Basics of computer software - system software,

application software, device drivers

Software is a collect ion of computer programs and documents that direct the
computer to do the tasks. The program defines a sequence of instruct ions or set of
instruct ions that store in the storage medium. Examples of storage media are hard
drive, CD, DVD, pen drives, and USB on which the software can store. If you want
to use a program, first transfer the program into the computer's memory from
storage media.
There are two main categories of computer software.
 System Software
 Applicat ion Software
Computer uses the system software for proper funct ioning of the computer. The
user can use t he Applicat ion software for doing specific tasks. System software
act as an intermediate between hardware and applicat ion software. The applicat ion
software act as a mediator between system software and user

Sy s te m S of t w a r e
System Software is necessary for proper working of the computer. It provides basic
operation and funct ionalit y to the computer, so that the computer can work itself.
Whenever the user uses the computer, they don't need to be aware of underlying
software, and they can simply use it. For example if you want to print the
document, you simply use the printer. You don't need to know the device driver,
because when request any device to use, the corresponding device driver software
interrelates wit h appropriate hardware device to perform the specific task.
Main funct ions of system software Provide basic funct ionalit y.
 Acts as an int erface between hardware components and applicat ion
software.
 Control all hardware components of the computer.
 The user can simply use the computer without knowing the underlying
software.
System software is further divided into two categories.
1. System so ftware for computer management
o Operat ing system
o Device drivers
o System ut ilit ies
2. System software for developing software
o Programming languages
o Translator software
o Linker
o Loader

Sy s te m s of t w a r e f or c o m p ut e r m a na g e me nt
O p e ra t i n g s y s t e m
It is a first and most required software that is required for the computer to operate.
The main features of the Operat ing System
 It provides the environment on which the user and applicat ion software can
do their work.
  It acts intermediate between hardware and user. Not only th at, but it also
controls and coordinates the use of hardware components among the user
and applicat ion software.
 The OS manages the all resources and allocates them to the user and other
program whenever that is needed.
Examples of operating systems are Windows 7, Window XP, Windows 8, Windows
10, MacOS, Linux, Unix, and Android OS.

Device Drivers
Device Driver is the translator or intermediate between hardware and software.
Device driver is a system software which is needed for proper funct ioning of
hardware devices like keyboard, mouse, speaker, webcam, printer, monitor, hard
disk, scanner, and so on. For each device, the corresponding device driver software
must be installed on the computer then only that device can work properly. For
example, when we want to print a text, a print ing command is sent to the printer
driver which converts the command into certain forms that should be understood
by t he printer. The device driver software for all commonly used hardware devices
are given by respect ive device manufacturers.
Today, most of the operat ing system comes with preinstalled device drivers like
keyboard, mouse, and monitor.

System Utilities
It is the system software that helps the user maintaining the computer. Utilit y
programs are available to the user for easy handling of the computer. It is required
to enhance the funct ionalit y of the computer. The necessary ut ilit y software is
usually included wit h the operating system for the basic funct ioning of the
computer.
Some examples of ut ilit y software pr ograms are given below:

 Anti-virus utilities:-used to scan the computer system.

 Debugger utilities:-used to test and debug the other program and also to
solve programming errors.
 System monitors:-used to monitor the resources and performance of the
computer.
 Cryptography utilities:- used to encrypt and decrypt the data streams and
files.
 Data compression utilities:-used to compress the content of the files.
 Disk compression utilities:- used to compress/ uncompressed the contents
on the disk.
 Disk partitioning utilities:-used to divide the disk into mult iple logical
driver volumes that can treat as an individual drive. Each drive follows it s
file system.
 Network utilities:-used to configure, check and maint ain the connect ion of
the computer network.
 Backup utilities:- used to make a copy of all informat ion of hard disk that
can be restored in the case of disk failure or file corruption.
 File managers utilities:- used to manage the file system on the computer.
They provide the basic tools to handle the file sys tem. Also, it allows us to
edit text documents that edit ing includes to write, delete, rename, save it to
disk, insert pictures, and so on.
If you want to see the system utilities on your computer, you can view it by going
through the start menu, all programs, accessories, system tools on Windows OS.

