The term software refers to the intangible components of an electronic system (computer, tablet, smartphone and so on), which is why it’s contrasted with hardware. In practice, it’s all the data that makes up a device’s intelligence and functions.
What is software?
It’s the set of programs that give hardware (the physical components of a device) its functions. Without these intangible elements, a computer or any other digital device would be completely useless.
This category includes every program that lets you use a device to perform a task: word processors, the browsers you use to navigate the internet, spreadsheets, antivirus software and more.
Types of software
Put that way, the definition seems rather broad. Let’s simplify it by breaking software down into categories.
- System software: the software that lets you run the hardware.
- Firmware: helps software communicate with the hardware so it can perform its various functions.
- Drivers: help an operating system communicate with a specific device.
- Applications or programs: this type covers all the tools you use every day on a computer, from word processors to spreadsheets to audio and video players.
Other categories
The software you use on your desktop and mobile devices has characteristics that place it in further, clearly distinct categories. For example, some programs are free and come preinstalled on your device, while others must be downloaded and require a monthly or annual payment (often after a free trial).
In addition, the software you want to use on a device has specific hardware requirements. For example, you can’t run desktop software on a smartphone or vice versa, because they support different programs.
How is software created?
The invisible building blocks of the virtual world are created by programmers and developers. These computing wizards write the software’s source code in a programming language (such as JavaScript or Python) and turn it into a digital object, the icon that appears on your desktop.
Modifying a program isn’t possible unless you’ve learned the programming language it was written in.
Software on mobile devices
The word app, believe it or not, is simply short for application or application software. All the programs you use on your smartphone or tablet are nothing more than software built specifically for mobile devices.
They can have different features from desktop software and are definitely lighter and take up less space.
What does marketing have to do with it?
Like everything done in the digital world, web marketing relies on programs and applications running on computers or mobile devices.
Just think of the world of email marketing and the software that automates creating and sending newsletters and organizing contacts into lists.
Even building a website or blog to run an online marketing campaign depends on content creation and e-commerce management software.