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Introduction
 What we have been talking about in the last Lectures is the
physical part of the computer system. Do you remember, we
said that a computer is a “dumb” machine? Now let us see what
makes it work. This is equivalent to the education and the
intelligence of a human being.
 Software is a term used to describe programs and associated
LECTURE FOUR documentations. Software enables computer hardware to
operate effectively. It instructs computers on what to do and
how to do it. It follows, therefore, that without software, the
computer can do nothing.
 It is a “logical glue” that can hold a computer and several digital
devices of all kinds in a coherent system, which in turn interacts
with many kinds of people –

Introduction ……… System Software

 Naïve users, sophisticated users and specialists. Compared to
 System software can be defined as a set of program, which have
humans as information processors, it is equivalent to one’s been developed and installed in the computer.
education, and natural intelligence.
 Some of the system software are supposed to put initial ‘life’ into
 This Lecture discusses software.
the computer hardware and are, therefore held in the Read Only
 The computer software can be broadly classified as system and Memory of the computer’s internal memory.
application software.  Computers should monitor and control their own operations.
 The programming (instructing) languages can also be This is achieved by the Operating System and Service program
considered part of software because they form the basis of (System Utilities).
software development.

Operating System Operating System ……

 The other operating system routines that are non-resident are
 An operating system is a suite of programs that manages the
normally held in the direct secondary storage from where they are
computer resources such as input/output transfers, memory and
called into main memory when the need arises; they are described
the CPU time. It monitors the way other software use hardware.
as transient routines. The supervisor does the co-ordination.
 The operating systems control ensures that the computer
 It is common to find that the supervisor is non-resident and it is
operates in the way intended in a systematic, reliable and
activated by loading into memory and then executed. There are
efficient manner. It defines the interface between the computer
many operating systems on the market designed to run on specific
user and the computer.
hardware family e.g. MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System)
 The Executive Routine (Program) is the main operating used mainly in IBM compatible microcomputers, Unix, windows
system component (routine). It is usually stored permanently in XP, DOS.
the ROM ( i.e. it is resident). Thus routine can also be described
 System software consists of programs that manage and support a
as the supervisor routine or monitor routine. The latter is a
computer system and its information processing activities. These
common description with microcomputers.
programs serve as a vital software interface between computers
system hardware and the application programs of end users.

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Operating System …… Operating System ……

 The primary purpose of an operating system is to maximize the
 Functions of an Operating System: The basic functions of an
productivity of a computer system by operating it in the most operating system include a user interface, resource
efficient manner. management, task management, file management, and utilities
 An operating system minimizes the amount of human and other functions.
intervention required during processing.  The User Interface. The user interface is the part of the
 It helps application programs perform common operations such operating system that allows you to communicate with it so you
as accessing a network, entering data, saving and retrieving files, can load programs, access files, and accomplish other tasks.
and printing or displaying output.  Three main types of user interfaces are the command-driven,
 If you have any hands-on experience on a computer, you know menu-driven, and graphical user interfaces. The trend in
that the operating system must be loaded and activated before user interfaces for operating systems and other software is
you can accomplish other tasks. moving away from the entry of brief end user commands, or
 This emphasizes the fact that operating systems are the most even the selection of choices from menus of options.
indispensable components of the software interface between
users and the hardware of their computer systems.

Operating System …… Operating System ……

 This can provide a computer system with a virtual memory
 Instead, the trend is toward an easy-to-use graphical user
capability that is significantly larger than the real memory
interface (GUI) that uses icons, bars, buttons, boxes, and other
capacity of its primary storage unit.
images. GUIs rely on pointing devices like the electronic mouse
or trackball to make selections that help you get things done.  So, a computer with a virtual memory capability can process larger
 Resource Management. An operating system uses a variety of programs and greater amounts of data than the capacity of its
resource management programs to manage the hardware and memory circuits would normally allow.
networking resources of a computer system, including its CPU,  File Management. An operating system contains file
memory, secondary storage devices, telecommunications management programs that control the creation, deletion, and
processors, and input/output peripherals. access of files of data and programs. File management also
 For example memory management programs keep track of involves keeping track of the physical location of files on
where data and programs are stored. They may also subdivide magnetic disks and other secondary storage devices.
memory into a number of sections and swap parts of programs
 So operating systems maintain directories of information about
and data between memory and magnetic disks or other
the location and characteristics of files stored on a computer
secondary storage devices.
system’s secondary storage devices.

