Trends and Types of Computer Software

1. Chapter 14 Computer Software

2. Learning Objectives • Describe several important trends occurring in computer software. • Give examples of several major types of application and system software.

3. Learning Objectives (continued) • Explain the purpose of several popular software packages for end user productivity and collaborative computing. • Outline the functions of an operating system.

4. Learning Objectives (continued) • Describe the main uses of software programming languages and tools.

5. Section I Application Software: End User Applications

6. Software • Types of software • Application software • System software

7. Software (continued) • Application software for end users • Application-specific • General-purpose • Perform common information processing jobs • Sometimes known as productivity packages

8. Software Suites and Integrated Packages • Suites are a number of productivity packages bundled together • Microsoft Office • Lotus SmartSuite • Corel WordPerfect Office • Sun StarOffice

9. Software Suites and Integrated Packages (continued) • Advantages of suites • Cost • Similar graphical user interface • Share common tools • Programs are designed to work together • Disadvantages of suites • Large size • Many features never used by many end users

10. Software Suites and Integrated Packages (continued) • Integrated Packages • Combine SOME of the features of several programs • Cannot do as much as individual packages or suites

11. Web Browsers • Key software interface to the hyperlinked resources of the World Wide Web and the rest of the Internet • Internet Explorer • Netscape Communicator

12. Electronic Mail and Instant Messaging • E-Mail • Has changed the way people work and communicate • Instant Messaging • An e-mail/computer conferencing hybrid technology • Allows real time communication/collaboration

13. Word Processing and Desktop Publishing • Word Processing • Has computerized the creation, editing, revision, and printing of documents. • Advanced features • Desktop Publishing • Design and print newsletters, brochures, manuals, and books • Page design process • Page makeup or page composition • WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get)

14. Electronic Spreadsheets • Used for business analysis, planning, and modeling • Involves designing its format and developing the relationships (formulas)

15. Electronic Spreadsheets (continued) • Allows end users to perform: • What-if • Goal-seeking • Sensitivity analysis • Strength • Computation and calculation

16. Database Management • Performs four primary tasks • Database development • Define/organize content, relationships, and structure of the data • Database Interrogation • Selectively retrieve and display information • Produce forms, reports, & other documents

17. Database Management (continued) • Four primary tasks (continued) • Database maintenance • Add, delete, update, and correct the data • Application development • Develop prototypes of web pages, queries, forms, reports, and labels

18. Database Management (continued) • Strength • Storage of large amounts of data • Weakness • Computation and calculation

19. Presentation Graphics • Helps convert numeric data into graphic displays • Helps prepare multimedia presentations • Easy to use

20. Personal Information Managers • For end user productivity and collaboration • Store, organize, and retrieve information • Information about customers • Appointments • Contact lists • Task lists • Schedules

21. Groupware • Collaboration software • Helps workgroups and teams work together to accomplish group assignments • Combines a variety of software features and functions • E-mail • Discussion groups and databases • Scheduling • Task management • Audio and videoconferencing • Data sharing

22. Other Business Software

23. Section II System Software: Computer System Management

24. System Software Overview • Programs that manage and support a computer system and its information processing activities • Serves as the software interface between computer networks and hardware and the application programs of end users

25. System Software Overview (continued) • Two major categories • System management programs • Operating systems • Network management programs • Database management systems • System utilities • System development programs • Programming language translators & editors • CASE (computer-aided software engineering)

26. Operating Systems • Integrated system of programs that • Manages the operations of the CPU • Controls the input/output and storage resources and activities of the computer system • Provides various support services as the computer executes application programs

27. Operating Systems (continued) • Performs five basic functions • Provides a user interface • Allows humans to communicate with the computer • Command-driven • Menu-driven • Graphical user interface

28. Operating Systems (continued) • Five basic functions (continued) • Resource management • Manages the hardware and networking resources of the system • Virtual memory capability

