Maguiwe, Loverson O.

CHAPTER 5

1. The use of 4GLs is said to contribute to programmer productivity. How so?

- 4GLs (fourth generation languages) contributes to programmer productivity as they are built
around database management systems that allow the programmer to create database
structures, populate them with data, and manipulate the data. 4GLs commands are more like
English as it simplifies development and built around database management systems allowing
the programmer to create database structures and manipulate data.

2. What is multimedia? Give five examples of how this technology can be used in training,
customer service, and education.
- Multimedia is a powerful means of communicating because it does not limit the method of
communication. Examples of how this technology can be used in training, customer service, and
education are by using multimedia for online classes, online documents, training videos,
streaming, or online shopping.

3. With so many ready-made software packages available, why do some companies commission
software development projects?
- Companies commission software development projects because each software is built for
different purposes. Not all software’s are built to fit the right needs of the company, so
companies commission software development projects to have the software built to their
needs.

4. Office applications are often called productivity tools. Why?

- Office applications are often called productivity tools because the purpose of all business
software is to make the work of people more productive.

5. Electronic spreadsheets are great tools for modeling. Give an example of a model that shows
gradual growth of a phenomenon and describe how you would implement it in a spreadsheet.
- An example of a model that shows gradual growth in a spreadsheet could be a comparison of a
sales for a company from previous sales to new sales (last year to present). Using spreadsheet to
keep track of company sales from previous year to current year could not only help the
company measure its growth by numbers but have a visual of it as well. It could also help benefit
the company by keeping records of sales.
Maguiwe, Loverson O.

6. What is the importance of 3-D geographic software? For which types of organizations is it
useful?
- 3-D geographic software is important as it helps with navigation, whereby one can recognize
buildings and landmarks by their similarity to the software images. It is useful to GPS and rental
companies.

7. What is the difference between system software and application software?

- The difference between system software and application software is that system software
executes routine tasks including operating systems, language translators, and communications
software while application software is only developed to meet general or specific business
needs.

8. Give three reasons why Linux has become a popular server operating system.
- Linux has become a popular server operating system because over time Linux evolved into many
different variants, some of which are free, such as Ubuntu, Red Hat Fedora, and Small foot,
while others such as Red Hat Enterprise Edition, and SUSE charge for additional interface
features and support services.

9. What are the main elements to consider when purchasing ready-made software for an
organization?
- The main elements to consider when purchasing ready-made software for an organization are:
 Needs of the business
 Needs of the organizational culture
 Needs to interface with other systems and performance issues such as response time

10. What is the difference between an interpreter and compiler?

- The differences between an interpreter and a complier is that an interpreter translates each
program statement and executes it while a complier translates the higher-level code into an
equivalent machine language code but does not execute the codes.