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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".
The storage of computer programs is key to the operation of modern computers and is the connection between computer hardware and software. [7] Even prior to this, in the mid-19th century mathematician George Boole invented Boolean algebra —a system of logic where each proposition is either true or false.
Software compatibility can refer to the compatibility that a particular software has running on a particular CPU architecture such as Intel or PowerPC. [1] Software compatibility can also refer to ability for the software to run on a particular operating system. Very rarely is a compiled software compatible with multiple different CPU ...
The rise of the Internet and cloud computing enabled a new model, software as a service (SaaS), [18] in which the provider hosts the software (usually built on top of rented infrastructure or platforms) [19] and provides the use of the software to customers, often in exchange for a subscription fee. [17]
Later, software was sold to multiple customers by being bundled with the hardware by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) such as Data General, Digital Equipment and IBM. When a customer bought a minicomputer , at that time the smallest computer on the market, the computer did not come with pre-installed software , but needed to be installed ...
It comprises procedures, algorithms, and documentation concerned with the operation of a data processing system. The term was coined to contrast to the term hardware, meaning physical devices. In contrast to hardware, software "cannot be touched". [1] Software is also sometimes used in a more narrow sense, meaning application software only ...
Copylefted software is free software whose distribution terms ensure that all copies of all versions carry more or less the same distribution terms. This means, for instance, that copyleft licenses generally disallow others to add additional requirements to the software (though a limited set of safe added requirements can be allowed) and ...
Hardware is also an expression used within the computer engineering industry to explicitly distinguish the (electronic computer) hardware from the software that runs on it. But hardware, within the automation and software engineering disciplines, need not simply be a computer of some sort. A modern automobile runs vastly more software than the ...