TOPIC 4:

COMPUTER SOFTWARE
What Is Software?
 Software is the general term for various
kinds of programs used to operate and
manipulate computers and their peripheral
devices.
 One common way of describing hardware
and software is to say that software can be
thought of as the variable part of a computer
and hardware as the invariable part.

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Types of Application & System Software

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 Application Software
 General Purpose
 Programs that perform common information processing jobs for
end users; e.g., word processing, spreadsheet
 Also call productivity packages
 Custom Software
 Software applications developed within an organization for use
by that organization
 Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS)
 Many copies sold
 Minimal changes beyond scheduled upgrades
 Purchasers have no control over specifications, schedule, or
evolution, and no access to source code or internal
documentation
 Product vendor retains the intellectual property rights of the
software
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 Application Software
 Open-source Software
 Developers collaborate on the development of an
application using programming standards which allow
anyone to contribute to the software
 As each developer completes a project, the application
code becomes available and free to anyone who wants it.

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 Business Application Software
 Function-Specific Application Software
 Thousands of these packages support specific
applications of end users
 Examples: customer relationship management,
enterprise resource planning, supply chain
management, Web-enabled electronic commerce

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Software Suites, Integrated Packages

 Most widely used productivity packages are

bundled together as software suites
 Advantages
 Cost less than buying individual packages
 All have similar GUI
 Work well together

 Disadvantages
 All features not used
 Takes a lot of disk space (bloatware)

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Components of Top Software Suites

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Integrated Packages
 Integrated packages combine the functions of
several programs into one package
 E.g., Microsoft Works, AppleWorks
 Advantages
 Many functions for lower price
 Uses less disk space
 Frequently pre-installed on microcomputers

 Disadvantages
 Limited functionality

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 Web Browsers
 Software applications that support navigation
through the point-and-click hyper-linked
resources of the Web
 Becoming the universal platform from which
end users launch…
 Information searches
 E-mail
 Multimedia file transfer
 Discussion groups
 Other Internet-based applications

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Search Engines
 Browsersare used to gain access to Internet
search engines
 Google, Ask Jeeves, Look Smart, Lycos,
Overture, Yahoo!
 Using search engines to find information has
become an indispensable part of Internet,
intranet, and extranet applications

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E-mail, Instant Messaging, and Weblogs

 E-mail
 Software to communicate by sending and receiving
messages and attachments via the Internet, intranet,
or extranet
 Instant messaging (IM)
 Receive electronic messages instantly
 Weblog or blog
 A personal website in dated log format
 Updated with new information about a subject or
range of subjects

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Word Processing/Desktop Publishing
 Word Processing
 Create, edit, revise, and print documents
 Example: Microsoft Word, Lotus WordPro, Corel
WordPerfect
 Desktop Publishing
 Produce printed materials that look professionally
published
 Example: Adobe PageMaker, Microsoft Publisher,
QuarkXPress

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Electronic Spreadsheets
 Used by virtually every business for…
 Analysis, planning, modeling
 Electronic Spreadsheet
 Worksheet of rows and columns
 Can be stored on local computer or on network
 Requires designing format and developing the
relationships (formulas)
 Most help you develop charts and graphic displays
of spreadsheet results
 Supports what-if questions

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Electronic Spreadsheets

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 Presentation Graphics

 Common presentation graphics packages…

 Converts numeric data into graphics displays
 Used to create multimedia presentations of
graphics, photos, animation, and video clips
 E.g., Microsoft PowerPoint, Lotus Freelance, Corel
Presentations
 Top packages can tailor files for transfer in HTML
format to websites

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 Personal Information Managers
 Software for end user productivity and
collaboration
 Stores information about clients
 Manages schedules, appointments, tasks
 Most include ability to access the Web and provide
e-mail capabilities
 Some support team collaboration by sharing
information with other PIM users
 Example: Lotus Organizer, Microsoft Outlook

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Groupware
 Softwarethat helps workgroups collaborate on
group assignments
 E-mail, discussion groups, databases, video
conferencing
 Example: Lotus Notes, Novell GroupWise, Microsoft
Exchange
 Windows SharePoint Services and WebSphere both
allow teams to create websites for information
sharing and document collaboration

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Software Alternatives

 Outsourcing development and maintenance of

software
 Application service providers (ASPs)
 Companies that own, operate, and maintain
application software and computer system
resources
 Use the application for a fee over the Internet
 Pay-as-you-go
 Use expected to accelerate in the coming years

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 Software Licensing

 All COTS and ASP software is licensed

 Involves the underlying..
 Intellectual property rights
 Copyright
 Trademark
 Trade secrets
 Also involves traditional contract law, including
Uniform Commercial Code (UCC)
 You don’t buy software
 You buy a license to use the software
 Licensed to protect the vendor’s property rights

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 System Software

 Programs that manage and support a computer

system and its information processing activities.
 Example: OS and network management
programs serve as a vital software interface
between computer networks and hardware and
the application programs of end users.