Operating System …… Operating System ……

 Task Management: The task management programs of an
 Microcomputer operating systems and minicomputer and
operating system manage the accomplishment of the computing mainframe operating systems provide a multitasking capability.
tasks of end users. They give each task a slice of a CPU’s time With multitasking, end users can do two or more operations
and interrupt the CPU operations to substitute other tasks. (such as, keyboarding and printing) or applications, (such as,
 Task management may involve a multitasking capability where word processing and financial analysis) concurrently, that is, at
several computing tasks can occur at the same time. the same time.
 Multitasking may take the form of multiprogramming, where  Multitasking on microcomputers has also been made possible by
the CPU can process the tasks of several programs at the same the development of more powerful microprocessors (like the
time, or time-sharing, where the computing tasks of several Intel Pentium Pro) and their ability to directly address much
users can be processed at the same time. larger memory capacities (up to 4 gigabytes).
 The efficiency of multitasking operations depends on the  This allows an operating system to subdivide primary storage
processing power of a CPU and the virtual memory and multi- into several large partitions, each of which can be used by a
tasking capabilities of the operating system it uses. different application program.

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Operating System …… Characteristics of an Operating system

 In effect, a single computer can act as if it were several computers,  An operating system should have the following characteristics:
or virtual machines, since each application program is running  Reliable: The system should be as reliable as the hardware on
independently at the same time. which it runs. If software or hardware error occur, the system
 The number of programs that can be run concurrently depends on should detect the error and either try to correct the problem or at
the amount of memory that is available and the amount of worst try to minimize the damage to the users of the system
processing each job demands. from the error.
 That’s because a microprocessor (or CPU) can become overloaded
 Protect: The system should protect users from being affected
with too many jobs and provide unacceptably slow response times.
both by errors of other users or malicious attempts at tempering.
 However, if memory and processing capacities are adequate,
multitasking allows end users to easily switch from one application  Efficient: The operating system is usually a complex program
to another, share data files among applications and process some which uses a large part of the hardware resources for its own
applications in a background mode.
function. The resources consumed by it are not available to
 Background tasks include large printing jobs, extensive
users. Consequently the system itself should be as efficient as
mathematical computation, or unattended tele-communications
sessions. possible. In addition, the system should manage users’ resources
to minimize their idle time.

Characteristics of an Operating system Network Management Systems

 Predictable: User’s demands on the system are generally  Today’s information systems rely heavily on the Internet, intranets,
unpredictable. A rough idea of when the user will get response extranets, local area networks, and other telecommunications
should be given. networks to interconnect end user workstations, network servers,
 Convenience: An operating system should be flexible and and other computer systems (Telecommunications will be discussed
convenient. Systems should be designed keeping users in mind. in the Lecture ten).
It should cater for all different users (User friendly).  This requires a variety of system software for network management,
including network operating systems, network performance
monitors, telecommunications monitors, and so on. These
programs are used by network servers and other computers in a
network to manage network performance.
 Network management programs perform such functions as
automatically checking client PCs and video terminals for
input/output activity, assigning priorities to data communications
requests from clients and terminals, and detecting and correcting
transmission errors and other network problems.

