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Audio Help [sawft-wair, soft-] Pronunciation Key | 1. | Computers. the programs used to direct the operation of a computer, as well as documentation giving instructions on how to use them. Compare hardware (def. 5). |
| 2. | anything that is not hardware but is used with hardware, esp. audiovisual materials, as film, tapes, records, etc.: a studio fully equipped but lacking software. |
| 3. | Television Slang. prepackaged materials, as movies or reruns, used to fill out the major part of a station's program schedule. |
| Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
software
To learn more about software visit Britannica.com
| © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |
| soft·ware
Audio Help (sôft'wâr', sŏft'-) Pronunciation Key
n. Computer Science The programs, routines, and symbolic languages that control the functioning of the hardware and direct its operation. |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
software
| Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper |
| software | |
noun | |
| (computer science) written programs or procedures or rules and associated documentation pertaining to the operation of a computer system and that are stored in read/write memory; "the market for software is expected to expand" [ant: computer hardware] |
| WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University. |
ˈsoftware noun
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| Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary, © 2000-2006 K Dictionaries Ltd. |
| software
Audio Help (sôft'wâr') Pronunciation Key
The programs, programming languages, and data that direct the operations of a computer system. Word processing programs and Internet browsers are examples of software. Compare hardware. |
| The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
software
The programs and instructions that run a computer, as opposed to the actual physical machinery and devices that compose the hardware.
[Chapter:] Technology
| The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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, business software, scientific and engineering software, embedded software, personal computer software and artificial intelligence 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 spread sheets 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 operating system 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)
| The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe |
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