Computer software (or simply software) is the programs and procedures that enable a computer to perform a specific task, as opposed to the physical components of the system (hardware). This includes application software such as a word processor, which enables a user to perform a task, and system software such as an operating system, which enables other software to run properly, by interfacing with hardware and with other software.

The term "software" was first used in this sense by John W. Tukey in 1957. In computer science and software engineering, computer software is all information processed by computer systems, programs and data. The concept of reading different sequences of instructions into the memory of a device to control computations was invented by Charles Babbage as part of his difference engine. The theory that is the basis for most modern software was first proposed by Alan Turing in his 1935 essay Computable numbers with an application to the Entscheidungsproblem. Hally, Mike (2005:79). Electronic brains/Stories from the dawn of the computer age. British Broadcasting Corporation and Granta Books, London. ISBN 1-86-207663-4.

Relationship to hardware

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Computer software is so called in contrast to computer hardware, which encompasses the physical interconnections and devices required to store and execute (or run) the software. In computers, software is loaded into RAM and executed in the central processing unit. At the lowest level, software consists of a machine language specific to an individual processor. A machine language consists of groups of binary values signifying processor instructions (object code), which change the state of the computer from its preceding state. Software is an ordered sequence of instructions for changing the state of the computer hardware in a particular sequence. It is generally 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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RT @cesar_recife: Curso de extensão em testes de software no C.E.S.A.R.EDU (12 e 19/12). Informações: http://bloginovacao.cesar.org.br/? ...
velemos (veronica lemos) Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:32:59 -0000
RT @cesar_recife: Curso de extensão em testes de software no C.E.S.A.R.EDU (12 e 19/12). Informações: http://bloginovacao.cesar.org.br/? ...
SAP launches sustainability-tracking application: SAP's emerging line of green IT software got a boost Thursday.. http://bit.ly/66xwj4
TechnologyLover (TechnologyLover) Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:32:58 -0000
SAP launches sustainability-tracking application: SAP's emerging line of green IT software got a boost Thursday.. http://bit.ly/66xwj4
Reader: Small Memory Software - Patterns for Systems With Limited Memory: A coherent, easy-to-use set of.. http://bit.ly/4OeIk1
AlienHunter (Paul Margrave) Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:32:54 -0000
Reader: Small Memory Software - Patterns for Systems With Limited Memory: A coherent, easy-to-use set of.. http://bit.ly/4OeIk1
Free software, also linux, is just another price.
AOosterom (Alexandra Oosterom) Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:32:47 -0000
Free software, also linux, is just another price.
RT @Simplicitta: I need an Adobe Software hook-up....Anyone? Anyone? anyone KNOW of anyone !?!?
sharilachelle (Shari Anderson) Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:32:47 -0000
RT @Simplicitta: I need an Adobe Software hook-up....Anyone? Anyone? anyone KNOW of anyone !?!?
Planning for a warehouse management software (WMS) project: http://bit.ly/4BZDuQ
ManufacturingTT (sManufacturingERP) Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:32:47 -0000
Planning for a warehouse management software (WMS) project: http://bit.ly/4BZDuQ

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