Network Management Systems Database Management Systems

 In addition, some network management programs function as  Some examples of microcomputer database management
middleware to help diverse networks communicate with each programs are Microsoft Access, Lotus Approach, or Corel
Paradox. Others used in Organisations are Oracle & SQL Server.
other. Examples of network management programs include
Novell Netware; the most widely used network operating system  In mainframe and midrange computer systems, a database
management system (DBMS) is considered an important system
for complex interconnected local area networks.
software package that controls the development, use, and
 Microsoft’s Windows NT Server and IBM’s OS/2 Web Server are maintenance of the databases of computer-using organizations.
the other popular network operating systems. IBM’s tele-  A DBMS program helps organizations use their integrated
communication monitor CICS (Customer Identification and collections of data records and files known as databases. It
Control System) is an example of a widely used tele- allows different user application programs to easily access the
communications monitor for mainframe-based wide area same database.
networks.  For example, a DBMS make it easy for an employee database to
 IBM’s Net View and Hewlett-Packard’s Open view are examples be accessed by payroll, employee benefits, and other human
of network management programs for managing several resource programs.
mainframe-based or midrange-based computer networks.  A DBMS also simplifies the process of retrieving information
from databases in the form of displays and reports.

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Database Management Systems Other System Management Programs

 Instead of having to write computer programs to extract  Several other types of system management software are marketed
information, end users ask simple questions in a query language. as separate programs or are included as part of an operating
 Many DBMS packages provide fourth-generation languages (4GLs) system.
and other application development features.
 Utility programs, or utilities, or Service programs are an
 Example of popular mainframe and midrange data base
management systems are DB2 by IBM and Oracle 8 by Oracle important example.
Corporation, SQL Server by Microsoft etc. In short, the following is  Programs like Norton Utilities perform miscellaneous
the summary of what a DBMS does:
housekeeping and file conversion functions. Examples include
 Interface user to database contents.
data backup, data recovery, virus protection, data compression
 Construct the database contents.
and file defragmentation. Most operating systems also provide
 Ensure growth of database.
 Manage storage space.
many utilities that perform a variety of helpful chores for
 Protect the contents of the database. computer users.
 Monitors usage of the database.  Utility Software (service programs). Some of the common
 Maintain a dictionary of data within the database. service programs are:

Other System Management Programs Other System Management Programs

 Copy Utility: It is usually a good practice to maintain copies of
 Text editors: They are used to create and subsequently, modify
textual information. Editing can be carried out using the edit operational files so that in case something goes wrong, their
keys on the keyboard or by using sequence of instructions. contents can be recreated. The duplicating of these files is done
by utility software.
 Language Translators: These are software used to translate the
 Dump Utility: “Dump” means copying the contents of the main
source code, (the program statement coded into any of the
memory onto an output device. This is useful when an error
computer programming languages) to machine language (object
occurs during the running of an application program.
code), the only language a computer understands.
 Other examples of system support programs include
 Sort Utility: This is used to arrange the records within a file performance monitors and security monitors.
according to some predetermined sequence e.g. in ascending  Performance monitors are programs that monitor and adjust
order. the performance and usage of one or more computer systems to
 Merge Utility: this is used to influence the combining of the keep them running efficiently.
contents of two or more input files to produce one output file.  Security monitors are packages that monitor and control the
use of computer systems and provide warning messages and
record evidence of unauthorized use of computer resources.

Other System Management Programs User Programs ……

 A recent trend is to merge both types of programs into operating  Application software refers to programs, which help the
systems like Microsoft’s Windows NT Server, or into system computer user to work efficiently on specific applications. They
management software like Computer Associate’s CA-Unicenter, are classified under:
that can manage several mainframe systems in a data center.  User Programs.
 Application Packages.

 User application programs are programs written by the user in

order to perform specific jobs for the user.
 Such programs are written in a variety of programming
languages.
 Programs could be written: to process payroll, for general
accounting, for inventory control etc. Programmers develop the
software.

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Application Packages Application Packages …..

