System software

System software

​ICT

​Grade 10

by Ahmad Septian

​System software

• ​Software required to run the hardware parts of the computer and other application software.

• ​Acts as interface between hardware and user applications.

• ​Interface is needed because hardware devices or machines and humans speak in different language.

• ​English is the pre-dominant language of interacting with computers.

• ​System software converts all human instructions into machine understandable instructions.

Types of system software

• ​Operating System

• ​Language Processor

• ​Device Drivers

​Operating system

• ​System software responsible for functioning of all hardware parts and their inter-operability to carry out tasks successfully

• ​First software to be loaded into computer memory

• ​Manages a computer's basic functions like storing data in memory, retrieving files from storage devices, scheduling tasks based on prioritym

​Language Processor

​Converts all user instructions into machine understandable language.

​In terms of human machine instructions, language are of three types:

​1. Machine level language: a string of 0s and 1s that the machines can understand

​2. Assembly level language: defines mnemonics

​3. High level language: uses English like statements and is completely independent of machines.

​Language Processor

• ​Program written in high level programming language like Java, C++, etc. is called source code.

• ​Set of instructions in machine readable form is called object code or machine code.

• ​System software that converts source code to object code is called language processor.

​Language Processor

• Three types of language interpreters:

  • ​Assembler: Converts assembly level program into machine level program.

  • ​Interpreter: Converts high level programs into machine level program line by line.

  • ​Compiler: Converts high level programs into machine level programs at one go rather than line by line.

​Device Driver

​- System software that controls and monitors functioning of a specific device on computer.

​- Each device that needs to be attached externally to the system has a specific driver associated with it.

​- When you attach a new device, you need to install its driver so that the OS knows how it needs to be managed.

Application software​

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​Application software

​A software that performs a single task

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​Here are some commonly used application software:

​- Word processing

​- Spreadsheet

​- Presentation

​- Database management

​- Multimedia tools

​Utility software

​Application software that assist system software in doing their work is called utility software.

​A cross between system software and application software.

​Example of utility software include:

​- Antivirus software

​- Disk management tools

​- File management tools

​- Compression tools

​- Backup tools