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Systems programming, or system programming, is the activity of programming [1] computer system software.The primary distinguishing characteristic of systems programming when compared to application programming is that application programming aims to produce software which provides services to the user directly (e.g. word processor), whereas systems programming aims to produce software and ...
A kernel is the core part of the operating system that defines an application programming interface for applications programs (including some system software) and an interface to device drivers. Device drivers and firmware , including computer BIOS or UEFI , provide basic functionality to operate and control the hardware connected to or built ...
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also include accounting software for cost allocation of processor time , mass storage , peripherals, and ...
System software is a generic term referring to the computer programs used to start and run computer systems including diverse application software and networks. Computer programming tools , such as compilers and linkers , are used to translate and combine computer program source code and libraries into executables , which are programs that fall ...
The application software layer interfaces with the operating system, which in turn communicates with the hardware. The arrows indicate information flow. There are two main types of software: Operating systems are "the layer of software that manages a computer's resources for its users and their applications". [9]
A software system is a system of intercommunicating components based on software forming part of a computer system (a combination of hardware and software). It "consists of a number of separate programs, configuration files, which are used to set up these programs, system documentation, which describes the structure of the system, and user documentation, which explains how to use the system".
For example, environment variables are features of many operating systems, and are part of the runtime environment; a running program can access them via the runtime system. Likewise, hardware devices such as disks or DVD drives are active entities that a program can interact with via a runtime system.
A system programming language is a programming language used for system programming; such languages are designed for writing system software, which usually requires different development approaches when compared with application software. Edsger Dijkstra referred to these languages as machine oriented high order languages, or mohol. [1]