Software : Introduction

A piece of software is a computer program which has been written to carry out a particular task. Without software the hardware that is used to build a computer system would not be very useful. A software program contains the instructions that the computer must follow to carry out a task. Sometimes more than one program is required to complete a task. When this is the case the group of programs which together complete the task are known as a software package.

Software programs are originally produced by computer programmers who will write the instructions that form the program in a programming language.

Example pieces of software are :

• A word processor.
• A multimedia encyclopaedia.
• A spreadsheet.

A piece of software is usually classified as being either systems software or applications software.

GCSE ICT Companion 04 - (C) P Meakin 2004