Chapter 4

 Software is a set of one or more programs

to perform a specific task.

 System Software is a set of programs that

coordinates the activities and functions of
hardware and other programs throughout
the computer system.

 Ex: Operating System (OS).

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 Operating System:
◦ An os is a set of programs that controls the computer
hardware and acts as an interface with applications.

 Application software apply the power of the

computer to give people, workgroups and
entire enterprise the ability to solve problems
and perform specific tasks.
 The application programs interact with system
software and the system software then directs
the computer hardware to perform the
necessary tasks.

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 Performing common hardware functions:
◦ Get input from keyboard or another input device.
◦ Retrieve data from disks.
◦ Store data on disks.
◦ Display information on a monitor or printer.

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 Providing user interface and I/O
management:
◦ A user interface allows people to access and
command the computer system.

 A command based user interface requires you

to give text commands to the computer.

 A Graphical User Interface (GUI) uses pictures

(Icons) and menus displayed on screen to
send commands to the computer system.

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Command Based Graphical User Interface
Interface (CBI) (GUI)

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 Providing a degree of hardware
independence:
◦ If the same os for which an application was
developed can run on the new hardware , minimal
(or no) changes are needed to the application to
enable it to run on the new hardware.

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 Managing System Memory:
◦ To control how memory is accessed and to
maximize available memory and storage.
◦ Allocate memory among application programs.

 Managing Processing Tasks:

◦ Task management (part of os) allocates computer
resources to make the best use of each system’s
assets.
◦ Provide CPU time to individual application
programs.

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 Providing Networking Capability:
◦ Providing features and capabilities that aid
users in connecting to a computer network.

 Controlling Access to System Resources:

◦ The os provide a high level of security against
unauthorized access to the users data and
programs.

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 Managing Files:
◦ Manages files to ensure that files in secondary
storage are available when needed and they
are protected from access by unauthorized
users.

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 Microsoft:
◦ Windows 11,10, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista, XP, Me, 2000, 98, 95.

 Apple:
◦ macOS 15, 14, 13, 12, 12, 11,10.15, 10.14, 10.13, 10.12,
OS X 10.11, 10.10, 10.9, 10.8, Mac OS X 10.7, 10.6, 10.5,
10.4, 10.3, 10.2, 10.1, 10.0.

 UNIX, LINUX, Solaris, Palm OS.

 Smartphone:
◦ Android 15, 14, 13, 12L, 12, 11,10, 9(pie) 8.1, 8.0(Oreo),
7.1, 7.0(Nougat), 6.0(Marshmallow), 5.1, 5.0(Lollipop),
4.4(KitKat), 4.3, 4.2, 4.1(Jelly Bean), 4.0(Ice Cream
Sandwich), 2.3(Gingerbread).

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 Application software apply the power of the
computer to give people, workgroups and
entire enterprise the ability to solve
problems and perform specific tasks.

 Examples: PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Skype,

Google Meet, Zoom, Chrome, Safari, Firefox,
MX Player and VLC Media Player.

 Almost every other application that you are

using is an example of application software.

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 Some common application software are:
◦ Word processing:
 Create, edit and print text document.

 These may have some advance features such spell

checking, table creating, creating graphics, etc.

 Ex: MS word (Microsoft), Word Perfect(Corel).

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 Spreadsheet Analysis:
◦ Provide a wide range of built in functions for
statistical, financial, logical, database, graphics
and date and time calculations.
◦ Ex: MS Excel (Microsoft), Lotus 1-2-3 (Lotus/IBM).

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 Database Applications:
◦ Ideal for storing, manipulating and retrieving
data.
◦ These applications are applicable when you need
to manipulate a large amount of data and
produce reports and documents.
◦ Ex: MS Access (Microsoft), dBase(Borland).

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 Graphics programs:
◦ Can be used to develop advertising brochures,
announcement, and full color presentations, and
to organize and edit photographic images.
◦ Ex: Illustrator (Adobe), FreeHand( Macromedia).

