concept of hardware and software
Concept of Hardware and
Software:
Hardware:
Contents:
Computer hardware can be categorized as
having either internal or external components. Internal components include
items such as the motherboard, central processing unit (CPU), random access
memory (RAM), hard drive, optical drive, heat sink, power supply, transistors,
chips, graphics processing unit (GPU), and network interface card
(NIC). Thesescomponents collectively process or store the
instructions delivered by the program or operating system (OS).
Computer
hardware is a collective term used to describe any of the physical components
of an analog or digital computer. The term hardware distinguishes the
tangible aspects of a computing device from software, which consists of
written instructions that
tell physical components what to do.
Computer hardware can be categorized
as having either internal or external components. Internal components include
items such as the motherboard, central processing unit (CPU), random access memory (RAM), [i]hard drive, optical drive, heat sink,
power supply, transistors, chips, graphics processing unit (GPU), and network interface card (NIC). Thesescomponents
collectively process or store the instructions delivered by the program or
operating system (OS).
External components,
also called peripheral components,
are those items that are often connected to the computer in order to control
either its input or output. Common input components include a mouse,
keyboard, microphone, camera, touch pad , stylus, joystick,
scanner, USB flash drive or memory
card. Monitors, printers, speakers, headphones and earphones/earbuds
are all examples of output computer hardware components. All of these
hardware devices are designed to either provide instructions to the software or
render results from its execution.
This computer
hardware chart illustrates what typical internal computer hardware
components look like.
Click the image to
enlarge.
External hardware
components are called peripherals. Peripherals
include input devices, such as a mouse or keyboard, output devices such as a
monitor or printer and external storage devices, such as a hard drive or USB flash drive.
Other common
external hardware components include microphones, monitors, speakers, headphones,
digital cameras, touch pads, stylus pens,
joysticks, scanners and memory cards. All of these
hardware devices are designed to either provide instructions to the software or
render the results from its execution.
software
Software is a set of instructions, data or programs used to
operate computers and execute specific
tasks. Opposite of hardware, which describes the
physical aspects of a computer, software is a generic term used to refer
to applications, scripts and programs that run on a device. Software can be
thought of as the variable part of a computer and hardware the invariable part.
·
Sometimes
abbreviated as SW and S/W, software is a collection of instructions that
enable the user to interact with a computer, its hardware, or perform tasks.
Without software, most computers would be useless. For example, without your
Internet browsersoftware, you
could not surf the Internet or read this page. Without an operating system, the browser
could not run on your computer.
The theory of software was first proposed by Alan Turing in 1935
in his essay "Computable numbers with an application to the
Entscheidungsproblem." However, the word software was coined by
mathematician and statistician John Tukey in a 1958 issue of American
Mathematical Monthly in which he discussed electronic calculators' programs.
There are
three types of software:
1.
System Software
2.
Application Software
3.
Utility Software (most of the people include this as a sub-category of
application software)
System software
System software is a type of computer program that is designed to run a
computer’s hardware and application programs. If we think of the computer system as
a layered model, the system software is the interface between the
hardware and user applications. The operating system (OS) is the best-known example of system software. The OS
manages all the other programs in a computer.
Some examples can be operating
systems, antivirus softwares, disk formating softwares, Computer language translators
etc. These are commonly prepared by the computer manufacturers. These softwares
consists of programs written in low-level languages, used to interact with the
hardware at a very basic level. System software serves as the interface
between the hardware and the end users.
The most important features of system software
include :
1. Closeness to the system
2. Fast speed
3. Difficult to manipulate
4. Written in low level language
5. Difficult to design
1. Closeness to the system
2. Fast speed
3. Difficult to manipulate
4. Written in low level language
5. Difficult to design
the five types
of systems software, are all designed to control and coordinate the
procedures and functions of computer hardware. They actually enable functional
interaction between hardware, software and the user.
Systems software
carries out middleman tasks to ensure communication between other software and
hardware to allow harmonious coexistence with the user.
Systems software
can be categorized under the following:
·
Operating system: Harnesses communication between hardware, system
programs, and other applications.
·
Device driver: Enables device communication with the OS and other
programs.
·
Firmware: Enables device control and identification.
·
Translator: Translates high-level languages to low-level machine codes.
·
Utility: Ensures optimum functionality of devices and applications.
Application software
Application
software is a term which is used forsoftware created
for a specific purpose. It is generally a program or collection of programs
used by end users. It can be called an application or simply
an app. In fact all the software other than systemsoftware and
programming software are application software.
- Word processing software
- Database programs
- Entertainment software
- Business software
- Educational software
- Computer-aided design(CAD) software
- Spreadsheet software etc.
What is utility software?
These software analyse and maintain a computer. These software are focused on how OS works on that basis it perform task to enable smooth functioning of computer. These software may come along with OS like windows defender, windows disk cleanup tool.
Antivirus, backup software, file manager, disk compression tool all are utility software.
These software analyse and maintain a computer. These software are focused on how OS works on that basis it perform task to enable smooth functioning of computer. These software may come along with OS like windows defender, windows disk cleanup tool.
Antivirus, backup software, file manager, disk compression tool all are utility software.
Some of popular utility software are
described below:
1. Antivirus : It is used to protect a computer from the virus. It detects a virus and notify the user and take action to secure the computer. The virus are kept in different location called vault where it has different file system due to which virus effect it. User can itself instruct antivirus to delete malicious program, put it in vault or even ignore it. These days most come in GUI form.
The first antivirus program appeared in 1987 with the introduction of an antivirus program from G Data Software for the Atari ST. Later in the same year, VirusScan was introduced by John McAfee, which later became the McAfee antivirus program.
Examples: Windows Defender, AVG, AVAST, MCAFEE etc.
1. Antivirus : It is used to protect a computer from the virus. It detects a virus and notify the user and take action to secure the computer. The virus are kept in different location called vault where it has different file system due to which virus effect it. User can itself instruct antivirus to delete malicious program, put it in vault or even ignore it. These days most come in GUI form.
The first antivirus program appeared in 1987 with the introduction of an antivirus program from G Data Software for the Atari ST. Later in the same year, VirusScan was introduced by John McAfee, which later became the McAfee antivirus program.
Examples: Windows Defender, AVG, AVAST, MCAFEE etc.
2.File Management
Tool:
The software is used to manage files stored in a file system. It can be used to create, group file. Like Windows File Explorer is a file management tool.
File system (like FAT32, NTFS) should not be confused with File management tool former is a data structure used to store file in a OS while later is used to perform task on file stored in the file System.
The software is used to manage files stored in a file system. It can be used to create, group file. Like Windows File Explorer is a file management tool.
File system (like FAT32, NTFS) should not be confused with File management tool former is a data structure used to store file in a OS while later is used to perform task on file stored in the file System.
Some example of File management Tool are:
File Manager in Windows.
macOS Finder.
Directory Opus.
Dolphin in KDE.
File Manager in Windows.
macOS Finder.
Directory Opus.
Dolphin in KDE.
3.Compression Tool:
These tool are used to reduce the size of a file based on the selected algorithm.
Most operating systems include tools for compressing and uncompressing files.Linux has tools for both .tar.gz and .zip. Other compressed files, like .7z and .rar, require a third-party compression utility to be installed.
These tool are used to reduce the size of a file based on the selected algorithm.
Most operating systems include tools for compressing and uncompressing files.Linux has tools for both .tar.gz and .zip. Other compressed files, like .7z and .rar, require a third-party compression utility to be installed.
Some Examples are:
WinAce
WinZip
WinRAR
7-Zip
WinAce
WinZip
WinRAR
7-Zip
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