Software (paper 1) Flashcards
what are the two types of software
- system software
- application software
what is system software further categorised into
- operating systems
- utlility software
what is application software
software that provides services that the user requires (apps on smartphones)
give examples of application software
- word processors
- spreadsheets
- social media apps
what is system software
software that provides services that the computer requires, enabling the computer to work
what are operating systems responsible for
important fuctions - a file is written to a hard dirve or program loading into the RAM
what are utility systems responsible for
helping configure and maintain the computer or device
give some examples of utility software
- compression tools
- backup software
- disk clean up
- disk defragmentation
- antivirus
what is user interface
relating to operating systems and it allows the user to tell the computer what to do and shows the result after processing
give examples of user interface
- graphical user interface = windows, icons, menus
- voice activation = siri, amazon alexa
what is disk defragmentation
- when files are saved to a magnetic hard disk they are stored in the next availiable space
- this leads to files being split into fragments which take longer to access = more movement
- this software puts each file back into one continguous location
what does disk clean-up do
- deletes temporary files
- clearing cached files for web browser
- removes unnecessary program files
what is required to run applications software
- hardware = components of computer
- firmware = low-level software to operate correctly
- operating systems = acts as file management
describe the role and operation of interrupts
an interrupt is a signal sent to the CPU to get it to temporarily stop the process so it can handle more urgent tasks - time sensitive and improve efficiency
what are the types of programming language
- high-level language
- love-level language
what is high-level language
- a language tha thas a syntax and similar to english
- it is designer to be understood by humans
- eg. python
- allows programmer to concerntrate on task vs computer architecture
- it must then be complied or interpreted before run
what is low-level language
- assembly code - typically used to control hardware components
- heard to read but execute very quickly
- eg. in embedded systems = machine code
- less memory and still equivilant to high-level instructions
what is machine code
the binary intructions produced by the complier or interpreter
- each type of processor has its own specific machine code instruction set so it will not work on another type
what are the three common translators
- complier
- interpreter
- assembler
what is a complier
- translates high-level language in one go to produce object code
- exercutes faster than interpreted program
- does not need to be complied again
- complier can be removed once object code run
- provides error report if any errors
- used in C# and VB
what is an interpreter
- translates and executes high-level language one line at a time
- takes more time to execute than complier
- source code interpreted every time it is run
- must be installed to run
- stops excercution if error found
- used in Python and JavaScript
what is an assembler
converts assembly code into machine code
describe how assembly code isnt machine code but close
assembly code uses mnemonics and an assembler is still needed to make it machine code
what does IDE stand for
intergrated development evironment
what is an IDE
a software used to enter and edit source code, also compiles programs to machine code and has debugging features
what are the useful tools of IDEs to programmers
- error diagnostics
- runtime environment
- translators
- code editors
explain what is meant by a runtime environement
the environment that allows the program to be rune, checks for runtime errors and other testing
what is meant by a runtime error
- a runtime error is detected when the program is run
- it is not a syntax error but a error on user input
- like division by 0 for example
how do IDEs use error detection
- interpreter or complier highlights syntax errors
- runtime errors also flagged
what are breakpoints
in IDEs breakpoints can be set to pause a program, enabling the programmer to check the value of variables in the code to find errors
how are IDEs code editors
- has auto-completion and auto-correction functions to offer key words or suggest corrections
- keywords are highlighter in different colours = prettyprint
what is prettyprint
how kew words in code are often highlighted to make it easier to read and allowing indentation
what is firmware
a type of software that is etched onto the ROM at manufacturing stage
