Software: Computer Software, or Simply Software, Is A Collection of

Software
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Not to be confused with Softwear.
For other uses, see Software (disambiguation).
A diagram showing how the user interacts with application software on a typical desktop
computer.The application software layer interfaces with the operating system, which in turn
communicates with the hardware. The arrows indicate information flow.
Computer software, or simply software, is a collection of data or computer instructions that

tell the computer how to work. This is in contrast to physical hardware, from which the
system is built and actually performs the work. In computer science and software
engineering, computer software is all information processed by computer systems, programs
and data. Computer software includes computer programs, libraries and related non-
executable data, such as online documentation or digital media. Computer hardware and
software require each other and neither can be realistically used on its own.
At the lowest programming level,[clarification needed] executable code consists of machine

language instructions supported by an individual processor—typically a central processing
unit (CPU) or a graphics processing unit (GPU). A machine language consists of groups of
binary values signifying processor instructions that change the state of the computer from its
preceding state. For example, an instruction may change the value stored in a particular
storage location in the computer—an effect that is not directly observable to the user. An
instruction may also invoke one of many input or output operations, for example displaying
some text on a computer screen; causing state changes which should be visible to the user.
The processor executes the instructions in the order they are provided, unless it is instructed
to "jump" to a different instruction, or is interrupted by the operating system. As of 2015,
most personal computers, smartphone devices and servers have processors with multiple
execution units or multiple processors performing computation together, and computing has
become a much more concurrent activity than in the past.
The majority of software is written in high-level programming languages. They are easier and
more efficient for programmers because they are closer to natural languages than machine
languages.[1] High-level languages are translated into machine language using a compiler or
an interpreter or a combination of the two. Software may also be written in a low-level
assembly language, which has strong correspondence to the computer's machine language
instructions and is translated into machine language using an assembler.
Contents
 1 History
 2 Types
o 2.1 Purpose, or domain of use
o 2.2 Nature or domain of execution
o 2.3 Programming tools
 3 Topics
o 3.1 Architecture
o 3.2 Execution
o 3.3 Quality and reliability
o 3.4 License
o 3.5 Patents
 4 Design and implementation
 5 Industry and organizations
 6 See also
 7 References
o 7.1 Sources
 8 External links
History
Main article: History of software
An outline (algorithm) for what would have been the first piece of software was written by
Ada Lovelace in the 19th century, for the planned Analytical Engine.[2] She created proofs to
show how the engine would calculate Bernoulli Numbers.[2] Because of the proofs and the
algorithm, she is considered the first computer programmer.[3][4]
The first theory about software—prior to creation of computers as we know them today—was
proposed by Alan Turing in his 1935 essay On Computable Numbers, with an Application to
the Entscheidungsproblem (decision problem).
This eventually led to the creation of the academic fields of computer science and software
engineering; Both fields study software and its creation. Computer science is the theoretical
study of computer and software (Turing's essay is an example of computer science), whereas
software engineering is the application of engineering and development of software.
However, prior to 1946, software was not yet the programs stored in the memory of stored-
program digital computers, as we now understand it. The first electronic computing devices
were instead rewired in order to "reprogram" them.
In 2000, Fred Shapiro, a librarian at the Yale Law School, published a letter revealing that
John Wilder Tukey's 1958 paper "The Teaching of Concrete Mathematics"[5][6] contained the
earliest known usage of the term "software" found in a search of JSTOR's electronic archives,
predating the OED's citation by two years.[7] This led many to credit Tukey with coining the
term, particularly in obituaries published that same year,[8] although Tukey never claimed
credit for any such coinage. In 1995, Paul Niquette claimed he had originally coined the term
in October 1953, although he could not find any documents supporting his claim.[9] The
earliest known publication of the term "software" in an engineering context was in August
1953 by Richard R. Carhart, in a Rand Corporation Research Memorandum.[10]

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Software

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Computer software, or simply software, is a collection of data or computer instructions that

At the lowest programming level,[clarification needed] executable code consists of machine

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