How Software And Hardware Work Together

In this article we will be considering “How Software And Hardware Work Together”.

Table of Contents

What Is A Software?

A software is a set of instructions, data or programs used to operate computers and execute specific tasks. It is the 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.

According to Wikipedia a software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work.

Types of Software

System Software
Utility Software
Application Software

System Software:

According to Wikipedia System software is a software designed to provide a platform for other software. Examples of system software include operating systems like macOS, Linux, Android and Microsoft Windows, computational science software, game engines, search engines, industrial automation, and software as a service applications.

According to Techtarget 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 is the best-known example of system software.

Types of System Software:

Application programs: According to Wikipedia An application program is a computer program designed to carry out a specific task other than one relating to the operation of the computer itself. Examples include; Email, web browsers, gaming software, word processors, graphics software, media player etc.
Device drivers: A device driver is a special kind of software program that controls a specific hardware device attached to a computer
Operating systems: software that supports a computer’s basic functions, such as scheduling tasks and controlling peripherals.
Assemblers: An assembler is a program that converts the assembly language into machine code. It takes the basic commands and operations from assembly code and converts them into binary code that can be recognized by a specific type of processor.
System Utility Software: System utility programs are used to list or change information that is related to data sets and volumes, such as data set names, catalog entries, and volume labels.
Firmware BIOS Setup: In computing, BIOS is firmware used to provide runtime services for operating systems and programs and to perform hardware initialization during the booting process.
System Cleaning Software: As the name implies a software majorly used to clean the computer system
Compilers and Interpreters: A compiler translates the entire source code in a single run .An interpreter translates the entire source code line by line.
Anti – Virus Software: Also known as anti-malware, is a computer program used to prevent, detect, and remove malware.

Utility Software:

According to Wikipedia Utility software is a software designed to help analyze, configure, optimize or maintain a computer. It is used to support the computer infrastructure in contrast to application software, which is aimed at directly performing tasks that benefit ordinary users.

Types of Utility Software

Antivirus: A software that protects your device from malware
File Management System: File management software systems, sometimes called file tracking software or file managers are how a business stores and organizes electronic documents or captured data from paper-based documents.
Disk Management tools: Disk management tools are utility software that is used to manage data on disk by performing various functions on it.
Compression tools: File compression tools condense digital files or folders to ensure they take up less disk space.
Disk cleanup tool: Disk Clean-up is a computer maintenance utility included in Microsoft Windows designed to free up disk space on a computer’s hard drive.
Disk Defragmenter: The idea behind the disk defragmenter is to move all the files around so that every file is stored on sequential sectors on sequential rings of the disk.
Backup utility: Backup software is a computer program that makes a copy of your files and folders or your complete system, including the operating system, applications and data.

Application Software:

An application program is a computer program designed to carry out a specific task other than one relating to the operation of the computer itself, typically to be used by end-users. Word processors, media players, and accounting software are examples of an application software.

Types of Application Software

Word Processing Software: Word Processing refers to the act of using a computer to create, edit, save and print documents.
Graphics Software: graphics software refers to a program or collection of programs that enable a person to manipulate images
Spreadsheet Software: Spreadsheet software is defined as a type of computer program that helps a user perform numerical functions and analyze numbers through a computerized version of an accounting worksheet. An example of spreadsheet software is Excel.
Presentation Software: Presentation software is a category of application program used to create sequences of words and pictures that tell a story or help support a speech or public presentation of information.
Web Browsers: A web browser takes you anywhere on the internet. It retrieves information from other parts of the web and displays it on your desktop or mobile device. The information is transferred using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol, which defines how text, images and video are transmitted on the web.
Multimedia Software: Multimedia software is defined as the combination of text, audio, images, animation, or video to produce interactive content.
Education and Reference Software: Educational software is a term used for any computer software which is made for an educational purpose.
Simulation Software: Simulation software is based on the process of modeling a real phenomenon with a set of mathematical formulas. It is, essentially, a program that allows the user to observe an operation through simulation without actually performing that operation.

What Is A Hardware?

According to Wikipedia Computer hardware includes the physical parts of a computer, such as the case, central processing unit, random access memory, monitor, mouse, keyboard, computer data storage, graphics card, sound card, speakers and motherboard. By contrast, software is the set of instructions that can be stored and run by hardware.

Hardware is the physical part of a computer, which we can touch and feel. Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse and CPU etc. are the examples of hardware.

There are three types of hardware such as;

Input device: The devices which are used to input data in a computer are called input devices. It consists keyboard, mouse, microphone, scanner etc.
Output device: The devices which are used to get the data stored in a computer is called output devices. It consists printer, monitor, speaker etc.
Storage device: Storage devices are used to store data. There are two type of storage devices namely;

Primary Memory- RAM, ROM
Secondary Memory- CD, DVD, Pen drive and Floppy disk etc.