 These are off-the-shelf programs that are developed and supplied  They can be rented by users who require their services
by computer manufactures, software houses or bureaus at a price periodically.
some can be general purpose examples of such programs are:  They are portable and most of them come with maintenance
spreadsheets, word process, database managers or specific agreement between the supplier and the buyer.
programs e.g. payroll or order processing.
Disadvantages of Packages
 One may need to modify application package to suit their specific
needs, but only with an authorization from the developer.  They might not fit well into the organizations processing tasks
since they are intended to meet a variety of user’s needs.
Advantages of Packages.
 They are usually well tested, because the testing activity is a  The user may not be free to correct any routines of the package;
combined effort of a pool of professionals. because there is always a maintenance guarantee and/or the
 They help save time and resources that would have been spent on
developer’s copyright (user doesn’t own the program only buys
the right to use).
program development.
 They are easy to learn because most of them are menu-driven -
the user is guided by a set of option lists displayed on the screen.

Application Packages ….. Application Packages …..

 Trends in Computer software is towards multipurpose, networked –  They share common tools, such as spell checkers and help
enabled expert-assisted packages with natural languages and wizards to make easy end user application.
graphical user interface. These are integrated package called  They work together securely, and import each other’s files easily,
software suites. no matter which program you are using at a time. These
 Most software suites integrate software packages for web browsing, capabilities make them more efficient and easier to use than
word processing, spreadsheets, presentation graphics, database
using a variety of individual packages versions.
management, personal information management and more. These Disadvantages of Software Suites
packages can also be purchased as separate stand-alone products:  Industry critics argue that many software suite features are never
Advantages of Software Suites used by most end users – meaning one spends on something
 Software suites cost less than the total cost of buying its individual they don’t use.
packages.  Suites take up a lot storage space sometimes referred to as bloat
 Software suites have similar graphical user Interface of icons, tool ware
and status bars, menus etc. This gives them the same look, and  Some users might find them too expensive especially if one is
makes them easier to learn. not using all the packages.

Network Application Software Network Application Software

 Since the trend of computer usage is towards Internet use, we
 Hypertext Markup Language (HTML): A language designed
shall explore some of the general application software used in
to transmit documents that contain different media formats on
computer networks. But first let us look at definitions of some of
the same document e.g. text, graphics, movies, sounds, and
the terms used in the descriptions of the software.
hypertext links to other documents and resources.
 World Wide Web (WWW): System that stores data in an already
 Hypertext Transfers Protocol (HTTP): The rules or protocol
usable format that can be accessed via the internet.
of WWW. HTTP is the Internet standard that supports the
 Hypertext: The non sequential retrieval of a document’s text.
exchange of information on the Web. HTTP enables other Webs
The reader pursues trails through the document by means of
to embed hyper links in Web documents.
links.
 Uniform Resource Locator (URL): A code or address
 Hypermedia/Hypertext System: Hypertext system that enables
developed to identify a resource on the Internet. It contains
the user to navigate through graphics, sound, animation, and
strings of characters to determine which server to connect to
video to find data related to a topic. In such a system (e.g. World
and which resource to find on the server.
Wide Web) one clicks underlined words in a document to access
other resources on other computers.

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Network Application Software Network Application Software

 Hypertext and hypermedia are foundation technologies for  Industry experts are predicting that the web browser will be the
multimedia presentations. By definition hypertext contains only text model for how most people will use networked computers into
and a limited amount of graphics. Hypermedia is an electronic the next century. So now, whether you want to watch a video,
document that contains multiple forms of media, including text, make a phone call, download some software, hold a video
graphics, video, and so on. conference, check your e-mail, or work on a spreadsheet of
 Web Browsers: The most important software component for many your team’s business plan, you can use your browser to launch
computer users today is the one simple and limited, but powerful and host such applications. That’s why browsers are being
software that enables users to navigate their way through the called the universal client, that is, the software component
hyperlinked resources of the World Wide Web and the rest of the installed on the workstations of all the clients (users) in
Internet, as well as corporate intranets and extranets. client/server networks throughout an enterprise.
 Once limited to surfing the web, browsers are becoming the  The web browser has also become only one component of a new
universal software platform on which end users launch into suite of communications and collaboration software that
information searchers, E-mail, multimedia file transfer, discussion
Netscape and other vendors are assembling in a variety of
groups, and many other Internet, intranet, and extranet applications.
configurations.

