See Also: software(dictionary)
software(medicine)
software(encyclopedia)
software(dictionary)
Tax software(finance)
Tax software(money)
Investment software(finance)
Mortgage software(finance)
Veritas Software(finance)
application software(dictionary)

software (sh)




Instructions that tell a computer what to do.

Software is the entire set of programs, procedures, and routines associated with the operation of a computer system, including the operating system. The term differentiates these features from hardware, the physical components of a computer system. Two main types of software are system software, which controls a computer's internal functioning, and application software, which directs the computer to execute commands that solve practical problems. A third category is network software, which coordinates communication between computers linked in a network. Software is written by programmers in any number of programming languages. This information, the source code, must then be translated by means of a compiler into machine language, which the computer can understand and act on.