These are programs with associated documentation that controls the way a computer operates. The differences types of system software are:
- Operating System
- Utilities
- Data base Management System
- Translator
Operating System manages the entire resources of a computer. It is a suite of programs that takes over the operation of the computer to the extent of being able to allow a number of programs to be run on the computer without human intervention. Some examples of operating systems are MS DOS, PC DOS, MS WINDOWS, UNIX, and ZENIX. Operating System will be discussed better in the later chapter.
Utilities, also called service program. Utilities are system programs, which provide a useful service to the user of the computer by providing facilities for performing common tasks of a routine nature. Some common types of utility programs are: sort, edit, file copying, dump, file maintenance and testing and debugging.
Data Base Management System (DBMS): DBMS manages all the databases.
TRANSLATOR
Translator is a program, which converts statements written in one language into statements in another language. Examples: Compiler converts high level language into machine language
Interpreter also converts source programs (one instructions at a time) into a machine language and Assembly language converts low level language to machine language.
Computer in Our Society
In Accounting: Computers are used to keep accounting records. This is because computers can maintain records of sales, Payments, balances outstanding information of data etc.
In Aviation: Computers help pilots and astronauts to keep their aircraft on course. Computers analyse weather variation and report the information to the pilot
In Government
Large computers are used in social engineering, government census, crime control and the modelling of the world economy, in United States, FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) uses large computers for crime control.
Computers are used for engineering designs.
Computers are used in seismic exploration. Vector supercomputers are used for seismic data processing, which account for about 10% of the oil finding cost. Seismic exploration sets off a sonic wave by explosive or by jamming a heavy hydraulic ram into the ground and vibrating it in a computer controlled designs
Medicine
In this field, computer can be used in liver diagnosis, brain damage estimation. The human body can be modelled by computer-Assisted - Tomography 9 (CAT) scanning
Military Defense use super computers for nuclear weapon designs, cartographic data processing for automatic map generation.
Super Computers are used in computational physics, where particles tracks generated in spark champers are analysed.
VLSI connection: Computers are used to connect VLSI onto semi conductor chip.