Assignment on Software

1.System Software
In our opinion, Systems software is a set of programs that organise, utilise and control hardware in a computer. This is a collection of programs written to service other programs.
Examples of Systems software: Assembler, Debugger, compilers, loaders, linkers, Operating System components, drivers, telecommunication processors, utilities…etc

From other source, we found that it is program used to control the computer and develop and run application programs.

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_software, http://www.techweb.com/encyclopedia/defineterm.jhtml?term=systemsoftware and from a book.


2.Real-time Software:

We have found that real-time software is used to monitors, analyses, and controls real- world events.
It thus has the following functions:
Data gathering components,
Analysis Component,
Control/Output component,
Monitoring component which means its coordinates all components so that real-time response can be maintained.

The Real-time Software Package includes the following program segments. They can be turned on or off to meet a customer’s specific requirements.

Examples are:
Financial/Accounting Management, Manufacturing Management, Distribution Management, Analysis, Support Applications

Sources: http://www.realtimesw.com/ and book notes


3.Business Software:

We believe that business software is any software program that helps a business to increase productivity or measure their productivity. It can be categorized as follows:
Small business: The small business market generally consists of home accounting software, and office suites such as Microsoft Office and OpenOffice.org.

Medium business: The medium size, or SME, has a broader range of software applications, ranging from accounting, groupware, customer relationship management, human resources software, loan origination software, shopping cart software, field service software, and other productivity enhancing applications.

Large business :The last segment covers enterprise level software applications, such as those in the fields of enterprise resource planning, enterprise content management (ECM), business process management and product lifecycle management.
As per our research we have learnt that technologies that have previously only existed in peer-to-peer software applications, like Kazaa and Napster, are starting to feature within business applications.

Sources : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_software



4.Engineering & Scientific Software:

We have found that it is a program which perform “number-crunching” algorithm for Astronomy, Volcanology, Automotive stress analysis, orbital dynamics, molecular biology and other many examples.

CAD and System Simulation has some real-time and even system software characteristics.

Sources: Notes from a book


5.Embedded Software:
As to our opinion, embedded system is a special-purpose computer system designed to perform one or a few dedicated functions. It is usually embedded as part of a complete device including hardware and mechanical parts.
It resides in the read-only memory and is used to control products and sysytems for consumer and industrial markets.However, it can perform very limited and esoteric functions.
In contrast, a general-purpose computer, such as a personal computer, can do many different tasks depending on programming. Since the embedded system is dedicated to specific tasks, design engineers can optimize it, reducing the size and cost of the product, or increasing the reliability and performance. Some embedded systems are mass-produced, benefiting from economies of scale.

Examples of embedded systems are:

Audio like mp3 players and telephone switches for interactive voice response systems
Avionics, such as inertial guidance systems, flight control hardware/software and other integrated systems in aircraft and missiles
Cellular telephones and telephone switches
Electric or Electronic Motor controller for Brushless DC motors, Induction motors and DC Motors
Engine controllers and antilock brake controllers for automobiles
Home automation products, such as thermostats, air conditioners, sprinklers, and security monitoring systems
Handheld calculators
Household appliances, including microwave ovens, washing machines, television sets, DVD players and recorders
Medical equipment
Personal digital assistant
Videogame consoles
Computer peripherals such as routers and printers
Industrial controllers for remote machine operation
Digital musical instruments (digital synthesizers and digital pianos).
Security applications such as DVR and video server.

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embedded_software


6.Personal Computer Software:
A personal computer software is a subclass of computer software that employs the capabilities of a computer directly and thoroughly to a task that the user wishes to perform. This should be contrasted with system software which is involved in integrating a computer's various capabilities, but typically does not directly apply them in the performance of tasks that benefit the user. In this context the term application refers to both the application software and its implementation.
A simple, if imperfect analogy in the world of hardware would be the relationship of an electric light bulb (an application) to an electric power generation plant (a system). The power plant merely generates electricity, not itself of any real use until harnessed to an application like the electric light that performs a service that benefits the user.
Typical examples of software applications are word processors, spreadsheets, and media players.
Multiple applications bundled together as a package are sometimes referred to as an application suite. Microsoft Office and OpenOffice.org, which bundle together a word processor, a spreadsheet, and several other discrete applications, are typical examples. The separate applications in a suite usually have a user interface that has some commonality making it easier for the user to learn and use each application. And often they may have some capability to interact with each other in ways beneficial to the user. For example, a spreadsheet might be able to be embedded in a word processor document even though it had been created in the separate spreadsheet application.
User-written software tailors systems to meet the user's specific needs. User-written software include spreadsheet templates, word processor macros, scientific simulations, graphics and animation scripts. Even email filters are a kind of user software. Users create this software themselves and often overlook how important it is.

Examples:
Word processing, Spreadsheets, computer graphics, mutimedia, entertainment, database management, personal and business financial applications, external network, database access.
Sources : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application_software and book notes

7.Web-based Software:
We may define a web-based sofware as an application that is accessed via web over a network such as the Internet or an intranet.
It is web-pages which contain executable instructions such as Perl, Java, ASP, PHP, and others.Another definition can be a collection of “executable” web pages.
Web applications are popular due to the ubiquity of a client, sometimes called a thin client. The ability to update and maintain Web applications without distributing and installing software on potentially thousands of client computers is a key reason for their popularity. Web applications are used to implement Webmail, online retail sales, online auctions, wikis, discussion boards, Weblogs, MMORPGs and many other functions.

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_application and book notes



8.Artificial Intelligence Software:

The modern definition of artificial intelligence (or AI) is "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions which maximizes its chances of success.[1][2][3] John McCarthy, who coined the term in 1956,[4] defines it as "the science and engineering of making intelligent machines."[5] Other names for the field have been proposed, such as computational intelligence,[2] synthetic intelligence[2][6] or computational rationality.[7] The term artificial intelligence is also used to describe a property of machines or programs: the intelligence that the system demonstrates.
AI research uses tools and insights from many fields, including computer science, psychology, philosophy, neuroscience, cognitive science, linguistics, operations research, economics, control theory, probability, optimization and logic.[8] AI research also overlaps with tasks such as robotics, control systems, scheduling, data mining, logistics, speech recognition, facial recognition and many others.[9]

Typical problems to which AI methods are applied
· Pattern recognition
· Optical character recognition
· Handwriting recognition
· Speech recognition
· Face recognition
· Artificial Creativity
· Computer vision, Virtual reality and Image processing
· Diagnosis (artificial intelligence)
· Game theory and Strategic planning
· Game artificial intelligence and Computer game bot
· Natural language processing, Translation and Chatterbots
· Non-linear control and Robotics

Sources : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence