14
Computer Software
14
Learning Objectives
• Describe several important trends
occurring in computer software.
• Give examples of several major types of
application and system software.
• Explain the purpose of several popular
software packages for end user
productivity and collaborative
computing.
14 Learning Objectives (continued)
• Outline the functions of an operating
system.
• Describe the main uses of software
programming languages and tools.
14
Section I
• Application Software: End User
Applications
14
Software
• Types of software
– Application software
– System software
• Application software for end users
– Application-specific
– General-purpose
• Perform common information processing jobs
• Sometimes known as productivity packages
14
Software Suites and Integrated Packages
• Suites are a number of productivity
packages bundled together
– Microsoft Office
– Lotus SmartSuite
– Corel WordPerfect Office
– Sun StarOffice
14
Software Suites and Integrated Packages
(continued)
• Advantages of suites
–
–
–
–
Cost
Similar graphical user interface
Share common tools
Programs are designed to work together
• Disadvantages of suites
– Large size
– Many features never used by many end
users
14
Software Suites and Integrated Packages
(continued)
• Integrated Packages
– Combine SOME of the features of
several programs
– Cannot do as much as individual
packages or suites
14
Web Browsers
• Key software interface to the
hyperlinked resources of the World
Wide Web and the rest of the
Internet
– Internet Explorer
– Netscape Communicator
14
Electronic Mail and Instant Messaging
• E-Mail
– Has changed the way people work and
communicate
• Instant Messaging
– An e-mail/computer conferencing hybrid
technology
– Allows real time
communication/collaboration
14
Word Processing and Desktop Publishing
• Word Processing
– Has computerized the creation, editing,
revision, and printing of documents.
– Advanced features
• Desktop Publishing
– Design and print newsletters, brochures,
manuals, and books
– Page design process
• Page makeup or page composition
• WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get)
14
Electronic Spreadsheets
• Used for business analysis,
planning, and modeling
• Involves designing its format and
developing the relationships
(formulas)
14
Electronic Spreadsheets (continued)
• Allows end users to perform:
– What-if
– Goal-seeking
– Sensitivity analysis
• Strength
– Computation and calculation
14
Database Management
• Performs four primary tasks
– Database development
• Define/organize content, relationships, and
structure of the data
– Database Interrogation
• Selectively retrieve and display information
• Produce forms, reports, & other documents
14
Database Management (continued)
• Four primary tasks (continued)
– Database maintenance
• Add, delete, update, and correct the data
– Application development
• Develop prototypes of web pages, queries,
forms, reports, and labels
14
Database Management (continued)
• Strength
– Storage of large amounts of data
• Weakness
– Computation and calculation
14
Presentation Graphics
• Helps convert numeric data into
graphic displays
• Helps prepare multimedia
presentations
• Easy to use
14 Personal Information Managers
• For end user productivity and
collaboration
– Store, organize, and retrieve information
•
•
•
•
•
Information about customers
Appointments
Contact lists
Task lists
Schedules
14
Groupware
• Collaboration software
• Helps workgroups and teams work
together to accomplish group
assignments
• Combines a variety of software features
and functions
–
–
–
–
–
–
E-mail
Discussion groups and databases
Scheduling
Task management
Audio and videoconferencing
Data sharing
14
Other Business Software
14
Section II
• System Software: Computer System
Management
14
System Software Overview
• Programs that manage and support
a computer system and its
information processing activities
• Serves as the software interface
between computer networks and
hardware and the application
programs of end users
14 System Software Overview (continued)
• Two major categories
– System management programs
•
•
•
•
Operating systems
Network management programs
Database management systems
System utilities
– System development programs
• Programming language translators &
editors
• CASE (computer-aided software
engineering)
14
Operating Systems
• Integrated system of programs that
– Manages the operations of the CPU
– Controls the input/output and storage
resources and activities of the
computer system
– Provides various support services as
the computer executes application
programs
14 Operating Systems (continued)
• Performs five basic functions
– Provides a user interface
• Allows humans to communicate with the
computer
– Command-driven
– Menu-driven
– Graphical user interface
14 Operating Systems (continued)
• Five basic functions (continued)
– Resource management
• Manages the hardware and networking
resources of the system
• Virtual memory capability
14 Operating Systems (continued)
• Five basic functions (continued)
– File management
• Controls the creation, deletion, and access
of files of data and programs
• Keeps track of the physical location of files
14 Operating Systems (continued)
• Five basic functions (continued)
– Task management
• Manages the accomplishment of the
computing tasks of end users
• Multitasking
– Multiprogramming
– Timesharing
14 Operating Systems (continued)
• Popular Operating Systems
– Windows
•
•
•
•
95, 98, ME
NT
2000
XP
• Popular operating systems
(continued)
– UNIX
– Linux
– Mac OS X
14 Network Management Programs
• Perform functions such as
– Automatically checking client PCs and video
terminals for input/output activity
– Assigning priorities to data communication
requests from clients and terminals
– Detecting and correcting transmission errors
and other network problems
– Sometimes functions as middleware that
allows diverse networks to communicate
with each other
14 Database Management Systems
• Controls the development, use, and
maintenance of databases.
