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rawr, i am software

Software has been in our daily lives since it was created, and it has shaped the world we live in today. But, do you know how it works and the history behind it? Well, lets take you through the history of software.

Software are computer programs that help instruct the execution of the computer.[1] It also includes the design and the specifications of the software. So, lets now dive into the history of software.

History

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A Macintosh running software

The first computer programmers used binary code in order to instruct computers to do tasks. But, programmers had to use long strands of it in order to tell what kind of data it would store. Various tedious mechanisms were used, but if a mistake was made, that would mean starting all over again, which is not very fun. The first instance of software came in 1948, where the Manchester Baby computer, written by Tom Kilburn, calculated the integer 2^18. This was considered the "birth of softwares" by various companies such as Google. Later, software were sold in bundles with the computer hardware with their OEMs. However, minicomputers didn't get that benefit. In more recent times, applications, usually termed apps, now can usually be installed using a "app store". This is the case with Apple's App Store for their mobile and desktop devices, Android's Google Play, and other various stores such as the Microsoft Store.

Developing software

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Developing software begins with conceiving the project, seeing its feasibility and business requirements. It also needs an initial design for it.[2][3] Most of the time, people reuse software in order to speed up the process. Or, they use elements of an different software to integrate into their own.[4][5] Software quality assurance is used to evaluate the code of the software and automatic software testing.[6] Time constraints cause a problem in software, as testing cannot cover all of the software aspects, so critical functionality is the priority.[7] Most of the time, software is usually incomplete when it's released, filled with various bugs and other various things. This is due to the lack of funding or when they run out of time to develop the software.[8] Post-release software updates are used to counter this, and the software soon gets various updates throughout its life cycle.[9][10]

Programming

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Software is usually written in programming languages, as it is considered the main format of writing software. Since the 1950s, new programming languages have been developed, and some of them are still in use after these decades.[11] Programs written in high-level programming languages do not require knowledge of code, is human friendly, and can be ported to other systems. These are also more human-readable than machine code.[12]

Compiling, interpreting, and executing

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When high-programming languages were invented, compilers were also made. These were used to translate the code made from these programming languages into machine code that can be readable for the computer.[13] Most programs do not contain all of the resources needed in order to run, so they have to rely on external software in order to operate. This is where the compiler comes in. It links files to make them readable for the program so it can be executable. The program can be saved as a object file which will execute it as a process in the computer.[14] Some programming languages, however, use an interpreter, which is 10-100 times slower than a compiler.[15][16]

Impact in society

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Software has impacted how we see the world today. It is used in education, work, warfare, entertainment, medicine, law, and everything else.[17] It has been used in household appliances, elevators, and it has also created new things such as GPS, the internet, video games, and smartphones.[18] New types of communication have been created due to software such as wikipedias, blogs, and social media.[19] Finding information is now easily down using a web search, no longer needing a library.[20] And, people can now design things virtually thanks to software.[20]

Conclusion

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In conclusion, software has changed how we see the world today. Now, everything we do can be assisted with the help of software. It helped bring on the development of computer programs, and programming languages. Most of all, it made our lives easier than ever before. Soon, I hope there will be new technologies developed in the near future, and new software.

Sources

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  • O'Regan, Gerard (2022). Concise Guide to Software Engineering: From Fundamentals to Application Methods. Springer Nature. ISBN 978-3-031-07816-3.
  • Dooley, John F. (2017). Software Development, Design and Coding: With Patterns, Debugging, Unit Testing, and Refactoring. Apress. ISBN 978-1-4842-3153-1.
  • Tripathy, Priyadarshi; Naik, Kshirasagar (2014). Software Evolution and Maintenance: A Practitioner's Approach. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-60341-3.
  • Reifer, Donald J. (2012). Software Maintenance Success Recipes. CRC Press. ISBN 978-1-4398-5167-8.
  • Tracy, Kim W. (2021). Software: A Technical History. Morgan & Claypool Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4503-8724-8.
  • Sebesta, Robert W. (2012). Concepts of Programming Languages (10 ed.). Addison-Wesley. ISBN 978-0-13-139531-2.
  • Jones, Capers (2014). The Technical and Social History of Software Engineering. Pearson Education. ISBN 978-0-321-90342-6.
  • Kitchin, Rob; Dodge, Martin (2011). Code/space: Software and Everyday Life. MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-04248-2.
  • Manovich, Lev (2013). Software Takes Command. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1-62356-745-3.
  1. ^ Stair, Ralph M. (2003). Principles of Information Systems, Sixth Edition. Thomson. p. 16. ISBN 0-619-06489-7. Software consists of computer programs that govern the operation of the computer.
  2. ^ O'Regan 2022, p. 5.
  3. ^ Dooley 2017, p. 1.
  4. ^ O'Regan 2022, pp. 18, 110–111.
  5. ^ Tracy 2021, pp. 43, 76.
  6. ^ O'Regan 2022, pp. 117–118.
  7. ^ O'Regan 2022, p. 54.
  8. ^ Reifer 2012, p. 22.
  9. ^ Tripathy & Naik 2014, pp. 4, 27.
  10. ^ Tripathy & Naik 2014, p. 89.
  11. ^ Tracy 2021, p. 117.
  12. ^ Tracy 2021, pp. 118–119.
  13. ^ Tracy 2021, p. 121.
  14. ^ Tracy 2021, pp. 122–123.
  15. ^ O'Regan 2022, p. 375.
  16. ^ Sebesta 2012, p. 28.
  17. ^ Jones 2014, p. 32.
  18. ^ Kitchin & Dodge 2011, p. 5.
  19. ^ Manovich 2013, p. 329.
  20. ^ a b Jones 2014, p. xxviii.
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