Chapter 4:

System Software & Application Software

 Systems software provides the services that the computer requires, including
operating system and utility software
 E.g. allowing instructions to be processed by the CPU to allow word
processing software to process. Without systems software the system would
be useless
 Systems Software is made up of two core elements: the operating
system and utility software

Operating System

 This is a program designed to run other programs on a computer. It is

considered the backbone of a computer, managing
both software and hardware resources
 Operating systems are responsible for everything from the control and
allocation of memory to recognising input from external devices and
transmitting output to computer displays. They also manage files on computer
hard drives and control peripherals, like printers and scanners.
 Examples of Operating System: Windows, MAC, Linux

Utility Software
 Utility programs perform specific tasks related to computer functions,
resources, files and security. They help to configure the system, analyse how
it is working and optimise it to improve its efficiency. Some of these utilities
include:

 Security utilities:


o Anti-Virus - Scans the computer system and ensures that files are
quarantined so that they can be removed by the user
o Encryption - uses an algorithm to scramble (encrypt) a file according
to the key which is used to make the file unreadable; the key is needed
to decrypt the file back to its original form so it can be read
 o Firewall - monitors network traffic and blocks unauthorised access.
Criteria is set and if the data meets the criteria it is accepted otherwise
it is rejected

 Disk organisation utilities:


o System Clean-Up Tools – to search for and remove files no longer
needed, to reduce space and speed up access to the system
o Disk Defragmentation Tools - it is used to rearrange the parts of files
on the disk drive: when a file is saved to the disk, parts of the file might
be saved in different areas of the disk, these tools try to move all the
parts to the same area for quicker access

 Data compression utilities

o File Compression Software – to make files smaller so that they take
up less storage space and can be transmitted to other users more
easily
 File backup utilities
o Full Backup - stores all files and software on the system
o Incremental Backup - only backs up the files and software that have
been added since the last backup

Application Software
 This is designed to carry out a specific task the user would need for
completing a variety of tasks. These are the applications that the operating
system would process and allow end users to complete their vital day to day
tasks. Examples are:
 Word Processing Software
o This allows users to create written documents
o e.g. letters, reports etc
 Spreadsheet Software
o This allows users to perform numerical calculations and function to
create automation for all mathematical elements
o e.g. budgeting, accounting, stock counts etc
 Presentation Software
o This allows users to create interactive and multimedia presentations to
show to an audience
 o e.g. sales pitches, launching of products etc
 Multimedia Software
o This is used to create multimedia and interactive content for a number
of purposes, it explores text, audio, images, video, sound and
animations
o e.g. image manipulation, editing a video etc
 Web Browsers
o This allows the user to access the internet and use the world wide web

Exam Tip

 Make sure you use the names given above and not brand names e.g.
Microsofts this will cut you marks

Distribution Methods
Freeware software is where:

 The user is not allowed to access the source code so, they cannot tailor the
software to their needs or fix any bugs in it
 The software is still covered by copyright and the user must get the owner’s
permission to do anything beyond using it

Free software is where:

 The user can access the source code so, they can tailor the software to their
needs and fix any bugs in it
 The source code could be studied for educational purposes
 The user can redistribute the software but this must be done under the same
terms as the original software

Shareware is software which:

 Gives a trial version of the software for a limited time with limited features free
of charge
 Requires the user has to pay fee if the full version is needed
 Is protected by copyright
 Is a type of software licence

There are many ethical considerations when distributing software:

 Accessibility of software
 Age appropriation
 Copyright
 Distribution of malware
 Environmental impact of distribution media e.g. CDs
 Following guidelines of professional bodies e.g. ACM/IEEE/BCS
 Intellectual property theft
 Offensive materials
  Plagiarism
 Privacy of data
 Security of software

Exam Tip

 Make sure you apply your answer to the context given in the question

The Operating System

What does the Operating System do?
 Managing Files:


o The file manager controls all of the different files on the system, e.g. text
files, graphic files, and program files. It controls file permissions such as the
user's ability to see or open a file, write a file or delete a file.It helps
to organise and control files so that they are as easy to use as possible for
the user. It can help to protect the user from accidental mistakes too

