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Computer programs, also known as Software , may be categorized along functional lines. These functional categories include '' Application Software '', '' Operating System s'', '' Video Game s'', and '' Compiler s'', among others. Computer programs Embedded in hardware devices are called '' Firmware ''. The formal expression of computational methods in a human-readable computer language is often referred to as Source Code , while the Machine-executable expressions of computational methods are commonly referred to as ''executables'', '' Object Code '', or simply as '' Binaries '' — a reference to the Binary File Format commonly used to store the executable code. TERMINOLOGY Commercial computer programs aimed at End User s are commonly referred to as Application Software by the computer industry, as these programs are focused on the functionality of what the computer is being used ''for'' (its ''application''), as opposed to being focused on system-level functionality (for example, as the Windows operating system is). In practice, colloquially, both application software and system software may correctly be referred to as ''programs'', as may the more esoteric Firmware — software firmly built into an Embedded System . PROGRAM EXECUTION A ''computer program'' exists in a and Application Software . ''System software'' is the Operating System that couples the Computer's Hardware with the application software. ''Application software'' couples the system software with the User Interface . A computer program is loaded into memory (usually by the operating system) and then Executed ("run"), instruction by instruction, until Termination , either with success or through software or hardware error. Before a computer can execute any sort of program (including the operating system, itself a program), the computer hardware must be initialized. This initialization is done in modern PC s by a piece of software stored on Programmable Memory chips installed by the manufacturer, called the BIOS . The BIOS will attempt to initialize the Boot Sequence , making the computer ready for higher-level program execution. PROGRAMS VS. DATA The executable form of a program (that is, usually Object Code ) is often treated as being different from the Data the program operates on. In some cases this distinction is blurred with programs creating, or modifying, data, which is subsequently executed as part of the same program (this is a common occurrence for programs written in Lisp ), see Self-modifying Code . PROGRAMMING Computer Programming is the iterative process of writing or editing Source Code , followed by testing, analyzing and refining this code. A person who practices this skill is referred to as a computer Programmer or software developer. The sometimes lengthy process of computer programming is usually referred to as ''software development'', with the term '' Software Engineering '' becoming more popular as the process comes to be seen as an Engineering discipline. One approach to this process is Team Programming , in which each member of the group has equal say in the development process, except for one person who guides the group through discrepancies. Another approach is referred to as ''peer programming'' or Pair Programming . A program is likely to contain a variety of Data Structures and a variety of different Algorithm s to operate on them. PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES Computer programs are often written by people (known as Computer Programmer s), but may also be generated by other programs - an example of Metaprogramming . Various Programming Paradigm s can be employed in software development. The source code of most computer programs consists of a list of instructions that explicitly implement an Algorithm (known as an Imperative Programming style); in another form (known as Declarative Programming ) the characteristics of the required information are specified and the method used to obtain the results, if any, is left to the Platform . Examples of programming languages include C , JavaScript , and Lisp . COMPUTATIONAL METHODS AND ALGORITHMS ''Computational methods'' are a Superset of Algorithm s, and adhere to most of the characteristics of algorithms: #A computational method must be definite, meaning each step of the algorithm must be precisely defined. Formally defined computer languages meet this criteria by allowing algorithms to be specified in such a way that every statement has a very definite meaning. #A computational method must have zero or more inputs, or quantities given to it before the algorithm runs. #A computational method must have one or more outputs which are quantities produced by the method, and will bear some specified relation to the inputs. #A computational method is generally expected to be effective, meaning that its operations can be performed by hand, accurately and exactly, in a finite amount of time. REFERENCES FURTHER READING EXTERNAL LINKS
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