Software (fundamentals)
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Software Jackson Doughty, Nyan Min, and Seth Willis
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Transcript of Software (fundamentals)
SoftwareJackson Doughty, Nyan Min, and Seth Willis
What is Software?
“Software is the layer between user input and the hardware that allows the computer to function” Karl Nasrallah
Applications
Word processing
Desktop publishing
Presentations
Photo and video editing
Music and sound development
Website development
Word Processing
Meant for the production of any type of printable material. Production includes creating, editing, and formatting
Originally a stand alone machine popular in 70s and 80s. This means that the machines' sole purpose was to be a word processor. this machine had a monochrome monitor
The way the process works is that the combination of the keyboard entry with an electric typewriter processor to edit words, then are able to print them, and then later could save it to a type of memory card.
By pressing a button on the keyboard the data is sent to the CPU where it is then processed and displayed as the letter on the screen.
70’s and 80’s Word Processor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:IBM_PC_5150.jpg
Desktop Publishing
The production of printed matter by means of a printer linked to a desktop computer.
basic ability to publish(print) data from a computer through special software. This software is used to read the data, in particular from a word processor, in order to tell a printer what to print.
Presentation Software
consist of multiple "slides” in order to display information on a form of timeline
start as a blank template that you can edit using image and photo editing, as well as input data through a word-processor
Photo & Video Editing
Image editing is the process of altering images. the three main types of editing are vector graphics editing, raster graphics editing, and 3D modeling. these three tools are used to manipulate, transform, and enhance pictures.
These tools can also be used to create graphic pictures
Video editing is a process of editing segments of motion video production footage.
It can also relate to the after effects of video. once a video project is done, you can take the editing a step further with special effects.
Original forms of video editing began with non-linear editing system where in order to get through to different points of video you must play through them all
Modern day includes linear editing system which displays a timeline of the video in order for a user to be able to go directly to where the user needs to in order to edit
Music and Sound Development
An electrical recreation of sound waves from voice, instruments, etc.
Done in analog and digital recordings
Originally done by Thomas Edison who used a Phonograph which had a needle that would scratch into a tinfoil cylinder that reproduced the sound. This is because sound is simply made by vibrations so the vibrations were mimicked on the cylinder.
Edisons phonograph is recording an analog wave which is the vibrations recreated by voice
To goal of recording is to reproduce the sound of the wave with as high fidelity(sameness) as original, and equal reproduction each time you listen to it
Modern digital technology transforms the analog wave into a stream of numbers and then returns the numbers to an analog wave when listened to
Analog Waves
http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/cd-hello.gif
Website Development
Websites are built using different coding, and templates built from coding.
The original coding for websites was XML, which was a basic language used to display text on a site, this language was progressed into other languages with more abilities such as HTML
Example of HTML: <html> <head><title>Books</title><head> this is displayed as "Books”
HTML- versus XML: HTML is meant to add style to the information of the site, where as XML is just focusing on the data.
HTML has many new "tags" example: <title>
HTML 5 is the most up to date coding that is used on the World Wide Web meant to be able to understand all multimedia on the web while also being able to be understood by computers and humans
System Software
Includes: Operating Systems Utilities
Operating Systems
without operating systems a computer is useless, it is the very first thing loaded to a computer
OS's use the hardware and software together
Their goals are: serve a variety of purposes, interact with users in more complicated ways, keep up with needs that change over time
Written in temporary/changeable coding in order to allow for modifications such as system updates
Operating systems manage which programs get access to central processing unit (CPU), memory(RAM), storage and input/output (I/O) bandwidth
Operating Systems are written by developers with a consistent Application Program Interface(API) so that they will perform the same on all different computers including updated versions of it.
Types of OS’s
Real time Operating System very limited user interface, usually used to operate machinery
Single User, Single Task Single user that can only perform one task at a time, in present day time this
could be an example of cell phones. Many cell phones have no multitasking
Multi-user several users can use the computers resources simultaneously
Single user, multi tasking Most common OS's, three main types are Windows, Mac OS, and Linux Began as a blank canvas that was able to be modified by a mouse. All began
with applications which were basic applications Advanced to use of "folders" and basic styles Then later in Windows XP, Mac OS X, and Linux 2.0 each operating system
becomes more independent both in looks, user-interface, and strengths and weaknesses
OS’s Continued
Windows overall more powerful, meant most for
business(Microsoft Office, typically more RAM and faster CPU)
Mac OS X very strong with multimedia(iTunes, iLife)
Linux runs on a variety of computers and has no viruses
Interfaces
Graphical user interface (GUI)
Command line interface (CLI)
Menu-driven interface (MDI)
Voice
Graphical User Interface (GUI)
Layer above the actual operating system that users use
User using a mouse to scroll over and click on a folder to open it is an example of GUI
Instead of using text commands to open the folder, the user is using the interface to open it.