 Handling Interrupts:
o An interrupt is a signal from a device or software to the processor. This
will stop the processor temporarily from fulfilling this request immediately,
some examples could be:
o Software errors - e.g. files not found, or software not responding
o The user initiating Ctrl Alt Delete to lock, log off etc
o Files stop copying as the name of the file is already in the folder


o Once this interrupt is received by the CPU it either carries on or completes
the action desired
o Whenever an interrupt is initiated the status of this task is saved to
the interrupt service routine.
o Once the interruption has been completed the system continues back to
normal before the interruption even happened

 Providing an Interface:

o Users must interact with the operating system through a user interface. The
user interface is a system which converts what the user inputs to a form that
the computer can understand and vice versa
o Many computer or database operating systems use complex programming
languages which are not easy to use
o A user interface is created to allow easier control of the operating system by
the system user. A good interface should be easy to use
o e.g.: consistent menu structures; consistent operations from actions like
clicking the right mouse button
 Managing Peripherals and Drivers:

o The overall intention of this is to handle all the devices that are connected to
the computer system. This includes input devices such as a keyboard and
mouse, it also includes output devices such as a monitor and printer
o It communicates with the devices through software called drivers. These
translate the instructions by the device manager into one the devices can
understand Peripherals like a mouse, keyboard and printer all need drivers so
that they can communicate with the software

 Managing Memory:

o Memory management is in charge of the RAM. Programs
use RAM throughout their operation. Some programs will be large and
complex and use the RAM extensively whereas some are very small
programs and won’t use it as much
o Memory management checks all requests from programs are valid and
allocates accordingly. It will deallocate space and swap out data to virtual
memory. It will ensure overall that different programs can be open at the
same time

 Manage Multitasking:

o Multitasking allows for software tasks to be completed at the same time to
ensure multiple elements can be completed immediately, it uses a system
called time slicing which splits different tasks into small segments
o They can all be run one after the other, giving the element of multiple tasks
being completed at the same time, instead of waiting for one operation to
complete before moving on to the next task

 Providing a Platform for Running Applications:


o Application programs and the hardware will communicate through a system
within the operating system called an application programs interface(API)
o This API is a library interface which will share data between software to allow
elements to process
o If any application is installed on the system, the Operating System will
manage this process, it will allocate memory space and will control the
application's data or devices, user access will also be managed

 Providing a System Security:


o System security is just about how the operating system can stay protected
and ensure that elements are monitored and actioned to ensure the system is
secure. Some areas of security are:


o
  Creating/Deleting users for the system
 Providing access level rights, e.g. administrator rights over installing,
modifying a system or accessing files or folders. This is compared to
standard rights of just accessing and using software/files on the
system.
 Auditing - this is keeping a log of file edits, deleted files, creation of
files etc
 Protecting from threats, viruses, worms, malware or remote hacker
attacks
 Security updates to fix patches in the operating system

 Managing User Accounts:


o Each user is provided with an account for access to the system. They will be
provided with their username and then will need to create a password based
on rules set out initially
o Each account will then be granted different levels of access, dependent on
needs and level of security. This will also monitor login activity and even log
users out if they have been inactive for a while

Hardware, Firmware & the OS

 Application Software must talk to the operating system, this will then allow it to
interact with the hardware
 The hardware will then process and send the information to the operating system
which then directly talks back to applications software in a continuous loop
 Firmware


o This process is in between the Operating System and Hardware
o When a computer initially first loads up, it has to explore the ROM for its initial
boot-up instructions These are contained in a Bootstrap loader
o The initial process is handled by the basic input/output system (BIOS)
which is known as firmware. This will provide some low-level control for all
devices
o Once complete these are sent to RAM to be processed by the operating
system
o Overall this creates an extra layer which is to ensure that initially the
hardware devices e.g. keyboard are available and can be communicated
directly with the operating system
  E.g. - If you were to type on a word processing document, this would talk with the
operating system initially to request the key presses. It would send it to the firmware
to check whether the keyboard is available. Once the connection is established with
the hardware it communicates directly with the keyboard back through firmware, the
key instructions are passed up to the operating system and finally displayed on the
word processing software

Exam Tip

 Ensure you have the understanding of how the four areas work together. An exam
question would focus on how these four key areas would communicate.

