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Dictionary Results For "software" [?]/[OPML]
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See Software

English

Pronunciation

  • US English
  • IPA: [ˈsɔft.wɛɻ]
  • An audio transcript can be found at en-us-software.ogg


Etymology

soft + ware

Noun

  1. Encoded computer instructions, usually modifiable (unless stored in some form of unalterable memory such as ROM). Compare hardware.
  2. * 1958: The "software" comprising the carefully planned interpretive routines, compilers, and other aspects of automative programming are at least as important to the modern electronic calculator as its "hardware" of tubes, transistors, wires, tapes and the like. — The Teaching of Concrete Mathematics, John W. Tukey, in The American Mathematical Monthly, vol. 65, no. 1 (Jan. 1958), pp 1-9.
  3. * 1953 As originally conceived, the word "software" was merely an obvious way to distinguish a program from the computer itself. A program comprised sequences of changeable instructions each having the power to command the behavior of the permanently crafted machinery, the "hardware." Softword: Provenance for the Word ‘Software’ by Paul Niquette ISBN 1-58922-233-http://niquette.com/books/softword/part0.htm


Related terms

Translations

See also

am:software zh-min-nan:software ca:software de:software el:software es:software fr:software ko:software hr:software id:software it:software kk:software ku:software lt:software hu:software nl:software pl:software pt:software ru:software fi:software sv:software ta:software vi:software tr:software zh:software

WordNet software
n : (computer science) written programs or procedures or rules
and associated documentation pertaining to the operation
of a computer system and that are stored in read/write
memory; "the market for software is expected to expand"
[syn: software system, software package, package]
[ant: hardware]
FOLDOC software

(Or "computer program", "program", "code") The
instructions executed by a computer, as opposed to the
physical device on which they run (the "hardware").

The term was coined by the eminent statistician, John Tukey.

Programs stored on non-volatile storage built from
integrated circuits (e.g. ROM or PROM) are usually
called firmware.

Software can be split into two main types - system software
and application software or application programs. System
software is any software required to support the production or
execution of application programs but which is not specific to
any particular application. Examples of system software would
include the operating system, compilers, editors and
sorting programs.

Examples of application programs would include an accounts
package or a CAD program. Other broad classes of
application software include real-time software, {business
software}, scientific and engineering software, {embedded
software}, personal computer software and {artificial
intelligence} software.

Software includes both source code written by humans and
executable machine code produced by assemblers or
compilers. It does not usually include the data processed
by programs unless this is in a format such as multimedia
which depends on the use of computers for its presentation.
This distinction becomes unclear in cases such as {spread
sheets} which can contain both instructions (formulae and
macros) and data. There are also various intermediate
compiled or semi-compiled, forms of software such as
library files and byte-code.

Some claim that documentation (both paper and electronic) is
also software. Others go further and define software to be
programs plus documentation though this does not correspond
with common usage.

The noun "program" describes a single, complete and
more-or-less self-contained list of instructions, often stored
in a single file, whereas "code" and "software" are
uncountable nouns describing some number of instructions which
may constitute one or more programs or part thereof. Most
programs, however, rely heavily on various kinds of {operating
system} software for their execution. The nounds "code" and
"software" both refer to the same thing but "code" tends to
suggest an interest in the implementation details whereas
"software" is more of a user's term.

(2002-07-21)


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