Hardware and Software – The Building Blocks of Any Computer
June 24, 2021Software engineering is a field that deals with the development of software programs. Software is a series of directives and instructions that tell a machine how to perform a certain task. This is opposed to physical hardware where the machine actually does all the work and actually creates the application. Software engineers usually write, optimize, test, and code the applications. Software development is considered one of the fastest growing fields in today’s business world.
Hardware software refers to the hardware software in your computer programs and hardware that creates the programs. Software developers create the code that allows the computer programs on your desktop or laptop to run. Hardware software refers to the software that actually drives the hardware that you use every day such as your keyboard, mouse, monitor, and speakers. In the past hardware software referred to programs that were installed on a machine and ran only as the machine was running, but now this terminology refers to any type of software that is installed on a computer and used by the computer such as music players and web browsers.
Both the software and hardware parts of a computer are necessary for its operation. Without either the machine would be helpless. Software is used to direct the machine’s actions and provide it with the instructions it needs to carry out these activities. Hardware is what provides the computer with the materials it requires to carry out these activities. For instance, the operating systems on personal computers all require a driver and this is what connects the hardware with the operating system.
Operating systems on personal computers have to communicate with other programs and hardware on the network. This is done through message buses and standard protocols. Software is used to control the operating system such as displaying the menu of options or pop-up windows. Cloud computing refers to the collection of user data in a virtual form and delivered over the Internet using a protocol such as HTTP or XML. Both of these terms can be used interchangeably.
The two main pieces of software in any computer system are the operating system and the application software. The operating system controls how the machine operates and is usually based on a kernel. Applications on the other hand are the central database and repository for storing user information and keeping track of everything that goes on with the machine. The two are usually implemented as separate programs but are actually built into each other using abstraction technologies such as Java and JavaScript.
Application software is what provides the user interface for the operating system and is usually written in Java, C or other low-level languages. It runs inside the kernel where it makes requests of hardware resources and sends data back to the operating system using a protocol such as HTTP or XML. This layer also keeps track of all the user data and issues all the commands necessary for the computer system to do its job. This layer also connects the application software to the various other components and the hardware that are installed on the machine. Software is the building block of any computer system and without it, the machine would be nothing more than an uninteresting black box.
