Probably, very often many have heard about application software. True, not everyone clearly understands what it really is, referring to it all the applications installed on the computer. Let's try to understand the basic concepts.
What is application software?
As you know, system applications provide a close connection between the hardware of the computer, the operating system and the user who installs additional software products for some purpose. In general terms, the composition of the application software includes a lot of a wide variety of applications designed to solve a specific problem.
Immediately, we note that although each application is strictly focused on the performance of a particular clearly defined task, it is often possible to meet entire software systems that combine several functions, due to the presence of corresponding additional software modules.
Application Tasks and Software Classification
In fact, after all, if you look at the general understanding of application software, you can call the same Microsoft Office package. But the applications included in it are already separate application programs. But these programs also have much in common in the functional set, although they differ in the primary focus on the execution of a specific task.
So what is included with the application software? This includes applications that can be divided into several main types, depending on the initial orientation. Look, even on the Internet, the application sets offered for download are usually divided into groups and categories. We can say that the application software includes a set of chips connected directly to RAM for processing data of a certain type by a “circuit emulator” with real speed and tracking results in real time.
And in the main classification of application software you can find such elements:
- text editors;
- spreadsheet editors;
- database management tools (DBMS) ;
- graphic editor;
- design applications;
- publishing programs;
- HTML editors
- tools for working on the Internet;
- multimedia applications.
Now let us dwell on each category, at least in general terms. Indeed, the application software includes too many components, so a detailed description of each type of application will take a lot of time. In general, we will make a short review of the main elements.
Text Editors and Processors
Any package of this type implies that the composition of the application software includes typing. Without it today is nowhere. Handwritten texts are already a thing of the past. At the same time, the category of text editors itself can be divided into several main types.
The simplest programs can be called Notepad applications, although some of them even work with HTML or top-level programming languages.
Word processors include more complex applications such as Microsoft Word, which allow you to use formatting, formatting, adding graphics, sound, data from other applications of almost any type, as well as having the ability to quickly create web pages.
The third group includes software products such as Adobe Reader. They are designed to work with documents in PDF format, which today distributes most of the technical documentation. There are advanced options for using text or inserting graphic objects. In addition, such programs allow you to perform, so to speak, cross-conversion of files into other formats, which can subsequently be opened in some specialized application.
Spreadsheets
Equally important is the fact that the composition of the application software includes theory and practice for creating and editing spreadsheets. The simplest example is Microsoft Excel.
In principle, all programs of this type were originally designed for mathematical, algebraic or trigonometric calculations that are performed automatically when the corresponding formulas are specified. Quite specific programs are often found that are designed even for solving tensor equations. A distinctive feature of such applications is that they are able to convert dependent data into charts or graphs, and do not insert them into a document as a graphic object, as word processors do. It can also be summary tables based on data from electronic documents created in other programs. In general, there are a lot of opportunities.
Work with databases
The composition of the application software also includes many packages involving database processing. In the Microsoft office suite, Access is such an application.
By and large, programs of this type are somewhat similar to table editors. In principle, even their interface is almost the same (with slight differences).
This also includes some programs designed for electronic bookkeeping. The most famous and most popular today can be called 1C, which allows you to control, say, the availability of goods in a warehouse, prepare accounting and tax reports, pay salaries to employees, etc.
Graphic editor
Graphic editors are very interesting and feature-rich programs. Not surprisingly, the application software includes a huge number of applications of this type with different capabilities.
Of course, there are primitive programs like Paint in the standard set of any Windows OS, but there are quite powerful professional software products like Corel Draw, Adobe Photoshop, etc. Their capabilities for processing raster and vector graphics are truly endless.
CAD systems
The application software also includes specialized engineering packages designed for design. The most striking example here is AutoCAD.
Most interestingly, the features of the program are not limited only to the creation of drawings. Here you can create all the necessary technical documentation, perform complex calculations, using the foundations of many engineering disciplines such as sopromat or theoretical mechanics, etc. But such programs are unclaimed by an ordinary user, because they are quite difficult to understand and are mainly used in production.
Publishing house
No less popular are professional utilities for publishing. For example, the very well-known applications Adobe Pagemaker, Adobe InDesign and QuarkXPress allow you to typeset, prepare newspapers or magazines for printing, set your own designs according to the template or without it, and much more.
Actually, almost archaic typing, say, on veneers or printing books on special machines, and even more so writing and typing them by hand, is simply a relic of the past. In this regard, programs of this type have stepped forward so much that our ancestors probably never dreamed of.
HTML editors
Applications of this type are also referred to as application software. In most cases, such programs are used to create HTML documents, or more simply, web pages and entire sites. In principle, there are specialized utilities that have rich capabilities, but the same standard Notepad or Word can also be attributed to this type of application, although initially they are aimed somewhat at other purposes.
Today, there are even entire software packages that allow you to create sites in minutes even with complete ignorance of HTML. The principle of creation is based on a graphical interface and elements that need to be applied in a specific situation. Naturally, then you can view the document in HTML mode, but this will say little to the average user.
the Internet
You can not ignore the World Wide Web. It is clear, after all, that the composition of the application software includes the use of the Internet (Internet Explorer, Opera, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, etc.).
By the way, this includes not only browsers that provide surfing, but also email clients and many downloaders that allow you to download the necessary information. Among the loaders, there is also a division into applications such as Downloader and Uploader. The former download information from the Internet, while the latter, on the contrary, add it to the Web.
Multimedia
Finally, it remains to consider the multimedia section. In this set there is a huge variety. So, for example, there are video and audio processing programs, special programs for creating music on a computer, various players, additional plug-ins of various formats, audio and video converters, as well as many other utilities.
By the way, here you can also include programs such as Power Point for creating presentations of any type, because they, in fact, are also a collection of multimedia elements. This list can be continued indefinitely.