Computers today. Гурьянова В.И. - 10 стр.

       What are the 2 main types of software?
       What’s the difference between system software and applications software?
       What does the successful work of a computer depend on?
      3. State the most important ideas in each paragraph. Identify the re-
lationships between these ideas and make up the plan of the text.
      4. Summarize the text using your plan.


                               Hardware and software
      In order to use computers effectively to solve problems in our environ-
ment, computer systems are devised. A “system” implies a good mixture of in-
tegrated parts working together to form a useful whole. Computer systems may
be discussed in two parts.
      The first part is hardware: the physical, electronic, and electromechanical
devices that are thought of and recognized as ‘computers’. The second part is
software – the programs that control and coordinate the activities of the com-
puter hardware and direct the processing of data.
      The basic components of computer hardware are joined together in a com-
puter system. The central part is called either the computer, the processor, or
usually the central processing unit (CPU). The term “computer” usually refers to
those parts of the hardware in which calculations and other data manipulations
are performed, and to the internal memory in which data and instructions are
stored during the actual execution of programs. Various peripherals, which in-
clude input and/or output devices, various secondary memory devices, and so
on, are attached to the CPU.
      Computer software can be divided into two very broad categories – system
software and applications software. The former is often simply referred to as ‘sys-
tems’. These, when brought into internal memory, direct the computer to perform
tasks. The latter may be provided along with the hardware by a systems supplier as
part of a computer product designed to meet specific needs in certain areas.
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