Software

Hardware vs Software Who can remember the difference? –Talk to your neighbor for a minute.

Hardware vs Software 2 Hardware: the hard, physical parts of the computer Software: the instructions that make the hardware do something

Types of Software Operating Systems Applications (Apps)

Operating System (OS) Purposes –To interact directly with the hardware –To give us an interface (GUI) –To communicate with the peripherals –To allow us to run applications

Operating Systems

Applications When we think of a computer program, we are thinking about an application Applications are programs that let us do something useful

What to think about? What does the software do? What is it used for, and why? Remember – use the types, not the brand name!

Types of Software Talk to your neighbor, list as many as possible

Desktop Publishing Word Processor (Word, Notepad, iWork, Mathematica, OpenOffice Writer) Page Layout Program (Pagemaker, Publisher, QuarkXpress)

Word Processor

Page Layout Program

Presentation Software Just like this! Powerpoint, Keynote, Impress

(X) Editing Software Image editor (Photoshop, GIMP) Video Editor (Premiere, Final Cut) Music Editor (Logic, Cubase)

Internet and Software Internet Browser (Explorer, Firefox) Software (Outlook, Thunderbird, Eudora) –Often used by businesses – remember what we said about cloud computing last week!

Program

Database Purposes: –Store large amounts of data –Search large amounts of data “Data” refers to values stored in a computer We will study this more after the midterm Examples: Access, Base, iWork

Database (from a library)

Spreadsheet Purposes: –Store data –Manipulate data Examples: Excel, iWork Numbers, Calc

Spreadsheet My gradesheet!

CAD/CAM Computer Aided Design/Computer Aided Manufacturing Purposes: –Design objects with regular parts –Test designs –Designs can be quickly created

CAD

Types of Software, part 2 Integrated vs. Stand-Alone Integrated software: different programs can “talk to each other.” –Example – Word and Excel Stand-alone software: cannot work with other programs

Types of Software, part 3 Off-the-shelf vs. Custom Off-the-shelf: buy it at a store Custom: written for one specific task

Off-the-Shelf Software Advantages: –Easy to buy –Has been tested; few bugs Disadvantages: –Might not do exactly what you need –Might have too many options

Custom Software Advantages: –Does exactly what you want it to do Disadvantages –Expensive –Could take time –Less testing; could have more bugs