Software is instructions, programs to execute and it is classified as
System Software – It has direct interface with hardware Windows XP, Linux and consist of
Operating System Software – It controls the hardware and running of the application software like Linux, Windows XP/2003, MS-DOS. It does resource (CPU, memory) and task management with command interpretation (by a user interface graphical or character).
Device Drivers – It controls a device attached to computer like printers, displays, etc. and usually has DLL or EXE file name. A virtual device driver usually has the suffix of VXD.
Application Software –It needs system software and it fulfill a specific user’s requirement like
Word Processing Software – It create and edit letters, reports, etc. like MS-Word
Spreadsheet Software – It store and process data in columns and rows like MS-Excel.
Presentation Graphics Software – It is used to create slides for presentations like MS-PowerPoint.
Other Software Terms
Utility software – It helps to optimize and maintain computer like disk cleanup, backup, etc.
Custom Made Software – It is made as per user’s requirement by software programmers.
Packaged Software – It is readymade software, which we purchase like a commodity.
Translators – It accepts statements in one language or source and produces equivalent statements in another language usually in machine language. Three types of translators are
- Assembler – It translates assembly language program to machine code.
- Compiler – It translates high-level language into machine level like C and C++ compilers.
- Interpreter – It is similar to compiler but translates and executes the statement immediately.