Network Application Software Network Application Software

 Electronic Mail: The first thing many people do at work all over the  Full-featured E-mail software like Microsoft Exchange E-mail or
world is check their e-mail. Electronic mail has changed the way Netscape Messenger can route messages to multiple end users
people work and communicate. Millions of end users now depend based on predefined mailing lists and provide password security,
on E-mail software to communicate with each other by sending and automatic message forwarding, and remote user access. They
receiving electronic messages via the Internet or their organizations’ also allow you to store messages in folders with provisions for
intranets or extranets. adding attachments to message files.
 E-mail is stored on network servers until you are ready to read them.  E-mail packages may also enable you to edit and send graphics
Whenever you want to, you can read your E-mail by displaying it on and multimedia as well as text, and provide bulletin board and
your workstations. So, with only a few minutes of effort (and a few computer conferencing capabilities. Finally, your E-mail
microseconds or minutes of transmission time), a message to one or
software may automatically filter and sort incoming messages
many individuals can be composed, sent, and received.
(even news items from online services) and route them to
 E-mail software is now a component of top software suites and some appropriate user mailboxes and folders.
web browsers.
 E-mail packages like Eudora and Pine are typically provided to
Internet users by Internet service providers and educational
institutions.

Application Software Application Software

 Word Processing and Desktop Publishing: Software for word  Or you can identify and correct grammar and punctuation
processing has transformed the process of writing. Word errors, as well as suggest possible improvements in your writing
processing packages computerize the creation, editing, revision, style with grammar and style checker functions. Another text
and printing of documents (such as letters, memos, and reports)
productivity tool is an idea processor or outliner function.
by electronically processing your text data (words, phrases,
sentences, and paragraphs).  It helps you organize and outline your thoughts before you
 Top word processing packages like Microsoft Word, Lotus prepare a document or develop a presentation. Besides
WordPro, and Corel WordPerfect, can provide a wide variety of converting documents to HTML format, you can also use the top
attractive printed documents with their desktop publishing packages to design and create web pages from scratch for an
capabilities. These packages can also convert all documents to
Internet or intranet web site.
HTML format for publication as web pages on corporate intranets
or the World Wide Web.  Electronic Spreadsheets: Electronic spreadsheet packages like
 Word processing packages also provide advanced features. For Lotus 1-2-3 and Microsoft Excel are used for business analysis,
example, a spelling checker capability can identify and correct planning and modeling. They help you develop an electronic
spelling errors and a thesaurus feature helps you find a better spreadsheet, which is a worksheet of rows and columns which
choice of words to express ideas.
can be stored on your PC, a network server,

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Application Software Application Software

or converted to HTML format and stored as a web page or web  Database management packages such as Microsoft Access, Lotus
sheet on the World Wide Web. Developing a spreadsheet involves approach, or Corel Paradox allow you to set up and manage
designing its format and developing the relationships (formulas) databases on your PC, network server, or the World Wide Web.
that will be used in the worksheet. Most database managers can perform four primary tasks.
 In response to your input, the computer performs necessary  Database development. Define and organize the content,
calculations based on the relationships (formulas) you defined in relationships, and structure of the data needed to build a database,
the spreadsheet, and displays results immediately, whether at your including any hyperlinks to data on web pages.
workstation or web site. Most packages also help you develop
 Database interrogation. Access the data in a database to
graphic displays of spreadsheet results.
display information in a variety of formats. End users can
 Database Management: Microcomputer versions of database selectively retrieve and display information and produce forms,
management programs have become so popular that they are now reports, and other documents, including web pages.
viewed as general-purpose application software packages like
word processing and spreadsheet packages.