• Helps organizations use their integrated
collections of data records and files
• Allows different user application programs
to easily access the same database
• Simplifies the process of retrieving
information from databases
14
Other System Management Programs
• Utility Programs
– Perform miscellaneous housekeeping
and file conversion functions
•
•
•
•
•
Data backup
Data recovery
Virus protection
Data compression
Data defragmentation
– Performance monitors and security
monitors
14
Programming Languages
• Allows a programmer to develop the
sets of instructions that constitute a
computer program
• Machine Language
– First generation language
– Written using binary codes unique to
each computer
14
Programming Languages (continued)
– Assembler Language
• Second generation
• Requires language translator programs
called assemblers
• Allows a computer to convert the
instructions into machine instructions
• Frequently called symbolic language
14
Programming Languages (continued)
– High-level Languages
• Third generation
• Uses instructions, called statements, that
use brief statements or arithmetic
expressions
• Uses translator programs called
compilers or interpreters
• Syntax and semantics
14
Programming Languages (continued)
• Fourth-generation Languages (4GLs)
– More nonprocedural and conversational
than prior languages
– Natural languages
– Ease of use gained at the expense of
some loss in flexibility
14
Programming Languages (continued)
• Object-Oriented Languages (OOP)
– Ties data elements to the procedures
or actions that will be performed on
them into “objects”
– Easier to use and more efficient for
programming GUIs
14
Programming Languages (continued)
• HTML, XML, and Java
– Important for building multimedia Web
pages, websites, and Web-based
applications
– HTML (Hypertext Markup Language)
• A page description language that creates
hypertext or hypermedia documents
14
Programming Languages (continued)
– XML (extensible Markup Language)
• Describes the contents of web pages by
applying identifying tags or contextual
labels to the data
• Makes the web site more searchable, sort
able, and easier to analyze
– Java
• Designed for real-time, interactive, Webbased network applications
• Applets
14
Programming Software
• Helps programmers develop
computer programs
• Two basic categories
– Programming language translators
– Programming tools
14
Programming Software (continued)
• Language Translator Programs
– Assembler
• Translates symbolic instruction codes into
machine language instructions
– Compiler
• Translates high-level language statements
– Interpreter
• Translates and executes each statement in
a program one at a time
14
Programming Software (continued)
• Programming Tools
– Programming editors and debuggers
– Provides a computer-aided programming
environment or workbench
– Diagramming packages
– Code generators
– Libraries of reusable objects & code
– Prototyping tools
– CASE
14
Discussion Questions
• What major trends are occurring in
software? What capabilities do you
expect to see in future software
packages?
• How do the different roles of system
software and application software affect
you as a business end user? How do
you see this changing in the future?
14
Discussion Questions (continued)
• Why is an operating system
necessary? Why can’t an end user
just load an application program in a
computer and start computing?
• Should a Web browser be integrated
into an operating system?
14
Discussion Questions (continued)
• Are software suites, Web browsers,
and groupware merging together?
What are the implications for a
business and its end users?
• How are HTML, XML, and Java
affecting business applications on
the Web?
14
Discussion Questions (continued)
• Do you think Windows 2000 and
Linux will surpass Unix and Netware
as operating systems for network
and Web servers?
• Which application software
packages are the most important for
a business end user to know how to
use?
14
References
• James A. O'Brien; George M. Marakas.
Management Information Systems:
Managing Information Technology in the
Business Enterprise 6th Ed., Boston:
McGraw-Hill/ Irwin,2004