Interrupts
 We know that computers use the fetch-decode execute cycle within the CPU to run
instructions over and over. However, while this is occurring other devices may need
to signal to the CPU to tell it to stop temporarily (interrupt) so that it can do the
dedicated specific task
 E.g. a user has initiated ctrl alt delete to run task manager or a user wants a
document printing
 Interrupts will need to ensure that the CPU can stop executing its current program
to run code for the overall interruption. Interrupts need to be added to an area
called the interrupt service routine

 Two types of interrupt:


o Hardware Interrupt - this is caused by a hardware device such as a
hardware failure e.g.
 pressing a key on the keyboard
 moving the mouse


o Software Interrupt - this occurs when an application stops or requests
services from the OS e.g.
 a program is not responding
 division by zero
 two processes trying to access the same memory location

 However, the CPU currently contains registers that are holding data currently being
handled: These include:


o Program Counter - The location of the next instruction which will need to be
fetched
o Current Instruction Register - holds the current instruction being executed
o Memory Address Register - stores the location of where the data is being
stored in RAM or where in RAM the data will be sent
o Memory Data Register - stores the actual data from the location in
the RAM or that will be sent to RAM
  The interrupt service routine is simply added to a particular area where a certain
set of instructions are sent that will need to be fetched, decoded and executed to
complete the commands of the interrupt
 As a result, it’s clear that the current registers will need to be changed at this point to
accommodate the interrupt
 The interrupt will be executed instead of the original instructions
 When the interrupt is received the current values that were held in the registers are
copied back to the RAM in an area known as a stack
 These values are pushed onto the stack and are added to the top of the stack
frame, which will save them for later retrieval when the interrupt is complete
 There is a possibility that an interrupt can also be interrupted which is known as a
division by zero. Due to the system in RAM with stack frames, the
current interrupt would be moved to the bottom of the stack frame to complete the
main interrupt initially

Exam Tip

 Focus on the interrupt service routine and its importance with sending the
instructions to a stack frame to process the interrupted instruction, the previous
instructions can be accessed at the top of the stack frame to continue processing
afterwards.

There are common interrupt priorities for different categories, these are:

 Hardware

o Power supply may have failed

o Power button may have been pressed

 User

o Moving the mouse

o Clicking an icon to open a new program
o Keyboard presses e.g. ctrl, alt, delete

 Software

o Illegal instruction encountered

o Overflow
o Login request
o Crashing

 Timer

o Data logging programs which reads sensors continuously

o Screen recording applications

 Input/output devices


o Signaling of data transfer been completed
o Printer ink supply notifications
 o Input devices not responding

High & Low Level Languages

Low Level Languages
 Low Level Languages are languages that sit close to a computer’s instruction
set. These are basic instructions that the CPU will understand
 For instance an assembly language which allows programmers to focus on
programming simple commands, which in turn is converted into machine code This
element is needed for the core hardware to be able to work with the software
 These languages are written for specific processors to ensure they embed the
correct machine architecture
 Assembly Language - The code is written using mnemonics, abbreviated text
commands such as LDA (Load), STO(Store) Using this language programmers can
write human-readable programs that correspond almost exactly to machine code.
 Machine code – is at the hardware level and is written in binary (1’s and 0’s)

Advantages Disadvantages

It gives programmers complete control over the system Difficult to write and understand
components so it can control hardware components.

Efficient code can be written for the processor so it will Machine dependent and cannot be added
occupy less memory and execute faster to different specification machines

They provide direct manipulation of hardware which means More prone to errors
it will be more efficient
Communicates directly with hardware Knowledge of computer architecture is
key to program effectively

High Level Languages

 High Level Languages are programming languages which use English-like
statements which allow users to program with easy to use code, allow for clear
debugging and once programs are created they become easier to maintain
 High level languages were needed more due to the development of processor
speeds and memory capacity increasing
 Examples of these languages are Python, C#, Java etc
 Advantages Disadvantages

It is easier to read and write and the programmer The user is not able to directly manipulate the
is less likely to make mistakes hardware
Needs to be translated to machine code before
It is easier to debug so it will save time
running
The code is portable so can be used on any
The program may be less efficient
computer
One line of code can perform multiple
commands
Exam Tip

 You will be asked about the advantages and disadvantages of high or low level
languages or you will be asked to compare and contrast between the two types of
language

Assembly Language
 The first languages were actually direct machine language, where programmers had
to program it with direct binary numbers of 1’s and 0’s. It was quite clear to see that
this method was incredibly difficult to program, which allowed the introduction of
Assembly languages