Application Software Application Software

 Presentation graphics has proved to be much more effective
 Database maintenance Add, delete, update, and correct the data
in a database, including hyperlinked data on web pages. than tabular presentations of numeric data for reporting and
 Application development Develop prototypes of web pages, communicating in advertising media, management reports, or
Queries, forms, reports, and labels for a proposed business other business presentations.
application. Or use a built-in 4GL or application generator to
program the application.  Presentation graphics software packages like Microsoft
 Presentation Graphics and Multimedia: Presentation graphics PowerPoint, Lotus Freelance, or Corel Presentations give you
packages help you convert numeric data into graphics displays such many easy-to-use capabilities that encourage the use of graphics
as line charts, bar graphs, pie charts and many other types of presentations.
graphics. Most of the top packages also help you prepare
multimedia presentations of graphics, photos, animation, and video  For example, most packages help you design and manage
clips, including publishing to the World Wide Web. computer generated and orchestrated slide shows containing
 Not only are graphics and multimedia displays easier to many integrated graphics business presentations, prepare and
comprehend and communicate than numeric data but multiple- edit the outline and notes for a presentation, and manage the
color and multiple-media displays also can more easily emphasize
key points, strategic differences, and important trends in the data. use of multimedia files of graphics, photos, sounds, and video
clips.

Application Software Application Software

 And of course, the top packages help you tailor your graphics and
project; or a display of key facts and financial data about
multimedia presentation for transfer in HTML-format to web sites
customers, clients, or sales prospects.
on corporate intranets or the World Wide Web.
 Personal Information Managers: The personal information
 Personal information managers are sold as independent programs
manager (PIM) is a popular software package for end user or are included in software suites, and vary widely in their style,
productivity and collaboration. PIMs such as Lotus Organizer and structure, and features.
Microsoft Outlook help end users store, organize and retrieve  For example, Lotus Organizer uses a notebook with tabs format,
information about customers, clients, and prospects, or schedule while Microsoft Outlook organizes data about people as a
and manage appointments, meetings, and tasks. continuous A to Z list. Most PIMs emphasize the maintenance of
 The PIM package will organize data you enter and retrieve contact lists, that is, customers, clients, or prospects.
information in a variety of forms, depending on the style and  Scheduling appointments and meetings and task management
structure of the PIM and the information you want. For example, are other top PIM applications.
information can be retrieved as an electronic calendar or list of
 PIMs are now changing to include the ability to access the World
appointments, meetings, or other things to do; the timetable for a
Wide Web or provide E-mail capability.

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Application Software Application Software ..

 Also, some PIMs use Internet and E-mail features to support  Groupware products are changing in several ways to meet the
team collaboration by sharing information such as contact lists, demand for better tools for collaboration. Groupware is now
task lists, and schedules with other networked PIM users. designed to use the Internet and corporate intranets and
 Groupware: Groupware is collaboration software, that is, extranets to make collaboration possible on a global scale by
software that helps workgroups and teams work together to virtual teams located anywhere in the world.
accomplish group assignments. Groupware is a fast growing  For example, team members might use the Internet for global E-
category of general-purpose application software that combines
mail, project discussion forums, and joint web page
a variety of software features and functions to facilitate
development. Or they might use corporate intranets to publish
collaboration.
project news and progress reports, and work jointly on
 For example, groupware products like Lotus Notes, Novell
documents stored on web servers.
Group wise, Microsoft Exchange, and Netscape Communicator
and Collabra, support collaboration through electronic mail,  Collaborative capabilities are also being added to other software
to give them groupware features.
discussion groups and databases, scheduling, task
management, data, audio and video-conferencing, and so on.