GUI Example
http://www.guidebookgallery.org/pics/gui/desktop/firstrun/macosx101.png
Command Line Interface (CLI)
Exact opposite of GUI. It uses a text based interface in order to perform tasks on the computer.
The user "enters a command" into the prompt then initiates by pressing the Enter key. then a command line interpreter receives, analyzes, and executes the command. The result is usually a text response of what the command wanted.
CLI is often found as an application within a Operating System that uses GUI examples are Terminal for Mac and Command Prompt for Windows
CLI Example
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Linux_command-line._Bash._GNOME_Terminal._screenshot.png
Menu Driven Interface (MDI)
Way of working through information on a computer through categorizations or menus.
Example is an Ipod. a user picks whether he wants to view playlist, all albums, all artists etc. Then he chooses which playlist, or song, or album, and finally chooses a song.
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MDI Example
http://www.videogamesetc.com/images/products/5th%20Generation%20Ipod%20Large.jpg
Voice
Voice user interface is made possible by a voice recognition platform on the Operating system or application
Using an application interpret words through understanding the analog waves of a persons voice the computer can determine what the person is saying, and can fulfill the command.
Siri is an example of this, the new Iphone iOS 5 has an app called Siri which through the process of the analog waves of a humans voice can decipher what the user wants to be done.
Licensing
Includes Shareware Public domain Freeware Proprietary Open source software
Shareware
Free software which is typically in a trial or demo version; also typically limited in it's abilities
Licensed to users as a demo under certain restrictions such as the user cannot further distribute, reverse engineer, or modify it
Public Domain
Public property over the internet if there are no current claims of intellectual property meaning it does not belong to one person
Public domain is software that any can use for free, and is no one's intellectual property
Freeware
Free software sometimes with an optional fee which may have one or more restrictions.
Free license to use the product
Proprietary
Purchased software that has a license agreement with the user that is typically not negotiable
Covered by copyright so that the User is limited in what it can do with the software
Copyright and patents mean that the software is owned by someone, but by selling the software allow you to use it. an example is that the encoding of MP3 files is patented, but many people and software's use the file.
Open Source Software
Exact opposite in that a developer can release his software to others who can then improve it, redistribute it, or learn how it was made by looking/changing the source code of it.
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Open Office(Open Source Example)
http://blog.namran.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/open-office-3-menu.png
Licensing Authorities
Business Software Alliance (BSA) Principal Activity is to stop copyright infringement of
software produced by its member Most common type of license included with software
for single-user license would be called an end-user license agreement (EULA) And with this agreement includes conditions specified for
users
Commercial and Custom-built (bespoke) Software
Made for specified users and organizations
Can be developed by an in-house software development group or commissioned from a software house or independent software developers
Since custom built for customers it can accommodate customer's specified preferences and expectations
As opposed to Commercial software buying packaged software, some organizations write their own applications.
The advantage of custom software is that it matches the organization's needs perfectly
However Custom Software is usually more expensive, takes longer to design and enact than commercial software.
Registration & Serial Number
Protection is provided automatically for all creative works once fixed into a medium
Copyright is a legal concept giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it for a limited time
Warranty & Copyright Agreement
Serial Number: A unique number assigned for identification varying from its successor and predecessor
Warranty: Is assurance by one stakeholder to another stakeholder that specific facts are true; and the other stakeholder are allowed to rely on the assurance, and seek some type of help to fix the problem.
Web-based Software
Software that implements application on-line.
Also known as A Web Application
There are many types of web applications: business, spreadsheet, multimedia, web-page authority, legal software
Macros
Sequence of keystrokes and instructions that a user records and saves
Includes keyboard and mouse, text substitution, procedural, and lisp/s-expression
Users can create macros in whatever software their using
Templates
Document that contains the formatting necessary for a specific document type
Usually for memos, fax cover sheets, and letters
They can also be online (Google docs)
Wizards
User interface that gives the user a sequence of steps
Also known as a set-up assistant
Used for tasks that are intricate, rare, or unfamiliar
File Formats
Particular way information is encoded in a file
Can either be proprietary (intellectual property of a person/organization) or open (can be used by anyone)
Types of File Formats
RTF: rich text format
TXT: text
PDF: portable document format
XLS: Excel spreadsheet
SWF: small web format
ZIP: zipped file
JPG/JPEG: Joint Photographic Expert Group bitmap
PNG: portable network graphics bitmap
CSV: comma-separated values
HTM/HTML: hypertext markup language
Data Transfer
Physical transfer of data over a point-to-point or point-to-multipoint channel
Also known as data transmission
Can be from software to software(s), computer to computer(s), or from Internet to computer
Measured in bits per second
Types of Data Transfers
Tab-delimited text file
Zipped file
ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) Represents text in computers and communication
equipment
