WHAT IS SOFTWARE?

 Software is a set of instructions, data, or programs used to operate a computer and execute specific tasks. In simpler terms, it tells a computer how to function. It’s a generic term used to refer to applications, scripts, and programs that run on devices such as PCs, mobile phones, tablets, and other smart devices. It contrasts with hardware, which is the physical aspect of a computer that performs the work.

Without software, most computers would be useless. For example, a web browser is a software application that allows users to access the internet. Without the web browser it, reading this page on Webopedia wouldn’t be possible. An operating system (OS) is a software program that serves as the interface between other applications and the hardware on a computer or mobile device. TCP/IP is built into all major operating systems to allow computers to communicate over long-distance networks. Without the OS or the protocols built into it, it wouldn’t be possible to access a web browser.

The majority of it is written in high-level programming languages due to the language being closer to natural human language as opposed to machine language. The high-level language is then translated into low-level machine code using a compiler or interpreter for the computer to understand. Software can also be written in a low-level assembly language, but it is less common

SOFTWARE VS. HARDWARE

Computer Archives and hardware require each other – neither can be used on its own. A book provides a useful analogy. The pages and ink of a book are the hardware. The words, sentences, paragraphs, and overall meaning are the. A computer without software is like a book full of blank pages. A computer needs to make it useful just as words are needed to make a book meaningful.

While both are necessary, there are big differences between the two:

• Hardware is a physical device, such as a motherboard, whereas software is a collection of code needed to be installed into the system.
• Hardware cannot perform a task without. Similarly, software cannot perform a task without hardware.
• Hardware wears out with time, does not.
• Hardware only understands the machine-level language. The software takes input in human-readable languages and transforms it into machine-level language.
• It can be easily created, changed, or deleted, whereas switching out hardware takes greater skill and is typically more expensive to do.