Software, Programs, and Support Modules

Software comprises of computer programs, support modules, and data

modules that work together in order to provide a computer with the

instructions and data necessary for carrying out a specific type of task,

such as video editing, Web browsing, preparing your tax return, designing

the floor plan for a new house, document production and the like

Computer software includes files consisting of computer programs. A

computer program or simply, a program is a set of instructions that tells a

computer how to solve a problem or carry out or perform a task. Computer

programs are also known as software, applications programs, or systems

software. On the other hand, a computer program can refer to source

code, written in a programming language, or to executable form of this

code. A distinct attribute of a computer program is that it can be started or

run by a computer user. Software typically comprises files. One of these

files is a main executable file. This refers to the program that you run to

start the software. Other files might contain the programs that you use to

install and uninstall the software

A support module provides an auxiliary set of instructions that can be

used in conjunction with the main software program. It is not designed to

be run by the computer user. Instead, these modules are “called” by the

computer program as needed. For instance, suppose that you want to edit

a video footage using Video Factory software. To start the program and

display the main screen, you run the main executable file, which is

Vidfact.exe. You choose the Download command, to access the video

footage from your camera to your PC. Your selection requires program

instructions that are not included in the main program, so a support

program called DVcheck.dll is used to assist with this task.

A data module comprises any data that is necessary for a task, but not

supplied by the user. An example would be word processing software that

checks spelling by comparing the words in a document with the words in a

dictionary file of correctly spelled words. The data module here is the

dictionary file, which is supplied by the software, not by the use

Why software does require so many files?

Most software packages include at least one executable program file;

several support modules, and one or more data modules. The significance

of a main program file and several support modules and data modules is

for the programmers’ great deal of flexibility and efficiency. Most of the

support modules contain “generic” program instructions that can be used

to work with various programs. A programmer can simply plug in a

generic support module, instead of writing these instructions “from

scratch”. These programming techniques would not be of much importance

to people who use computer programs, except for the fact that these

techniques affect the process of installing and uninstalling software. It is

necessary, therefore, to remember that computer software typically

comprises of many files namely the main program files, several support

modules and data modules

How Software Works

How does a high-level language relate to the microprocessor’s instruction

set? Machine language, the instruction set that is “hard wired” within the

microprocessor’s circuits, is the only language that can be understood by a

computer’s microprocessor. With this, we can say that instructions written

in a high level language must be translated into machine language before

a computer can use them. A special type of programs called translators,

convert instructions from a high-level language into machine language.

Translators can be categorized into two (2): compilers and interpreters.

Compilers are computer programs that translate a computer program that

is written in a computer language called as source language, into an

equivalent program written in another computer language which can be

called as output, object or target language. Interpreters execute other

programs while compilers do not but translate it into an executable file. It

translates one program statement into machine language, executes it, and

then proceeds to the next statement.

So how does software work?

Assuming that a VideoFactory, a video editing program, was installed on

your computer, which is running in Windows. You click the Start button,

and then select VideoFactoryfrom the Programs menu. Vidfact.exe, the

main executable file exists in compiled format on your computer’s hard

disk. The instructions for this program are loaded into RAM and then sent

to the microprocessor. As processing begins, the VideoFactory window

opens and the graphical controls for video editing tasks appear. The
programs wait for you to select a control by clicking it with the mouse.

Based on your selection, the program follows its instructions and performs

a pre-specified action. Many of the instructions for these actions are

included in the main executable file, in order to access its instructions, it

might be necessary to “call” a support module. The program continues to

respond to the controls that you select until you click the Close button,

which halts execution of the program instructions and closes the program

window