Английский для пользователей компьютеров. Ч.2. Белобородова М.Л - 18 стр.

   Review current computer publications to research the answer to the
   following question:
   1. What capabilities of systems software on large computers do you expect
       to see on future microcomputers?
   2. What capabilities does the systems software used on large computers
       have that you think might soon be supported by microcomputer systems
       software?
7. Essays:
 1. Use current computer publications to research the use of OS/2 in the
   business environment. On what types of computers is it being used? What
   types of businesses are using it? Is it easy to use? What do you think the
   future is for OS/2?
 3. Create a two-page document using a word processing program and describe
   why word processing software is so popular. What tasks does word
   processing software allow you to perform? How does it save you time?
   Name the word processing package you are using and list three additional
   word processing packages available for use on microcomputers. Print the
   document out. Make a report on your impressions.

                                   UNIT 8

                          DEVELOPING SOFTWARE
Users need to know what software development tools, or programming
languages, are used to create software. If you need additional processing
capabilities that can't be satisfied by an off-the-shelf applications software
program, you should know how to choose — or help a computer specialist to
choose — the software development tool that can most efficiently and
effectively satisfy your requirements.
    Programming languages can be divided into five generations. Machine
language, the only language the computer's processor can understand, is first-
generation language — the digits 0 and 1. Assembly language, easier to work
with than machine language because it allows the programmer to use
abbreviations, is a second-generation language. (Both machine and assembly
language are low-level languages.) High-level, or third-generation, languages
were developed to make writing software programs even easier by using
human-language (for example, Englishlike) statements.
    Of the hundreds of high-level languages used today, the following are some
of the more popular:
  • FORTRAN (FORmula TRANslator): the first high-level language, which
    was formulated for scientific and mathematical applications; this
    language does not handle the input and output of large volumes of data
    efficiently. It is not as structured as COBOL.