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Categories of Group Software
 System Management Programs
 Manages the hardware, software, network,
and data resources of computer systems
 Example: operating systems, network manage-
ment programs, database management systems,
system utilities
 System Development Programs
 Helps users develop IS programs and procedures
and then prepare them for processing
 Includes language translators and editors, CASE
and programming tools

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Interface Between End Users and
Computer

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 Operating Systems
 Integrated system of programs that…
 Manages the operations of the CPU
 Controls the input/output, storage resources,
and activities of the computer system
 Provides support services as the computer executes
application programs
 The operating system must be loaded and
activated before other tasks can be
accomplished.

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Operating System Basic Functions

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 User Interface
 The part of the operating system that allows
you to communicate with it
 Three main types…
 Command-driven
 Menu-driven
 Graphical user interfaces (GUI)

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Resource Management
 Part of the operating system that manages
the hardware and networking resources of a
computer system
 Includes CPU, memory, secondary storage
devices, telecommunications, and input/output
peripherals
 Common functions
 Keeping track of where data and programs are
stored

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 File Management
 Part of the operating system that controls the
creation, deletion, and access of files and
programs
 Keeps track of physical location on storage devices
 Maintains directories of information about the
location and characteristics of stored files

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Task Management
 Partof the operating system that manages the
accomplishment of end user computing tasks
 Controls which task gets access to the CPU,
and for how long
 Can interrupt the CPU at any time to substitute a
higher priority task
 Supports preemptive and cooperative multi-tasking
and multi-processing

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Popular Operating Systems
 Windows
 GUI, multitasking, networking, multimedia
 Microsoft’s operating system
 Different versions manage servers
 Unix
 Multitasking, multi-user, network-managing
 Portable - can run on mainframes, midrange, and PCs
 Linux
 Low-cost, powerful reliable Unix-like operating system
 Open-source

 MAC OS X
 Apple operating system for the iMac, GUI, Multitasking, Multimedia

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Open-Source Licensing Characteristics
 The Program
 Must include source code and allow distribution
in source code as well as compiled form
 The License
 Shall not restrict any party from selling or giving
away the software as a component of an
aggregate software distribution containing
programs from several sources
 Must allow modifications and allow them to be
distributed under the same terms as the license
of the original software
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Open-Source Licensing Characteristics
 The License (cont’d)
 May restrict source code from being distributed
in modified form only if the license allows the
distribution of patch files with the source code
for the purpose of modifying the program at build
time
 Must not discriminate against any person or any
group of persons

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Open-Source Licensing Characteristics
 The License (cont’d)
 Must not restrict anyone from making use of the
program in a specific field of endeavor
 The rights attached to the program must apply to
all to whom the program is redistributed, without
the need for execution of an additional license
 Must not be specific to a product
 Must not contaminate other software by placing
restrictions on any software distributed along
with the licensed software

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Other System Software
 Utilities
 Miscellaneous housekeeping functions
 Example: Norton utilities includes data backup, virus
protection, data compression, etc.
 Performance Monitors
 Programs that monitor and adjust computer system
to keep them running efficiently
 Security Monitors
 Monitor and control use of computer systems
to prevent unauthorized use of resources

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Application Servers

 Provide an interface between an operating

system and the application programs of users
 Middleware
 Software that helps diverse software applications
exchange data and work together more efficiently

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Machine Languages
 First generation languages
 The most basic of programming languages
 Strings of binary codes unique to each computer
 Requires specific knowledge of the internal
operations of the CPU being used
 Must specify the storage locations for every
instruction and item of data used
 Difficult to work with, and error prone

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 Assembler Languages
 Second generation languages
 Developed to reduce difficulties in writing machine
language programs
 Uses assemblers to convert the programs into
machine instructions
 Symbols are used to represent operation codes and
storage locations
 Alphabetic abbreviations call mnemonics and other
symbols represent operation codes, storage
locations, and data elements

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High-Level Languages

 Third generation languages

 Uses brief statements or arithmetic expressions
 Statements translated into machine language by
compilers or interpreters
 Less efficient than assembler languages and
requires greater translation time
 Machine independent
 Example: BASIC, COBOL, and FORTRAN

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Fourth-Generation Languages
 Varietyof programming languages that are
nonprocedural and conversational
 Encourages programmers to specify the results
wanted; the computer determines the sequence
of instructions that accomplishes the results
 Simplified the programming process

 Natural languages
 Very close to English or other human language
 Sometimes called fifth-generation (5GLs)
 No longer a trade-off between ease of use and
flexibility
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Programming Languages
 Examples of programming in each
language

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Object-Oriented Languages

 Combines data elements

and the procedures that
will be performed upon
them into objects
 Example: data about a
bank account and the
procedures performed
on it, such as interest
calculations

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Object-Oriented Languages

 Mostwidely used software development

languages
 Easier to use and more efficient for graphics-
oriented user interfaces
 Reusable: can use an object from one application in
another application
 Example: Visual Basic, C++, Java
 Most object-oriented languages provide a GUI that
supports visual programming

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Web Languages
 HTML
 A page description language that creates hypertext
documents for the Web
 XML
 Describes Web page content by applying identifying
tags or contextual labels to the data
 Java
 Object-oriented programming language that is
simple, secure, and platform independent
 Java applets can be executed on any computer

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 Language Translator Programs

 Translateinstructions written in programming

languages into machine language
 Assembler
 Translates assembler language statement
 Compiler
 Translates high-level language statements
 Interpreter
 A compiler that translates and executes each
statement in a program, one at a time

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