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Concepts Of
Software.
Name : zeke yeager

Class
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Computer System

There are two parts of a computer system. They are as follows:

Hardware- physical components of a computer.
Software- codes or a set of instructions given to a computer to run the
hardware.
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Software
A program is a sequence of instructions which are written to solve a
specific problem and to function the hardware. All programs used to
perform tasks in a computer are known as software.
The software can be categorised into four basic types depending upon
their functions and users requirement. The types of softwares are:

 System software

 Application software

 Utility software

 Programming tools.
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System
Software
System software includes the programs that provide the environment for
running applications and are designed to control the operating system of
the computer. The programs included in the system software interact with
the hardware at the core of it. It directs the time, gives instructions to the
computer. The software is like an interface of between the hardware and
the user. There are four functions of the system software:

 Reading the data and receiving the information.

 Translating the data and instructions to a language which is easier for

the computer to understand.

 Controlling all the peripheral devices of the computer.

 Processing the data and displaying the output on the monitor.

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Types Of System Software

The two types of system software are:

 Operating Software- this type of system software is a
connection of special programs that are used to manage the
overall operations of a computer.
 Language Translators- will do after reaching this point.
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Operating Software
This program acts as an interface between the user and the
hardware of the computer. This software helps in managing
the resources of the computer. This software does all the basic
tasks such as identifying the devices connected to the
computer, taking information form the input device and
sending processed data to the output device, keep track of all
the files and controlling all the other peripheral devices such
as disks , drives and printers.
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Need For Operating System

The operating system is essential to run all the other programs. It is needed for
the following reasons:
 User interface- it provides programs to help prepare a way to interact with
the user either through GUI or command prompts
 Program execution- OS loads the exact programs the computer needs to
function properly.
 Resource allocation- it controls and locates the resources of the memory.
 Manipulation of file system- it manages the format in which the files are
stored and retrieved from a hard disk.
 I/O operations- it also handles the input and output operations.
 Error detection- it has a crucial function which it to detect the errors.
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Functions of the operating system
 Resource management- the computer needs to manage at the files and resources once
it has multi-users. As there are more the need to manage the memory is greater. It
keeps a track of who is using which resource and to grants resource requests and also
handles all the requests.
 Process management- the operating system manages all the processes that take place
in a computer, the system monitor program can be activated by pressing
ctrl+alt+delete. This system is responsible for completing all the processes in the
minimum amount of time as possible .
 Memory management- the main task of this system is that it gives and takes the
memory , this function has to be done without disturbing any other of the function.
This takes care of the occupied and free memory space , this also keeps a track of the
memory in multi-users too.
 File management- this refers to the creation, updating, storing, deletion and the
protection of the files created by the users in the secondary memory. This prevents
other users to access the files of another user. The file management section handles
the secondary memory while the memory management section handles the main
memory.

 Device management- a computer has many input and output devices and hardware
devices connected to it, this system also takes care of all these heterogeneous devices
which are independent. This software also provides options to the device manager for
configuring the devices. The devices also need security so that no other devices or
users wont be able to access it without permission.
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Operating System User Interface

The operating system provides an interface between the user and

the computer it makes the commands given by the user easier for
the computer to understand. Some of the interfaces are:
 Command-based Interface- it lets the user type in the commands
for the operating system on how it wants the system to perform.
By giving commands the user can create, edit, save and delete
the files. The user here has to remember all the names of the
commands it wants to give out.
 Graphical User Interface- in this interface the user is able to instruct the
computer based on just images, icons, symbols, etc. the mouse and
keyboard are usually used in this interface. Microsoft, Ubuntu, Fedora,
etc use GUI to help communicate with the user.

 Touch-based Interface- in this interface the device uses touch to take in

commands from the user which is already in a form which is easy for the
computer to understand. This inter face is used by smart-touch based-
phones, tablets, etc.

 Gesture-based Interface- in this interface the device lets the user interact
with the computer by using gestures like waving, smiling, tilting, eye-
motion, etc. this technology is not yet out everywhere but it is promised
to be really helpful in gaming, medical usage and in other areas.
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Language Translator/
Compilation
The computer can not understand our language so it has to be
translated into a language which is made with 1’s and 0’s. it is
really hard for a normal person to write in a language only
made with 1’s and 0’s. the programs are mostly written in high-
level languages, eg: python, BASIC, C++,etc. A special
translator is used to translate normal human language to
machine code, it is language processor or translator. There are
tree types of language processors : Assembler, Compiler,
Interpreter.
 Assembler- this is used to translate the program written in assembly
language into machine code. The instruction contained are in the
assembly language. The output of the assembler is a machine code
understandable by the computer.

 Compiler- this compiles the whole program to machine code all at once C
and C++ are some examples of compilers. A source code which is
translated into machine code is known as object code but it consists of
errors. The errors must be removed before the compiler can compile the
source code again.

 Interpreter- when the translator processes one line of source code into
machine code before moving onto the other is known as interpreter. If
there is an error the interpreter terminates it and displays an error
message.
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Application
Software
Application software is the short for app, these are brought by the user to
perform a specific tasks, making documents, ppt, etc. The application
software is divided into two parts which are:

 General Purpose Application Software- these apps are made for day-day
use for the user. These are also known as office tools. The users can use
them as they want in any way, these are made in such a way that they cater
a large number of audience at one time, these can also be used by the user
as end-end as per requirements. Eg: itunes, web browsers, etc.

 Specific Purpose Application- these are made as per the requirements of

the user, this is really similar to get a piece of cloth with the colour wanted
and getting it stitched as per wish. It is also referred as domain-specific
tool, these can not be used by anyone and everyone. Eg: banking system,
billing system, etc.
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Utility
Software
These software assist the computer by performing functions like
scanning, data backup, etc. It can take up certain tasks in maintaining the
computer, it also helps the computer run smoothly. Some of the
commonly used utility software are:

 Antivirus Software- this software detects and removes the computer

virus or the infected areas. This keeps an eye on the whole computer
system and if any virus is found it alerts the user and proceeds to
remove the virus.

 Disk Defragmenter- this helps to rearrange the files and the free space
on the hard disk. The memory is used in small pieces randomly.

 Backup Utility- this helps in backing up of the data. It created a copy

of the whole data and is partially stored somewhere else safe.
 Compression Utility- this compresses large files into smaller ones. These
large files can be restored whenever required. This is important as it
helps in making space so that more stuff can be added to it.

 Disk Cleaner- this scans the disk and prompts the user for the files which
haven’t been used for a long time. These files may have been using a
large space so to remove them it sends the user an alert.

 Device Drivers- this is a program which controls a specific device that is

attached externally to the computer. There are device drivers for every
device which is attached to the computer externally, this is now days in-
built in the computer. ,
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Programming
Tools
The programming tools make it easier for the translators to translate high-
level language to machine code in fraction of seconds. Programming tools
are classified into 3 parts:

 Classification Of Programming Languages: a user can not write

instructions directly into machine code, so the languages are divided into
two types high level and low level languages:
High level language- these are machine independent and simpler to write a
code, the code are supposed to be written in English and then they are
translated into machine codes.
Low level language-these are machine dependent and include machine
language and assembly language. The codes here are really difficult to
write as they are only written in 1’s and 0’s.

 Language Translators- the codes are only supposed to be in a language

which is easy for the machine to understand but hard for the user to write,
so a computer needs to have translators which can translate source codes
to machine code.
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Thank you.
The end.