Definition Of Software

We are in the computer era now and evrybody knows how to operate a computer and all the stuff attached to it. We all use specialized terms connected to computers and we know what we are taking about but we can hardly define and explain them. That is the case with the word "software": everybody uses this word on a daily basis, but somehow if you want people to explain to you what exactly is the definition of software they will probably tell you to look it up in the dictionary.



Well, I was curious enough to search the web for some definitions of "software" and I found a lot of interesting answers. What puzzled me when reading the results of my search was the fact that very competent and professional persons gave such sophisticated explanations and definitions, that I did not understand a thing of their words. However, surprisingly or not, the shortest and best definitions (in my humble opinion) were those given by children. Here is such an example: "Software is the program that run on a computer", that is "Software is made up of instructions that tell the computer what to do." Brilliant and simple, right? After all, it's not rocket science, but an every day thing.



Wikipedia informs us that computer software or just software is "a general term primarily used for digitally stored data". This includes all the information , data and computer programs that can be written or read by computers. So the term software also applies to videos, digital photos, digital movies and all the files that are stored on your computer's hard drive in a digital format. That means all these are software, not only computer programs, as many of you may think.

The conclusion is that the word "software" refers to anything that is on your computer but you can't physically touch, that is everything opposed to hardware. This is at least from the point of view of physical versus digital.

Some other people think that software only refers to computer programs. If I may try a comparison they think the hardware is the body of your computer and the software is the brain that tells your body what to do. It's no use having a perfectly healthy and functional body if the brain does not send it instructions: the healthy body can't even breathe unless the brain tells it to, that is why people in cerebral death must be kept alive by machines even if all the body parts are in perfect health.



Anyway, I guess you got the picture: hardware is the part of the computer that you can touch and software the part that you can't touch, even it is stored and edited on your computer and you have access to it whenever you want to. The term "software" can be used both as a noun, defining the computer programs and applications , but also as an adjective detailing the noun it accompanies. For example : "I purchased the software from the eBay." - noun and "My computer does not work. It must be a software problem." - adjective If you want more detailed and technical definitions, feel free to "google" the word software and read the findings. Good luck!