software

programming (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, businesssoftware, scientific and engineering software, embeddedsoftware, personal computer software and artificialintelligence 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 spreadsheets 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 operatingsystem 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)