The first attempts to create devices for computing are associated with mechanical (exclusively hardware) units. Later, such ideas were implemented in the form of systems with the so-called “hard logic”, i.e. also had a purely hardware implementation. Such devices had one significant drawback - they could solve problems of only one type and could not be modified during operation.
Therefore, the logical continuation of the development of computing systems was the creation of such devices that could flexibly adapt to solve an arbitrary problem. And this is possible only with the use of software and devices that are running these programs.
The creation of software was another major breakthrough in the field of computer technology. It is a mandatory addition to the hardware. Over the decades of programming development, different types of software have been created. These include system, application, and tool programs.
System programs are designed to ensure the health of the system itself, the interaction of hardware and programs, the interaction of the computer and the user. These include operating systems, drivers, utilities, utilities, and other types of software. Currently, the most widely used operating systems of the Windows and Unix families.
Various types of software related to application allow the user to solve a wide variety of tasks - from typing to complex metamorphoses with specialized data. Application programs include: text and image editors, spreadsheets, games, translators, etc. The user defines the set of application programs depending on his own needs.
There is never much software, but everything should be within reasonable limits. On the one hand, the more programs are installed on a computer, the more universal a tool it is. On the other hand, these programs require more resources and can significantly reduce system performance.
A few years ago, computer courses for beginners or for users on certain software products were very popular . Although for an advanced user, any kind of software is available for development using the help system.
Instrumentation software is a program with which you can create other programs. These programs are called programming languages and consist of a code editor, translator and link editor. Unlike the first two types, the use of tool software requires certain professional skills. Examples of tools are the Delphi, Pascal, C ++, and others.
So, different types of software have different purposes and varying degrees of complexity.