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 Project Management:
◦ Plan, schedule, allocate, and control people and
resources (money, time and technology) are
needed to complete a project according to
schedule.
◦ Ex: project for windows (Microsoft), Timeline
(Symantec).

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 The primary function of a programming
language is to provide instructions to the
computer system so that it can perform a
processing activity.

 Syntax: A set of rules associated with a

programming language.

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 Evolution of programming Language:
Generatio Year Language Sample Statement
n
First 1940s Machine 01010010
Second 1950s Assembly Mov
Third 1960s High Level read sales
Fourth 1970s Query and print salary if
database salary>1,00,000

Beyond 1980s Natural If gross pay is greater than

Fourth and 40 then pay the employee
Intelligent overtime pay.

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 Programming languages used to create
artificial intelligence or expert systems
called fifth generation language (5 GLs).

 Compiler:
◦ Is a program that convert a source code written in
high level language and convert it to machine
language.

◦ Computer program must be converted to machine

language before they can execute.

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 Assembler:
◦ Is a program that convert a source code written in
Assembly language and convert it to machine
language.

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 Software Bugs:
◦ A software bug is a defect in a computer program
that keeps it from performing as it is designed to
perform.

◦ Some bugs are obvious and cause the program to

terminate unexpectedly.

◦ According to Pentagon and the software

Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon
University there are typically 5 to 15 bugs in
every 1000 lines of code.

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◦ Tips for Reducing the impact of Software Bugs:
 Register all software so that you can receive bug
alerts, fixes and patches.
 Check the readme or manual for work around.

 Access the support area of the manufacturers site for

patches.
 Install the latest software updates.

 Avoid buying the latest release of software for

several months until software bugs have been
discovered and removed.

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 Copyright and Licenses:
◦ Most software are protected by law using
copyright or licensing provisions.

◦ Some software now requires that you register or

activate it before it can be fully used.

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 Open Source Software:
◦ Is freely available to anyone in a form that can be
easily modified.

◦ Users can download the source code and build the

software themselves or the software developers
can make executable versions available along
with the source.

◦ Ex: Linux(os), MySQL(database), Firefox(Browser).

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 Shareware, Freeware and Public domain
Software:

◦ Software that are very inexpensive or free, usually for

use in pc but whose source code can not be modified-
called shareware and freeware.

◦ It may not be as powerful as commercial software.

◦ Some shareware and freeware is in the public domain

called the public domain software.

◦ This software is not protected by copyright laws and

can freely copied and used.

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 Software Upgrades:
◦ When software companies stop supporting older
software versions or releases, customers feel
forced to upgrade to a newer software.

◦ Customer should upgrade to newer software only

when it offers vital new features.

◦ Software upgrades usually cost much less than

the original purchase price.

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 ASCII (American Standard Code for Information
Interchange) is a character encoding scheme.

 Originally based on the English alphabet that encodes

128 specified characters.

 128 characters includes- the numbers 0-9, the letters a-z

and A-Z, some punctuation symbols, some control codes
and a blank space.

 The standard ASCII uses 7-bit for each character.

 For 7-bit ASCII, bit pattern is 0000000 to 1111111 (Total

128 pattern; each pattern corresponds to each
character)
 Another version of ASCII uses 8-bit code which
gives 128 additional characters.

 For 8-bit ASCII, bit pattern is 00000000 to

11111111 (Total 28=256 pattern)

 These extra characters are used to represent

non-English characters, graphics symbols, and
mathematical symbols.

 Some examples are given on the next slide:

Binary Decimal Symbol Binary Decimal Symbol

0110000 48 0 1100001 97 a

0110001 49 1 1100010 98 b

0111001 57 9 1111010 122 Z

1000001 65 A 0001101 13 CR
(Enter)
1000010 66 B 0111100 60 <

1011010 90 Z 0011011 27 ESC

0000000 0 NULL 1111111 127 DEL

 Unlike ASCII, Unicode uses 16 bits.

 So it can represent more than 65000 unique

characters( Exactly 216=65536).

 All the language’s characters of the world

are represented by Unicode.