Lecture 03

Software
• Software is a set of programs, which is designed to perform a well-defined
function. A program is a sequence of instructions written to solve a
particular problem.
• A software can also be defined as a set of programs that are used to run a
machine
• It is also a set of programs or instructions or commands that tells a
computer what to do

Types of Software
• It is a collection of data that is given to the computer to complete a
particular task.
• The chart below describes the types of software:
There are two types of software −
System Software
Application Software

1. System Software
• System software is a collection of programs designed to operate, control, and extend
the processing capabilities of the computer itself.
• System software is generally prepared by the computer manufacturers. These
software products comprise of programs written in low-level languages, which
interact with the hardware at a very basic level.
• System software serves as the interface between the hardware and the end users.
• Some examples of system software are Operating System, Compilers, Interpreter,
Assemblers, etc.
• System software provides basic functionality to the computer and is required for the working of computer itself.
• The user of computer does not need to be aware about the functioning of system software, while using the
computer.
• For example, when you buy a computer, the system software would also include different device drivers.
• When you request for using any of the devices, the corresponding device driver software interacts with the
hardware device to perform the specified request.
• If the appropriate device driver for any device, say a particular model of a printer, is installed on the computer,
the user does not need to know about the device driver, while printing on this printer.

The purposes of the system software are:

• To provide basic functionality to computer.
• To control computer hardware.
• To act as an interface between user, application software and computer hardware
• System software provides basic functionality to the computer and is required for the working of computer itself.
• The user of computer does not need to be aware about the functioning of system software, while using the
computer.
• For example, when you buy a computer, the system software would also include different device drivers. When
you request for using any of the devices, the corresponding device driver software interacts with the hardware
device to perform the specified request. If the appropriate device driver for any device, say a particular model of
a printer, is installed on the computer, the user does not need to know about the device driver, while printing on
this printer.
The purposes of the system software are:
• To provide basic functionality to computer.
• To control computer hardware.
• To act as an interface between user, application software and computer hardware.
Some of the most prominent features of a system software
• Close to the system
• Fast in speed
• Difficult to design
• Difficult to understand
• Less interactive
• Smaller in size
• Difficult to manipulate
• Generally written in low-level language
Operating System:
• An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides
common services for computer programs.
• It is the program that, after being initially loaded into the computer by a boot program, manages all of the other
application programs in a computer.
• In other words, an operating system is a program on which application programs are executed and acts as a
communication bridge (interface) between the user and the computer hardware.
• Users can interact directly with the operating system through a user interface such as a command line or a graphical
user interface (GUI). OS intermediates between the user of a computer and the computer hardware. Different kinds
of application software use specific hardware resources of a computer like CPU, I/O devices and memory, as needed
by the application software.
• OS controls and coordinates the use of hardware among the different application software and the users.
• Some available operating systems are Microsoft Disk Operating System (MS-DOS), Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows
8.1, Windows 10, Windows XP, Linux, UNIX, and Mac OS X Snow Leopard. Objectives of OS:
The objectives of the operating system are:
• To make the computer system convenient to use in an efficient manner.
• To hide the details of the hardware resources from the users. • To provide users a convenient interface to use the
computer system.
• To act as an intermediary between the hardware and its users, making it easier for the users to access and use
other resources.
• To manage the resources of a computer system.
• To keep track of who is using which resource, granting resource requests, and mediating conflicting requests from
different programs and users.
• To provide efficient and fair sharing of resources among users and programs.

Types of OS:
Depending on the nature and functionality of OS, they have several types as:
• Single-tasking and multi-tasking
A single-tasking system can only run one program at a time, while a multi-tasking operating system allows more than
one program to be running in concurrency. This is achieved by timesharing, where the available processor time is
divided between multiple processes.