Application Software Systems Development Programs

 For example, in the Microsoft Office software suite, Microsoft  These programs fall under software because they are used to
Word keeps track of who made revisions to each document, develop software. System development programs help users
Excel tracks all changes made to a spreadsheet, and Outlook lets develop information system programs and procedures and
you keep track of tasks you delegate to other team members. prepare user programs for computer processing.
 Application-specific: Thousands of application-specific  Major development programs are programming language
software packages are available to support specific applications of translators and editors, other programming tools, and
end users in business and other fields. For example, application- computer-aided software engineering (CASE) packages. To
specific packages in business support managerial, professional, understand computer software, you need a basic knowledge of
and business uses such as transaction processing, decision the role that programming languages play in the development of
support, accounting, sales management, investment analysis, computer programs.
and electronic commerce.

Systems Development Programs Systems Development Programs

 Machine Languages (of first-generation languages) as explained
 Instructions must be included for every switch and indicator
in Lecture two, are the most basic level of programming
used by the program.
languages. In the early stages of computer development, all
 These requirements make machine language programming a
program instructions had to be written using binary codes unique
difficult and error-prone task.
to each computer.
 Assembler Languages (or second-generation languages) are
 This type of programming involves the difficult task of writing
instructions in the form of strings of binary digits (ones and zeros)
the next level of programming languages. They were developed
or other number systems. Programmers must have a detailed to reduce the difficulties in writing machine language programs.
knowledge of the internal operations of the specific type of CPU  The use of assembler languages requires language translator
programs called assemblers that allow a computer to convert
they are using.
the instructions of such languages into machine instructions.
 They must write long series of detailed instructions to accomplish  Assembler languages are frequently called symbolic languages
even simple processing tasks. because symbols are used to represent operation codes and
 Programming in machine language requires specifying the storage storage locations.
locations for every instruction and item of data used.

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Systems Development Programs Systems Development Programs

 Convenient alphabetic abbreviations called mnemonics  Also, note that each assembler instruction corresponds to a
(memory aids) and other symbols represent operation codes, single machine instruction, and that the same number of
instructions are required in both illustrations.
storage locations, and data elements.
 Assembler languages are still widely used as a method of
 An assembler language uses alphabetic abbreviations that are
programming a computer in a machine-oriented language.
easier to remember in place of the actual numeric addresses of
 This feature is particularly desirable to system programmers,
the data.
who program, system software (as opposed to application
 This greatly simplifies programming, since the programmer programmers, who program application software), since it
does not need to know the exact storage locations of data and provides them with greater control and flexibility in designing a
instructions. However, assembler language is still machine program for a particular computer.
oriented, because assembler language instructions correspond  They can then produce more efficient software; that is programs
closely to the machine language instructions of the particular that require a minimum of instructions, storage, and CPU time
computer model being used. to perform a specific processing assignment.

Systems Development Programs Systems Development Programs

 High-Level Languages (or third-generation languages) use  A high-level language is obviously easier to learn and
instructions, which are called statements that use brief understand than an assembler language. Also, high-level
statements or arithmetic expressions. language programs are usually less efficient than assembler
 Individual high-level language statements are actually language programs and require a greater amount of computer
macroinstructions; that is, each individual statement generates time for translation into machine instructions.
several machine instructions, when translated into machine
 Since most high-level languages are machine independent,
language by high-level language translator programs called programs written in a high-level language do not have to be
compilers or interpreters. reprogrammed when a new computer is installed, and computer
 High-level language statements resemble the phrases or programmers do not have to learn a new language for each
mathematical expressions required to express the problem or computer they program.
procedure being programmed.  Types of High Level Languages
 The syntax (vocabulary), punctuation, and grammatical rules  Commercial Languages.

and the semantics (meanings) of such statements do not reflect  Scientific Languages.

the internal code of any particular computer.  Command Languages for Operating Systems.
 Multipurpose Languages.

Types of High-Level Languages.….

