Chapter 2

System Software and

Application Software
An overview of software

• Computer hardware would be useless

without software, the lists of instructions
which tell the hardware what to do.

• Computer Instructions or data, anything

that can be stored electronically is
Software.

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Types of Software
 System Software
Programs that coordinate the activities and
functions of the hardware and various other
programs.

 Example:
Operating Systems, Compiler, Loader, Linker, Interpreter,
DOS.

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Types of Software
Application Software:
• Programs that help users solve particular
computing problems.

Example:
•CAD Software, Payroll systems, Inventory Control, Manage
student database(SIMS), Word Processor (Microsoft word),
Spreadsheet (Microsof Excel) and Database Management
System, web browser (crome),music/sound software(iTunes)
etc

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 Programming languages
• Series of instructions of a computer to
accomplish a task.
• Instructions must be written in a way the
computer can understand.
• Programming languages are used to write
programs.
• Once the code (language) of a program has
been written, it must be executed (run,
started).

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Programming languages

• Some programming languages (like Java or C++)

require the code to be compiled (translated to
binary) before it can be started.

• Others (like JavaScript) are interpreted, meaning

that each command is translated separately when
the program is started.

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Software issues and trends
• Software Licensing:
• Protection by software vendors to prevent
unauthorized use.
•Software keys
•Multi-user licenses
•Software Publishing Association

• Software bugs: program defects that prevent proper

performance
• Open source software: freely available and
modifiable
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Software issues and trends

Software Upgrades
•A revised version of software that usually
includes fixes of known problems, plus
enhancements to existing capabilities

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 Chapter 3

Organizing Data and

Information

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Chapter 3:Organizing Data and
Information

Data & Databases

•Data consists of raw facts that when organized it may
transform into information
•A Database is a collection of data organized to meet
users’ needs
•A Database Management System (DBMS) is a group of
programs that manipulate the database & provide an
interface between the database & the user of the database
or other application programs

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The Hierarchy of Data

Database Management System

Database

File (table)

Record (entity, row)

Field (characteristic, column)

Byte (character)
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Data management

Data management refers to these activities:

•Manage incoming and outgoing information
•Establish standards for gathering information
•Ensure the privacy and confidentiality of information
These activities can often be facilitated by computers. If
computers are used, personnel must be trained in relevant
computer skills such as word processing, spreadsheet, and
database.

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Data Management Means…

An organized way to record, store and retrieve data

associated with pre-testing, in process testing, and
post-testing information

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 Data modeling and database
models
Data Model
A map or diagram of entities & their relationships
Enterprise data modeling
Data modeling done at the level of the entire
organization
Entity-relationship (ER) diagrams
A data model that uses basic graphical symbols to
show the organization of and relationships between
data

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 Entity Relationship (ER) Diagram for a
Customer Ordering Database

Last name
Attributes Colour

Entities
First 1 N
Customer Order Product Name
name

1:N one-to-many
relationship Identification
Identification
number number

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Entity Relationship Model (Cont.)

 E-R model of real world

 Entities (objects)
• E.g. customers, Product
 Relationships between entities
• E.g. one customer order many products
• Relationship order associates customers with product
 Widely used for database design
 Database design in E-R model usually converted to
design in the relational model.

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Relational Data Model

All data elements are placed in two-dimensional tables, called

relations, that are the logical equivalent of files
Data Table 1: Project Table Data Table 2: Department Table
Project Number Description Dept. Number Dept.
Dept. Name Manager SSN
Number
155 Payroll 257
257 Accounting 421-55-99993
498 Widgets 632
632 Manufacturing 765-00-3192
Sales
226 598
manager 598 Marketing 098-40-1370

Data Table 3: Manager Table

SSN Last Name First Name Hire Date Dept. Number

005-10-6321 Johns Francine 10-7-65 257
549-77-1001 Buckley Bill 2-17-79 650
098-40-1370 Fiske Steven 1-5-85 598

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Hierarchical Database Model

A data model in which data are organized in a top-down, or

inverted tree structure.
Project 1

Department Department Department

A B C

Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee

1 2 3 4 5 6

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Network Data Model
Network data model
• An expansion of the hierarchical database model with an
owner-member relationship in which a member may
have many owners

Project 1 Project 2

Department A Department B Department C

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Database Management systems
 is a layer of software between the physical
database and the users
 Collection of interrelated data
 Set of programs to access the data
 DBMS contains information about a particular
enterprise
 DBMS provides an environment that is both
convenient and efficient to use.

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Database Applications:

 Banking: all transactions

 Airlines: reservations, schedules
 Universities: registration, grades
 Sales: customers, products, purchases
 Manufacturing: production, inventory, orders,
supply chain
 Human resources: employee records, salaries,
tax deductions
 Databases touch all aspects of our lives

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Purpose of Database System
 In the early days, database applications were built on top
of file systems
 Drawbacks of using file systems to store data:
 Data redundancy and inconsistency
 Multiple file formats, duplication of information in
different files
 Difficulty in accessing data
 Need to write a new program to carry out each new task
 Data isolation — multiple files and formats
 Integrity problems
 Integrity constraints (e.g. account balance > 0) become part
of program code
 Hard to add new constraints or change existing ones

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Purpose of Database Systems
(Cont.)
 Drawbacks of using file systems (cont.)
 Atomicity of updates
• Failures may leave database in an inconsistent state with partial updates carried
out
• E.g. transfer of funds from one account to another should either complete or
not happen at all
 Concurrent access by multiple users
• Concurrent accessed needed for performance
• Uncontrolled concurrent accesses can lead to inconsistencies –E.g.
two people reading a balance and updating it at the same time
 Security problems
 Database systems offer solutions to all the above problems

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Database development
In most information system development tasks, there are
several steps in designing a database system.

The major steps in database design are:

•Planning:- that is identifying information gap in an
organization and propose a database solution to solve the
problem.
•Analysis: that concentrates more on fact finding about the
problem or the opportunity.
•Design: in database development more emphasis is given
to this phase.

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Database development
The phase is further divided into three sub-phases.
[Link] Design:-Concise description of the data, data type,
relationship between data.
[Link] Design:- a higher level conceptual abstraction with selected
specific data model to implement the data stricture.
[Link] Design:- physical implementation of the logical design of
the database.
•Implementation:- the testing and deployment of the
designed database for use.
•Operation and support:- administering and maintaining
the operation of the database system and providing support
to users.

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