THEORY AND PRACTICE OF ASSISTED TRANSLATION

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COMPUTER SOFTWARE

Software refers to the instructions given to a computer in the form of numbered lines
called programs that control the running of the computer. It can be held in any form of
computer memory, including backing storage. But software is not the chip or the floppy disc,
it is the programs recorded. The programs are written in high level languages or in a lower-
level form (assembly language and even in binary machine code itself). High level languages
can be compiled to machine code to allow them to run in a computer, or interpreted line by
line to this form as the program runs. The data is therefore able to be restored to the form of
its input –for example, text and numbers.
Software can be obtained in many ways (Fig. 7). You can write your own, using a
high-level computer language such as BASIC, Pascal, COBOL or LOGO. You can buy it
ready-made. Bought software is referred to as a package. Most packages have a specific
purpose or application. You might buy an applications package to chat on the internet or to
translate.
Content free packages are packages which are useful in a variety of ways, but used to
do similar tasks. These packages cover application areas rather than specific applications. For
example, content free packages are used for Wordprocessing, Graphic Design, Databases, and
Desk Top Publishing.
The operating system (OS) is a type of program that makes the hardware available to
other applications or content free packages and other programs. All user software runs on the
OS which, in turn, runs or controls the hardware. The OS is technically a group of programs
and routines that helps the user do a variety of tasks associated with the day-to-day operation
of the computer, such as loading and saving programs and data, and it prepares the PC to
interact with the peripherals and the user. Some of the most popular Oss are the old TOS
(Tape Operating System) now superseded by DOS (Disc Operating System) which is used in
Microsoft ISs; and the Unix which is used in the mainframes of computer networks.
Another type of software are the utility programs. These programs perform tasks
which relate more to the successful use of the computer than to any information systems task.
For example, some utility programs are part of the OS. These would be used to do tasks such

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as copying or formatting discs. You could buy new utility programs to upgrade existing ones
or to do tasks that might be not done by the OS such as recover deleted files from a disc, zip
an unzip files, etc. In all cases, back-ups or security copies can be kept.

Fig. 7

A Computer language may be defined as a set of syntactic and semantic rules that
enable the programmer to write well-formed formulas in the form of a program. Programs are
written to tell the computer how to solve a particular problem, but in order to be understood

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by the computer, these programs must be translated into binary logic. Machine code is the
programming language which uses binary logic to give instructions that can be recognised and
executed by the computer without any intermediate translation.
Computer languages are of two types: low-level and high-level. Low-level languages,
for example assembly language, are machine-oriented programming languages in which each
program instruction corresponds to a single machine-code instruction. An assembler or
assembly program usually provided by the computer manufacturer translates a low-level
language program into machine code.
High-level languages are problem-oriented programming languages which resemble
natural language, and in which each instruction may be equivalent to several machine code
instructions. These languages are interpreted by the computer with the aid of a compiler or an
interpreter. The compiler is a program which translates a high-level language program into a
computer’s machine code or some other low-level language. Each high-level language
instruction is changed into several machine-code instructions producing an independent
program which is capable of being executed (i.e. carrying out instructions specified by the
machine code version of a program). An interpreter is a program which translates into
machine code and executes a source program one statement at a time.
Computer languages vary according to the target area. There are general use computer
languages like BASIC (Beginners’ All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code), a simple
programming language usually available on microcomputers with an interpreter, PASCAL,
LOGO (widely known for its turtle graphics), etc. There are business computer languages like
COBOL (Common Business Oriented Language) for business data processing and PL/1
(Programming Language 1) used both for scientific and business computing. There are also
specifically scientific computer languages like FORTRAN (Formula Translation) and APL,
which is widely used in the programming of mathematics.

The Operating System (OS) is the main program that runs on a computer. The OS is
in fact a collection of system programs that control the activities of the computer system such
as job control, input/output and processing. Unless it is present, a computer cannot normally
be used. In a typical PC, the OS is present in a ROM chip, thus leaving all the RAM memory
free for user programs and data.
Some of the available OS are DOS, UNIX, VMS and VM/CMS. Most computers use
the MS-DOS (MicroSoft Disc Operating System) operating system which handles files and
programs stored on disc. The OS:

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 Supervises programs while they are running. The OS looks after programs while they are
being run, making sure no problems arise and helping to overcome them if they do.
 Makes the hardware easy to use. User programs run on the OS, which runs between the
user program and the hardware using simplified standard routines provided by the OS. For
example, it ensures that key presses result in corresponding character displays on the screen.
 Helps the user decide what to do. The OS supervises the running of user programs and will
display messages telling the user what to do. For example, if the printer has run out of paper
the OS will attract the user’s attention to this.
 Makes programs portable from one computer to another. OSs provide a standardised
environment, enabling user programs to use peripherals, such as disc drives, by giving the
same instructions on any computer running that OS.

User Programs

OS
(main program & utilities)

Hardware
(computer proper & peripherals)

Fig. 8

 Provides utilities to manage the computer system. For discs, there will be instructions to
format the disc and to delete, rename or copy files saved on the disc. The OS will maintain a
directory (or catalogue) of a disc, which is simply a list of the filenames of all the files on a
disc. This directory is itself saved on the disc.

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 Optimises the use of resources. In larger computers the OS will arrange the use of
hardware and software resources, so that maximum use is made of them and all users get a
fair share. Users can be given priorities. A log will be kept by the OS which records who is
using and used the computer, how long they used it and what they did. This gives enough
information so that users may be charged for the resources they have used.
 Maintains security. On larger computers and networks each person who is allowed to use
the computer will have a User Identification Number (User Id). Each user also has a password
which is known only to the user. The OS keeps a register of all the User Ids and passwords
and will only allow registered users who give the correct password to use the computer.

Utility programs are systems programs designed to perform a commonplace task such as
the transfer of data from one storage device to another or sorting a set of data. They are sets of
functions which accompany a predefined programming environment. That is, they aid the OS
to perform functional tasks.

User programs are either ready-made packages or tailor-made programs to suit the user’s
demands. User programs may cover specific applications like translating a text, taking digital
pictures, running a machine, turning on lights, etc. These are known as application software.
They may also be used to cover a series of related applications like word processing, graph
processing, etc. which require the ability to solve several individual problems. These are
called content-free packages.

Back-ups are extra copies of programs or data bases made as a security precaution against
loss through accident, malicious damage or theft. Both disc and tapes are unreliable storage
media and occasionally programs or data recorded on them will be corrupted or lost in some
other way. When data is corrupted it is changed so that it is meaningless. The only wahy to
restore the lost information is often by copying it form the backup to the original disc/tape.
Where it is very important to be sure that programs and data are always safe from corruption,
the ancestral back-up system is used: son-father-grandfather. The son is the copy of the
programs and data currently in use. This will be backed-up on a regular basis, perhaps daily.
The father is the most recent copy of the son. The grandfather is the copy of the son that was
taken before the father. This system is a very effective way of making sure it is always
possible to restore corrupted programs and data.

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