Types of High-Level Languages.….  Scientific Languages: The first scientific language was
 Commercial Language: The most known commercial language FORTRAN. The first standard was established in 1966. It is still
is Common Business Oriented Language (COBOL), devised in being used for engineering, mathematical applications and
1959 by Committee On Data Systems Language (CODASYL). scientific application. An early competitor of FORTRAN was
ALGO (Algorithmic Oriented Language) by IFIP (International
BASIC and PASCAL are often used on small computers and C
Federation for Information Processing) in 1960.
has become wide spread on the Internet.
Features of scientific languages are:
Features of Commercial Languages
 Extensive arithmetic computation
 Extensive file handling.
 Inbuilt mathematical function
 Close resemblance to English
 Ability to handle mathematical expressions and procedures.
 Suited to structuring and handling layouts of tabulated outputs,
reports, special forms etc.

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Types of High-Level Languages.…. Types of High-Level Languages.….

 It was originally defined to be a simplified version of FORTRAN,
 Command Languages for Operating Systems: These
languages are used to control the operation of the computer. but has grown to become a very popular multi purpose
language, available on a wide variety of machines, especially
 Thus computer user communicates with the computer by use of
micro and mini computers.
commands, e.g. copy, cut, paste, open, close e.t.c.
 The latest development in basic is Visual Basic, a product of
 Multipurpose Languages: These languages cope with different
Microsoft based on BASIC but having numerous extra features
type of applications e.g. business and scientific.
to enable the programming of applications using Graphical
 For example: PL/1:- A language introduced by IBM intended for User Interface (GUI).
use for business and scientific applications.
 One language which has gained popularity is called C. It was
 It is too large for use on small machines such as micro computers originally developed as a special purpose language for systems
and some other manufacturers have been reluctant to adopt it. programming on the UNIX operating system. A new language
 BASIC: In full it is Beginners All – Purpose Symbolic Instruction based on C known as C++ is also proving very popular for
Code. It was created in 1964 for use in teaching programming. Object Oriented Programming.

Types of High-Level Languages.…. Types of High-Level Languages.….

 Features of Multi Purpose Languages  Input data and validation checks
 They are rich in control structures.  They are user oriented, easy to learn since they use natural
 They provide a variety of data types and structures. syntax, and near English language. They also use menus and
 They provide facilities for mathematical expressions and prompt to guide a non-specialist to retrieve data with ease. Very
functions. little training is essential before these language’s programs can
 They have facilities for handling procedures and sub-programs. be used or developed.
 Fourth Generation Languages (4GLs)  Depending on how a 4GL has been designed, it may either be
 A 4GL may be regarded as being a very high-level language that used by end-users directly or used by a computer specialist to
provides simple powerful ways for the user to do such things as build an end-user system.
handling user queries and defining:  Fifth Generation Languages are in a state of development, and
 What processing must be performed on the data those that have been developed are not popular. They are meant
 Layouts of reports or screen based forms, including the formats of
for expert systems and artificial intelligence. The trend is to have
printed or displayed data
 Processing operations to be carried out in preparation of reports
a computer reason and think like human beings in order to assist
or in the user’s interaction with screen-based forms managers in organizations.

Software Evaluation Factors Software Evaluation Factors ……

 Organizations should not focus on long term needs when buying  Connectivity - Is it network-enabled so it can easily access the
packages for the fast-charging computer world. They should Internets, extranets, and other networks on its own, or by
concentrate on more readily available current needs. working with network browsers or other network software?
 This is a cheaper selection method and can justify writing off the  Language - Is it written in a programming language that is
shelf packages after maybe 3 years. used by our own computer programmers?
 Just like hardware, one has to be careful when buying software.  Documentation - Is it the software well documented? Does it
 Below are some of the factors the need to be considered: include helpful user instructions?
 Efficiency - Is the software a well-developed system of computer  Hardware - Does existing hardware have the features required
instructions or objects that does not use much memory capacity to best use this software?
or CPU time?  Other Factors - What are its performance, cost, reliability,
 Flexibility - Can it handle its processing assignments easily availability, compatibility, modularity, technology, ergonomics,
without major modification? scalability, and support characteristics?
 Security - Does it provide control procedures for errors,
malfunctions, and improper use?

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THE END
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