing, firmware is a type of permanent software

embedded in the system's ROM (read-only memory) to provide low-level control for
some particular system device hardware. It is a set of instructions that are stored
permanently on your computer's hardware device.

Common examples of devices utilizing firmware are given below:

○ Computer Peripherals

○ Consumer Appliances

○ Embedded Systems

○ UEFI (United Extensible Firmware Interface)

○ BIOS (Basic Input/Output System)

4. Utility

Utility software is developed to provide support in analyzing, optimizing, along

configuring and maintaining a computer. The job of the utility program is to offer
support to the system infrastructure. Though the system will work even if it doesn't
have any utility software, the right kind of utility software enhances its performance
and makes it more reliable.

Some of the common examples of utility software are as follows:

○ Norton and McAfee Antivirus

○ WinRAR

○ Directory Opus

○ Disk defragmenter

○ WinZip

○ Windows File Explorer

 ○ Razer Cortex

Application Software

Application programs or software applications are end-user computer programs

developed primarily to provide specific functionality to the user. The applications
programs assist the user in accomplishing numerous tasks such as doing online
research, completing notes, designing graphics, managing the finances, watching a
movie, writing documents, playing games, and many more. Therefore, many
software applications are designed and developed every year by companies as per
the demand and requirements of the potential users. The application software can
either be designed for a general-purpose or specially coded as per the requirements
of business cooperation.

Today there are varieties of application software available in the market. Given below
are some of the popular examples:

a. Word Processors

Word processor applications are globally used for documentation, making notes,
and typing data. It also helps the end-users store and format data. They also enable
the users to print their documents.

Some examples of Word Processor software's are as follows:

○ MS Word (Microsoft)

○ iWork-Pages (Apple)

○ Corel WordPerfect

○ Google Docs

b. Database Software

Database software is used to create, manage, modify and organize a massive

amount of data quickly retrieved. Another name for database software is Database
Management System (DBMS). Such software helps companies in their data
organization. Common examples of Database Software's are:

○ Oracle
 ○ MS Access

○ SQLite

○ Microsoft SQL Server

○ FileMaker

○ dBase

○ MariaDB

○ MySQL

c. Multimedia Software

This software enables the users to play, create or record images, music, and video
files. Different graphic designing companies widely use multimedia software to
make animation, images, posts, packaging, marketing creative, gif, or even video
editing. Due to their popularity and increasing demand, every software product
development corporation has massive avenues in creating and upgrading them.

Common examples of Database Software's are given below:

○ Adobe Photoshop

○ Windows Movie Maker

○ Adobe Illustrator

○ Picasa

○ Windows Media Player

○ Corel Draw

d. Web Browsers

These are a type of software that is globally used to browse the Internet. Web
browsers help the users in positioning as well as fetching data across the web.
Common examples of web browsers are given below:

○ Chrome

○ Mozilla Firefox
○ Microsoft Internet Explorer

○ Opera

○ Microsoft Edge

○ UC Browser

○ Apple Safari