Is a

Industry

Industry attributes

Parent Industry

Technology

0

Child Industry

Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services

Cloud computing

Enterprise software

Software engineering

Software development

Cybersecurity

Social media

Social network

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Other attributes

Location

Computer hardware

Software is a set of instructions, data, or programs used to operatecomputers and execute specific tasks. Software is a generic term used to refer to applications, scripts, and programs that run on a device. Software is the variable part of acomputer, whilehardwareis the invariable part.

The two main categories of software areapplication software andsystem software.Application software fills a specific need or task.System software is designed to run acomputer'shardware and provides a platform for applications to run on top of.

Other types of software includeprogramming software, which provides the toolssoftware developers need;middleware, which mediates between software; and driver software, known asdevice drivers, which operatescomputerdevices and peripheral hardware likeprinters.

The most common type of software isapplication software.Application software is a broad category of software that performs specific functions for users or other applications.Multipleapplication software can run on a singlesystem software and can be stored onCDs,DVDs,flash drives, or otherUSB storage devices.Examples ofapplication software types include office suites,graphics software,databasesanddatabase management programs,web browsers,word processors,software development tools, image editors, and communication platforms.Some popular software applications includeMicrosoft Office,Salesforce,Slack,Zoom,DocuSign,Box,G Suite, andZenDesk.

System software sits between thecomputer hardware and theapplication software, coordinating the two. It controls the operations of thecomputer hardware and provides an environment or platform for all the other types of software to work in or on. Users generally do not interact directly withsystem software because it runs in the background, handling the basic functions of thecomputerlike memory, process management, and security.System software executes when acomputer boots up and continues running, as long as thecomputeris on. Examples ofsystem software includeoperating systems (OS),firmware,programming language translators,communication software, and utility programs.Examples of the most commonly usedoperating systems (OS) areWindows,macOS,IOS,Android, andLinux.

Drive software, known asdevice drivers, are often considered a type ofsystem software.Device drivers control the devices and peripheral hardware, like printers, that are connected to acomputer. Every device that is connected to acomputer needs at least onedevice driver to function. Examples include software that enables commonly used peripheral hardware, such asUSB storage devices,keyboards,headphones, andprinters.

Middleware describes software that mediates betweenapplication software andsystem software or between different kinds ofapplication software. For example,middlewareenablesMicrosoft Windows to talk toExcelandWord. It is also used to send a request from an application in acomputer that has one kind ofoperating system (OS) to an application in acomputerwith a differentoperating system (OS).Middlewarealso helps newer applications work with older ones.

Computer programmers useprogramming software to writecode.Programming software and programming tools enable developers to develop, write, test, and debug other software programs. Examples ofprogramming software includeassemblers,compilers,debuggers, andinterpreters.Someprogramming software includeJava,Swift,Python,Go,C, andC#.

Tom Kilburn, a computer scientist, wrote the world's first piece of software for theManchester Baby computer at theUniversity of Manchester inEnglandon June 21, 1948. It was not until 1958 that the term "software" was used for the first time, which is attributed toJohn Tukey.

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