subject: Computer Software Basics [print this page] Computer software is a huge part of our everyday lives, and yet very few people actually know what it is! In fact, the word software was, ironically enough, named after the word hardware!
It's meaning is that it cannot be touched. Where as hardware is an object that can be touched. Application software can be used as the same meaning as well. film, tapes and records are known as software as well.
Computer programs are actually a stream of code uploaded to a disc or hard drive. Your PC can in turn read this code and show you a presentation provided by the company for usability purposes. Programming languages, scripting languages, microcode, or FPGA configuration is usually what is uploaded to a disc or hard drive, if a more complex system like SAP Software is not in place.
System software will help run the computer hardware and your computer system. This includes a combination of device drivers, operating systems, servers, utilities and window systems. The operating system that can read this include Microsoft Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. Many devices and device readers all use programs. Computers need programs in order to run correctly. The computer software that you have purchased was worked on for months if not years, just so they could encode all the pre-made videos and tools. Operating systems are the key when it comes to getting computer software to work as it should, such as is the case with SAP Software.
If you have ever used programs you can see what it shows you. But what it doesn't show you can often be a huge complicated mess. Computer Software developers get paid high money in order to write the codes for their particular software. Without software, we wouldn't have any use for hardware and vice versa. This is exactly what programs are. Unless you are a phenomenal researcher or go to a computer educated school, this may be as far as you get to knowing exactly how computer software discs work.