Sy s te m s of t w a r e f or de v e l o p i ng s of t w a r e
P ro g ra m m i n g l a n g u a g e
The programming language is the computer language that consists of a sequence
of instructions to perform a specific task. The programming language is being used
to write a program that directs and controls the computer to produce the output.
Each programming language has its own set of keywords and syntax for writ ing
instruct ion. For writ ing a program, many programming languages have developed.
Still, more are being developed. These programming languages are grouped into
three different categories that are:
 Machine language
 Assembly language
 High-level language

M achine langu age

It is the lowest level programming language that uses the numeric form to write
an instruct ion. These programs could be executed direct ly by the hardware of the
computer. The machine language program consists of binary digit s or bits like 0s
and 1s.
The main features of machine language
 The computer can understand the instruction written in machine language
since it is the lowest level programming language.
 It uses the string of 0s and 1s to write an instruction.
 The instruct ion could make the hardware of the computer or the CPUs of
the computer perform a specific task.
 Each CPU has it s own unique set of machine language.
 This is a machine-dependent language since it depends upon the processor
of the computer. That means the machine -level program written on one
computer may not run on another computer with a different processor.
 The program written in machine language is hard to read and modify
because it has written in binary code. For example:10000101110.
 The machine language program is called machine code or object code.
 It can be very difficult for us to write a program by usi ng machine language.

Assemb ly languag e
It is the low-level language that lies between high-level and low-level language.
It was very easier to write a program than machine language.
The main features of assembly language
 It uses the symbolic representat ion that is given by the CPU manufacturers,
for writ ing a program.
 It is the small English-like representation of machine language, that is, it
allows the programmer to use mnemonics for writ ings a program in
assembly language.
 It is machine-dependent. Each assembly language is designed for a specific
computer or even a part icular operating syst em.
 Program written in assembly language is converted into machine code or
object code then only it will be executed by a processor of the computer.
  For conversion, use the translator software such as assembler w hich
converts it into the object or machine code.

H i g h - l e v e l p ro g ra m m i n g l a n g u a g e
 It is an English-like language.
 It uses specific notation to write an instruct ion that is syntax and semant ics.
 It is very easy for the programmer to understand.
 A program written in a high-level language is known as source code that
has to be converted into object code by using a compiler or interpreter.
 Programs written in a high-level language are easily portable across other
computers.
 The user can execute the program written in the high-level language wit hout
knowing the underlying CPUs operations.
 For examples C, C++, java, Fortran, pyt hon, C#, .net, etc.

T ra n s l a t o r
Program written in eit her high level or assembly language has to convert into
machine language code because t he computer can understand only binary digit s.
The conversion has to be done by the translator software. The output of these
translators is known as object code. There are three different types of translators
that are
 Assembler
 Compiler
 Interpreter

Assemb ler
This software has used to convert a program written in assembly language into
machine code or object code. The conversion follows a 1:1 ratio, which means one
assembly language instruct ion will be converted into a machine language
instruct ion.

Compi le r
This software has to be used to convert a program written in a high -level language
into machine language. The high-level program refers to source code, and the
converted program refers to object code . The object code is also known as
executable code. Most of the high-level programming language has its own
compiler. For example C++, Java, Cobol, and FORTRAN. The compiler also uses
to find an error in the program.
The compilat ion would be done in two st eps.
 Break the source code into semant ic representat ion and form the
corresponding intermediate code.
 The intermediate code has to convert into an object or executable code.

I n t e r p re t e r
It is similar to a compiler. It is a software in which the high -level program has to
convert into a machine language program. The interpreter reads the source
program line by line, converts it into machine code, executes the line and, then
only moves to the next line. The example: pyt hon and basic programming
languages use interpreter software for conversion.
Lin ke r
The linker is software that is used to combine executable code wit h required other
modules. It is also used to include the other libraries.

Loader
The loader is software used to load and relocates the executable codes in the
memory storage. At the runtime, the loader has to allocate space in memory and
then load the executable file for execut ion.

App licati on So ftwa re

Applicat ion software is software that allows the user for developing an applicat ion
and performing a specific task. This application software is a single program or a
set of the program in a single package. It provides the int erface between the user
and the monitor. The applicat ion software is usually written in a high -level
language. The applicat ion software can use in different purpose and different
environments such as document creat ion, graphics, media players, account ing,
banking, telecommunicat ions, etc.
Some example of applicat ion software are given below:
 Word Processor-used to write and read text documents. Example: MS-
Word
 Presentation Software-used to prepare and present a slid shower a large
audience. Eg. MS-power point presentation.
 Spreadsheet Software- used for calculat ing budgets and creat ing a table,
and chart, etc. Eg. MS-Excel.
 CAD/CAM Software -used to help in the field of architectural design.
 Image Processing software-used to draw images and manipulat ing
graphics. Example: Adobe Photoshop.
 Accounting Software -used to help in maintaining accounts, salary, tax
return. Example: Tally software
 Web Browser Software-allow us to access the internet as world wide web
for searching data, download images, and videos, playing music, uploading
informat ion, etc. Eg. Internet Explorer, Mochila Firefox, Chrome, and
Netscape Communicator.
 Software Suit- a collect ion of software grouped into one package such as
Word processor, presentat ion software, Spreadsheet software, etc. Eg. MS -
Office, Libra Office, Google Docs, Apple iWork.