FREE online courses on the Basics of a Computer - WHAT IS SOFTWARE - Basic
classification of software
The software family is categorized
into two broad branches -system software and application software. System
software is the base level software needed to run any application. It has to be
present for the applications software to function. This software decides which
program gets priority in the use of the various resources, such as disk or
printer or memory. It translates the application software into a form
understandable by the computer. System software understands the computer's
insides, and makes it easier for the uninitiated to fruitfully use the computer
without knowing its nuts and bolts. Considering the hardware as the kernel, we
can liken system software to the immediate layer after it and application
software to the outer layer.
Application software is software
designed to specifically perform a particular user function or application. For
the application software, the computer is a means, not the focus. The project
management package the manager may be using is application software. Application
software is the software for the user that the uses the computer to do the
processing and give the results needed by the user. It could be for any area-be
it financial accounting or payroll or operations research or engineering design.
In any computer, system software
availability is a major factor in deciding the complexity of the application
software that can be built for it, as it is the system software that determines
the limits to which the computer can be taken. It is this inner core of system
software that makes it possible for users to access the hardware and dictate
terms to it without ever learning about these ones and zeros and binary
arithmetic. This is because this software does the necessary translation and
interpretation and renders the computer more usable. Making system software is
thus a specialized field, and those who venture into it are normally specialists
in the computer field.
Application software is specific
to solving a problem or a set of problems, using a computer through system
software. The same software may run only on one computer, or may be portable
across computers; it depends on the way the software is designed. The design of
application software is again done by those who know about computers, but they
need not be hard-core computer persons. They should also know about the
application that is being computerized, or be in close touch with those who do.
The whole discipline of designing such software forms what is called systems
analysis and design. Whereas simple systems can possibly be designed by persons
with less experience, complex systems need experienced analysts.