 Programmers who use assembly language do so for the following reasons:

o Need to make use of specific hardware or parts of the hardware
o To complete specific machine dependent instructions
o To ensure that too much space is not taken up in RAM
o To ensure code can completed much faster
 Assembly languages allow programmers to program with mnemonics. e.g.
o LDA Load - this will ensure a value is added to the accumulator
o ADD Addition - this will add the value input or loaded from memory to the
value in the accumulator
o STO, Store - stores the value in the accumulator in RAM

 This is used rather than binary code which allowed continuation of working directly
with the hardware but removed an element of complexity
 A mnemonic is received by the computer and it is looked up within a specific table
 An assembler is needed here to check the word so that it can be converted into
machine code
 If a match from the word is found e.g. STO the word is replaced with the relevant
binary code to match that sequence

Exam Tip

 A question will focus more directly on how the assembler converts to work with the
hardware. You must focus on mnemonics being converted from a table and into the
corresponding binary code
 Compilers & Interpreters
 Programmers will write program source code using high-level languages e.g.
Python, Java, C# etc. As programmers, we can understand source code as it is
descriptive, easy to read, maintain and debug. However this is not good for the
hardware as it needs to be converted into binary to allow the hardware to understand
and execute it, this is known as machine code. For this to work it needs to pass
through a translator first. There are two types of translators - a compiler and an
interpreter

Compiler
 This method will translate a program into machine code. Compilers convert the
source code in one go into an executable file ready for distribution. This method is
used mainly when a program is finished with no syntax or logical errors
 Compiling may take time to be processed, however, this can be used over without
needing to be recompiled every time, bearing in mind that the program contains no
errors
 Error reports are produced after a program has been translated. Common errors in
code will allow the computer to crash and not respond, it’s important to be aware that
if there are errors the source code must be changed to compile again

Interpreter
 This is the method that directly sends the source code to the machine code. This will
translate each line of code individually, if an error occurs the program will stop and an
error message will occur. Once the error message is fixed, the program can carry on
running from where the error occurred

Exam Tip

 You will need to have a good understanding of the difference between a compiler
and an interpreter. You will need to focus on features of compilers and interpreters or
focusing on an overall comparison between the two
 Although both translators find errors in code, they do not debug the errors - this is
done by the programmer

Advantages & Disadvantages

Compiler

Advantages Disadvantages

Run quickly as the program as the Due to all code being compiled at the same time there must be
source code has been stored to be enough memory space to handle this, if not and virtual
translated memory is used it can be much slower
Compilers optimise the code, this code
If there are errors in the code the compiler will not identify
will run quicker and take up less
directly where the error lies, making it difficult to debug
memory space
Original source code will not be seen,
which is ideal for programmers to stop It is designed solely for one specific processor
work being copied
If the program is changed it must be recompiled

Interpreter

Advantages Disadvantages

Each line of code has to be interpreted

Program will always run, it will just stop when it
separately by the CPU, which can lead to
finds a specific syntax error in the code
slower execution
Every time the program is run it has to be
It is easier to debug and understand where
translated, due to no instructions being
particular code has gone wrong
stored
Interpreters do not store instructions and are not
They cannot optimise code, it is translated
stored for later use, this means they require less
and executed as it is
RAM to process the code

IDE
An integrated development environment (IDE) is software that consolidates basic
tools required to write and test software to make a programmer's journey effective
and useful, this will ensure they have key features to improve programming code and
ensure it does as instructed. Some features are:

 Basic code formatting - changing the font, size of the font, making text bold etc
 Coloured keywords in source code - e.g. Python code print, input etc turn purple, if
turns orange. This makes it easy to see keywords
 Code Editing - this will allow users to write and manipulate source code, it includes
features such as auto-completion and auto-correction of code, bracket matching,
syntax checks etc
 Commenting code - this allows sections of code to be commented out easily to stop
it from being run or as comments on what the program is doing
 Identifying errors - highlight particular areas of code or provide direct error
messages where the error may have appeared e.g. indentation errors etc
 Run-Time environment - to allow the program to run and see its corresponding
output
 Debugger - this will identify and remedy errors within the source code. This can
provide a step through command also which provides step by step instructions and
shows what is happening to the code line by line. This method is amazing for
catching logical errors
  Libraries - extra modules that are not included in the main programming language
e.g. math in Python for extra mathematical commands
 Graphical User Interface Builder - will create a graphical design rather than
working with source code
 Translator - which compiles or interprets the code

Exam Tip

 You could be asked to Identify or Describe different features within an Integrated

Development Environment (IDE) this number could range from 2-5