Saturday, 21 December 2013

HARDWARE & SOFTWARE

Computer - Hardware

Hardware represents the physical and tangible components of the computer,i.e., the components that can be seen and touched.

Examples of Hardware are following:

ü Input devices -- keyboard, mouse, etc.
ü Output devices -- printer, monitor, etc.
ü Secondary storage devices -- Hard disk, CD, DVD, etc.
ü Internal components -- CPU, motherboard, RAM, etc.

Relationship between Hardware and Software

ü Mutually dependent. Both of them must work together to make computer produce a useful output.
ü Software cannot be utilized without supporting hardware.
ü Hardware without set of programs to operate upon cannot be utilized and is useless.
ü To get a particular job done on the computer, relevant software should be loaded into the hardware.
ü Hardware is a one time expense.
ü Software development is very expensive and is a continuing expense.
ü Different softwares can be loaded on a hardware to run different jobs.
ü A software acts as an interface between the user and the hardware.
ü If hardware is the 'heart' of a computer system, then software is its 'soul'. Both are complimentary to each other.

Computer - Software

Software is a set of programs, which are designed to perform a well-defined function. A program is a sequence of instructions written to solve a particular problem.
 There are two types of softwares:

 ü System Software 
    ü Application Software
    
     

System Software

The system software is a collection of programs designed to operate, control and extend the processing capabilities of the computer itself. System software are generally prepared by computer manufacturers.
These softwares comprise of programs written in low level languages which interact with the hardware at a very basic level. System software serves as the interface between hardware and the end users.
Some examples of system software are Operating System, Compilers, Interpreter, Assemblers, etc.

Features of System Software are the following:
ü Fast in speed.
ü Difficult to design.
ü Difficult to understand.
ü Less interactive.
ü Smaller in size.
ü Difficult to manipulate.
ü Generally written in low-level language.
ü Close to system.

Application Software

Application softwares are the softwares that are designed to satisfy a particular need of a particular environment. All softwares prepared by us in the computer lab can come under the category of Application Software.
Application software may consist of a single program, such as a Microsoft's notepad for writing and editing simple text. It may also consist of a collection of programs, often called a software package, which work together to accomplish a task, such as a spreadsheet package.

Examples of Application softwares are the following:

ü Payroll Software
ü Student Record Software
ü Inventory Management Software
ü Income Tax Software
ü Railways Reservation Software
ü Microsoft Office Suite Software
ü Microsoft Word
ü Microsoft Excel
ü Microsoft Powerpoint


Features of Application Software are the following:
  •  It is close to user.
  •  It is easy to design.
  •  More interactive.
  •  Slow in speed.
  • Generally written in high-level language.
  •  Easy to understand.
  •  Easy to manipulate and use.
  •  Bigger in size and requires large storage space.

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