Software

Software is a piece of organized information in the form of operating systems, utilities, programs, and applications that enable computers to work.

Software means computer instructions or data. Anything that can be stored electronically is software, in contrast to storage devices and display devices which are called hardware.

Sometimes abbreviated as SW and S/W, software is a collection of instructions that enable a user to interact with a computer, its hardware, or perform tasks. Without software, computers would be useless.

Software consists of carefully-organized instructions and code written by programmers in any of various special computer languages.

Software is commonly divided into two main categories:

1. System software: controls the basic (and invisible to the user) functions of a computer.

   • System software is a generic term referring to any computer software, the purpose of which is to help run the computer system. Most of it is responsible directly for controlling, integrating, and managing individual hardware components of a computer system.
   • System software is opposed to application software that helps solve user problems directly.

2. Application Software comes usually preinstalled with the machine (BIOS and Operating System).

   • Application software is a subclass of computer software that employs the capabilities of a computer directly to a task that the user wants to perform. This should be contrasted with system software which is involved in integrating computer’s various capabilities, but does not directly apply them in the performance of a tasks that benefit the user.
   • An application is a computer program designed to help people perform an activity. So, an application differs from an operating system (which runs a computer), a utility (which performs maintenance or general-purpose chores), and a programming language (with which computer programs are created).

Once the software has been installed on to your computer hard drive, the program can be used anytime on the computer. On a Windows computer, a program icon is added to the Start Menu or Start Screen, depending on your Windows version.

After the software has been installed on your computer, it may need to be updated to fix any found errors. Updating a program can be done using software patches. Once updates are installed, any problems that may have been experienced with the program will no longer occur.

A computer programmer (or several computer programmers) write the instructions using a programming language that tell the software how to function and what to do. Once the program has been completed, it is compiled into a language that the computer can understand: