Computer software, or just software is a general term primarily used for digitally stored data such as computer programs and other kinds of information read and written by computers.
Application software, such as word processors which perform productive tasks for users.
Firmware, which is software programmed resident to electrically programmable memory devices on board mainboards or other types of integrated hardware carriers.
System software such as operating systems, which govern computing resources and provide convenience for users.
Software testing is a domain independent of development and programming. Software testing consists of various methods to test and declare a software product fit before it can be launched for use by either an individual or a group.
Software includes all the various forms and roles that digitally stored data may have and play in a computer, regardless of whether the data is used as code for a CPU, or other interpreter, or whether it represents other kinds of information. Software thus encompasses a wide array of products that may be developed using different techniques such as ordinary programming languages, scripting languages, microcode, or an FPGA configuration.
The types of software include web pages developed in languages and frameworks like HTML, PHP, Perl, JSP, ASP.NET, XML, and desktop applications like OpenOffice, Microsoft Word developed in languages like C, C++, Java, C#, or Smalltalk. Application software usually runs on an underlying software operating systems such as Linux or Microsoft Windows. Software (or firmware) is also used in video games and for the configurable parts of the logic systems of automobiles, televisions, and other consumer electronics.
Computer software is so called to distinguish it from computer hardware, which encompasses the physical interconnections and devices required to store and execute the software. At the lowest level, executable code consists of machine language instructions specific to an individual processor. A machine language consists of groups of binary values signifying processor instructions that change the state of the computer from its preceding state. Programs are an ordered sequence of instructions for changing the state of the computer in a particular sequence. It is usually written in high-level programming languages that are easier and more efficient for humans to use (closer to natural language) than machine language. High-level languages are compiled or interpreted into machine language object code. Software may also be written in an assembly language, essentially, a mnemonic representation of a machine language using a natural language alphabet. Assembly language must be assembled into object code via an assembler.
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Practical computer systems divide software systems into three major classes: system software, programming software and application software, although the distinction is arbitrary, and often blurred.
System software helps run the computer hardware and computer system. It includes a combination of the following: device drivers, operating systems, servers, utilities, windowing systems
The purpose of systems software is to unburden the applications programmer from the often complex details of the particular computer being used, including such accessories as communications devices, printers, device readers, displays and keyboards, and also to partition the computer's resources such as memory and processor time in a safe and stable manner. Examples are - Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.
Programming software usually provides tools to assist a programmer in writing computer programs, and software using different programming languages in a more convenient way. The tools include: compilers, debuggers, interpreters, linkers, text editors
Application software allows end users to accomplish one or more specific (not directly computer development related) tasks. Typical applications include: industrial automation, business software, video games, quantum chemistry and solid state physics software, telecommunications, database, educational software, medical software, military software, modeling software, image editing software, spreadsheet software, simulation software, Word processing software, Decision making software.
Application software exists for and has impacted a wide variety of topics.