29. Operating Systems (continued) • Five basic functions (continued) • File management • Controls the creation, deletion, and access of files of data and programs • Keeps track of the physical location of files

30. Operating Systems (continued) • Five basic functions (continued) • Task management • Manages the accomplishment of the computing tasks of end users • Multitasking • Multiprogramming • Timesharing

31. Operating Systems (continued) • Popular Operating Systems • Windows • 95, 98, ME • NT • 2000 • XP

32. Operating Systems (continued) • Popular operating systems (continued) • UNIX • Linux • Mac OS X

33. Network Management Programs • Perform functions such as • Automatically checking client PCs and video terminals for input/output activity • Assigning priorities to data communication requests from clients and terminals • Detecting and correcting transmission errors and other network problems • Sometimes functions as middleware that allows diverse networks to communicate with each other

34. Database Management Systems • Controls the development, use, and maintenance of databases. • Helps organizations use their integrated collections of data records and files • Allows different user application programs to easily access the same database • Simplifies the process of retrieving information from databases

35. Other System Management Programs • Utility Programs • Perform miscellaneous housekeeping and file conversion functions • Data backup • Data recovery • Virus protection • Data compression • Data defragmentation • Performance monitors and security monitors

36. Programming Languages • Allows a programmer to develop the sets of instructions that constitute a computer program • Machine Language • First generation language • Written using binary codes unique to each computer

37. Programming Languages (continued) • Assembler Language • Second generation • Requires language translator programs called assemblers • Allows a computer to convert the instructions into machine instructions • Frequently called symbolic language

38. Programming Languages (continued) • High-level Languages • Third generation • Uses instructions, called statements, that use brief statements or arithmetic expressions • Uses translator programs called compilers or interpreters • Syntax and semantics

39. Programming Languages (continued) • Fourth-generation Languages (4GLs) • More nonprocedural and conversational than prior languages • Natural languages • Ease of use gained at the expense of some loss in flexibility

40. Programming Languages (continued) • Object-Oriented Languages (OOP) • Ties data elements to the procedures or actions that will be performed on them into “objects” • Easier to use and more efficient for programming GUIs

41. Programming Languages (continued) • HTML, XML, and Java • Important for building multimedia Web pages, websites, and Web-based applications • HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) • A page description language that creates hypertext or hypermedia documents

42. Programming Languages (continued) • XML (eXtensible Markup Language) • Describes the contents of web pages by applying identifying tags or contextual labels to the data • Makes the web site more searchable, sortable, and easier to analyze • Java • Designed for real-time, interactive, Web-based network applications • Applets

43. Programming Software • Helps programmers develop computer programs • Two basic categories • Programming language translators • Programming tools

44. Programming Software (continued) • Language Translator Programs • Assembler • Translates symbolic instruction codes into machine language instructions • Compiler • Translates high-level language statements • Interpreter • Translates and executes each statement in a program one at a time

45. Programming Software (continued) • Programming Tools • Programming editors and debuggers • Provides a computer-aided programming environment or workbench • Diagramming packages • Code generators • Libraries of reusable objects & code • Prototyping tools • CASE

46. Discussion Questions • What major trends are occurring in software? What capabilities do you expect to see in future software packages? • How do the different roles of system software and application software affect you as a business end user? How do you see this changing in the future?

47. Discussion Questions (continued) • Why is an operating system necessary? Why can’t an end user just load an application program in a computer and start computing? • Should a Web browser be integrated into an operating system?

48. Discussion Questions (continued) • Are software suites, Web browsers, and groupware merging together? What are the implications for a business and its end users? • How are HTML, XML, and Java affecting business applications on the Web?

49. Discussion Questions (continued) • Do you think Windows 2000 and Linux will surpass Unix and Netware as operating systems for network and Web servers? • Which application software packages are the most important for a business end user to know how to use?

50. Real World Case 1 – Intuit Inc. • Why has Intuit’s success improved under Bennett’s leadership? • What are several things Intuit could do to successfully compete with Microsoft and others in the future?