• Single- and multi-user

Single-user operating systems have no facilities to distinguish users, but may allow multiple programs to run in
tandem. A multi-user operating system extends the basic concept of multitasking with facilities that identify processes
and resources, such as disk space, belonging to multiple users, and the system permits multiple users to interact with
the system at the same time
• Distributed
A distributed operating system manages a group of distinct computers and makes them appear to be a single
computer. The development of networked computers that could be linked and communicate with each other gave
rise to distributed computing. Distributed computations are carried out on more than one machine. When
computers in a group work in cooperation, they form a distributed system.
• Embedded
Embedded operating systems are designed to be used in embedded computer systems. They are designed to
operate on small machines like PDAs with less autonomy. They are able to operate with a limited number of
resources. They are very compact and extremely efficient by design. Windows CE and Minix 3 are some examples
of embedded operating systems.
• Real-time
A real-time operating system is an operating system that guarantees to process events or data by a specific
moment in time. A real-time operating system may be single- or multi-tasking, but when multitasking, it uses
specialized scheduling algorithms so that a deterministic nature of behavior is achieved.

Functions of OS:
 Process management
 Memory management
 File management
 Device management
 Protection and Security
• Process management:
In a multi programming environment, the OS decides the order in which processes have access to the processor, and how much
processing time each process has. This function of OS is called process scheduling. An Operating System keeps tracks of the status of
processes. The program which perform thistask is known as traffic controller. Allocates the CPU (i.e. processor) to a process. De-
allocates processor when a process is no more required.

• Memory Management
The operating system manages the Primary Memory or Main Memory. Main memory is made up of a large array of bytes or words
where each byte or word is assigned a certain address. Main memory is a fast storage and it can be accessed directly by the CPU. For a
program to be executed, it should be first loaded in the main memory.

An Operating System performs the following activities for memory management:

It keeps tracks of primary memory, i.e., which bytes of memory are used by which user program. The memory addresses that have
already been allocated and the memory addresses of the memory that has not yet been used. In multi programming, the OS decides
the order in which process are granted access to memory, and for how long. It Allocates the memory to a process when the process
requests it and deallocates the memory when the process has terminated or is performing an I/O operation.
• File Management
A file system is organized into directories for efficient or easy navigation and usage. These directories may contain
other directories and other files. An Operating System carries out the following file management activities. It keeps
track of where information is stored, user access settings and status of every file. These facilities are collectively
known as the file system.

• Device Management
An OS manages device communication via their respective drivers. It performs the following activities for device
management. Keeps tracks of all devices connected to system. designates a program responsible for every device
known as the Input/output controller. Decides which process gets access to a certain device and for how long,
allocates devices in an effective and efficient way and Deallocates devices when they are no longer required.

• Protection and Security:

The operating system uses password protection to protect user data and similar other techniques. It also prevents
unauthorized access to programs and user data.
Application Software
• The software that a user uses for accomplishing a specific task is the application software.
• Application software may be a single program or a set of programs.
• A set of programs that are written for a specific purpose and provide the required functionality is called
software package.
• Application software is written for different kinds of applications—graphics, word processors, media players,
database applications, telecommunication, accounting purposes etc.

Some examples of application software packages are as follows:

• Word Processing Software: For writing letter, reports, documents etc. (e.g. MS-WORD).
• Image Processing Software: For assisting in drawing and manipulating graphics (e.g. Adobe Photoshop).
• Accounting Software: For assisting in accounting information, salary, tax returns (Tally software).
• Spreadsheet Software: Used for creating budget, tables etc. (e.g. MS-Excel).
• Presentation Software: To make presentations, slide shows (e.g. MS-PowerPoint)

Suite of Software having Word Processor, Spreadsheet and Presentation Software:

• Some examples are MS-Office, Google Docs, Sun Open office, Apple iWork.
• CAD/CAM Software: To assist in architectural design. (e.g. AutoCAD, Autodesk)
• Geographic Information Systems: It captures, stores, analyzes, manages, and presents data, images and
maps that are linked to different locations. (e.g. ArcGIS)
• Web Browser Software: To access the World Wide Web to search documents, sounds, images etc. (e.g.
Internet Explorer, Chrome)
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