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Chapter 3(Application Software)

Application software, or apps, are programs designed to perform specific tasks on devices like computers and smartphones, featuring user-friendly interfaces. Examples include word processors, spreadsheets, and database software, which enhance business efficiency, support personal tasks, and facilitate communication. Various forms of application software exist, including packaged, custom, web-based, and open-source options.

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2 views

Chapter 3(Application Software)

Application software, or apps, are programs designed to perform specific tasks on devices like computers and smartphones, featuring user-friendly interfaces. Examples include word processors, spreadsheets, and database software, which enhance business efficiency, support personal tasks, and facilitate communication. Various forms of application software exist, including packaged, custom, web-based, and open-source options.

Uploaded by

alwandeminenhle109
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Chapter 3: Application software

Application software

Application software, also known as applications, or apps for short, cover a whole
range of programs that can run on almost any device, from your desktop computer
and your laptop to your Smartphone and tablet. Really, an application is pretty much
anything that runs on a device to complete a task.

Application software is generally more intuitive than full-blown software, with a


simple user interface (UI) and crucially, built with the end user’s best interests at
heart

Application software (app or application for short) is computer software


designed to perform a group of coordinated functions, tasks, or activities for the
benefit of the user. Examples of an application include a word processor, a
spreadsheet, an accounting application, a web browser, a media player, an
aeronautical flight simulator, a console game or a photo editor.

Application software has a variety of uses:

1. To make business activities more efficient

2. To assist with graphics and multimedia projects.

3. To support home, personal, and educational tasks.

4. To facilitate communications

Application software is available in a variety of forms:

1. Packaged software

2. Custom software

3. Web-based software

4. Open source software

5. Shareware

6. Freeware

7. Public domain software

The role of system software


System software serves as the interface between the user, the application software,
and the computer’s hardware. To use application software, such as a word
processing program, your computer must be running system software- specifically,
an operating system.

Each time you start a computer, the operating system is loaded from
the computer’s hard disk into memory. Once the operating system is loaded, it
coordinates all the activities of the computer. This includes starting application
software and transferring data among input and output devices and memory. While
the computer is running, operating system remains in the memory.

Working with application software


To use application software, you must instruct the operating system to start the
program. Personal computer operating systems often use the concept of a desktop
to make the computer easier to use.
The desktop is an on-screen work area that has a graphical user interface

An icon is a small image displayed on the screen that represents a program, a


document, or some other object.

A button is a graphical element that you activate to cause a specific action to take
place. One way to activate a button is to click on it.

To click a button on the screen requires moving the pointer to the button and
then pressing and releasing a button on the mouse (usually the left mouse button).
The pointer is a small symbol displayed on the screen that moves as you move the
mouse. Common pointer shapes are an I-beam ( ), a block arrow ( ), and a pointing
hand ( ).

A menu contains a list of commands from which you make selections.

A command is an instruction that causes a program to perform a specific action.

To start a program, you can click its program name on a menu or in a list. This
action instructs the operating system to start the program, which means the
program’s instructions load from a storage medium (such as a hard disk) into
memory.
Once loaded into memory, the program is displayed in a window on the desktop. A
window is a rectangular area of the screen that displays data and information. The
top of a window has a title bar, which is a horizontal space that contains the
window’s name.With the program loaded, you can create a new file or open an
existing one. A file is a named collection of stored data, instructions, or information.
A file can contain text, images, audio, and video. To distinguish among various files,
each file has a file name.
Business software:
Business software is application software that assists people in becoming more
effective and efficient while performing their daily business activities. Business
software includes programs such as word processing, spreadsheet, database,
presentation graphics, note taking, personal information manager software, PDA
business software, software suites, project management, accounting, document
management, and enterprise computing software.

Word processing software:


Word processing software, sometimes called a word processor, allows users to
create and manipulate documents containing mostly text and sometimes graphics.
Millions of people use word processing software every day to develop documents
such as letters, memos, reports, fax cover sheets, mailing labels, newsletters, and
Web pages.
Word processing software has many features to make documents look professional
and visually appealing. Some of these features include the capability of changing the
shape and size of characters, changing the colour of characters, applying special
effects such as three-dimensional shadows, and organizing text in newspaper-style
columns.
Spreadsheet software
Spreadsheet software allows users to organize data in rows and columns and
perform calculations on the data. These rows and columns collectively are called a
worksheet. Most spreadsheet software has basic features to help users create,
edit, and format worksheets.
Data is organized vertically in columns and horizontally in rows
on each worksheet. Each worksheet usually can have more than 16,000 columns
and 1 million rows. One or more letters identify each column, and a number
identifies each row. Only a small fraction of these columns and rows are displayed
on the screen at one time. Scrolling through the worksheet displays different parts of
it on the screen. A cell is the intersection of a column and row. The spread sheet
software identifies cells by the column and row in which they are located. For
example, the intersection of column B and row 6 is referred to as cell B6. Cells may
contain three types of data: labels, values, and formulas.

Database software
A database is a collection of data organized in a manner that allows access,
retrieval, and use of that data. In a manual database, you might record data on
paper and store it in a filing cabinet. With a computerized database, computer stores
the data in an electronic format on a storage medium such as a hard disk.

Database software is application software that allows users to create, access, and
manage a database. Using database software, you can add, change, and delete data
in a database; sort and retrieve data from the database; and create forms and
reports using the data in the database. With most popular personal computer
database programs, a database consists of a collection of tables, organized in rows
and columns. Each row, called a record, contains data about a given person,
product, object, or event. Each column, called a field, contains a specific category of
data within a record.
Presentation Graphics Software
Presentation graphics software is application software that allows users to
create visual aids for presentations to communicate ideas, messages, and other
information to a group. The presentations can be viewed as slides, sometimes
called a slide show, that are displayed on a large monitor or on a projection screen
graphics and Multimedia Software.

Presentation graphics software typically provides a variety of


predefined presentation formats that define complementary colors for backgrounds,
text, and graphical accents on the slides. This software also provides a variety of
layouts for each individual slide such as a title slide, a two-column slide, and a slide
with clip art, a chart, a table, a diagram, or animation. In addition, you can enhance
any text, charts, and graphical images on a slide with 3-D and other special effects
such as shading, shadows, and textures.

When building a presentation, users can set the slide timing so the presentation
automatically displays the next slide after a preset delay. Presentation graphics
software allows you to apply special effects to the transition between slides. One
slide, for example, might fade away as the next slide is displayed.

Graphics and Multimedia software


In addition to business software, many people work with software designed
specifically for their field of work. Power users such as engineers, architects, desktop
publishers, and graphic artists often use sophisticated software that allows them to
work with graphics and multimedia.
This software includes:
 computer-aided design
 desktop publishing
 paint/image editing
 photo editing
 video and audio editing
 multimedia authoring
 Web page authoring.
Software for home, personal and educational use:
Software Suite (for Personal Use)
A software suite (for personal use) combines application software such as word
processing, spreadsheet, database, and other programs in a single, easy-to-use
package. Many computer vendors install a software suite for personal use, such as
Microsoft Works, on new computers sold to home users.

Personal finance software


Personal finance software is a simplified accounting program that helps home users
and small office/home office users balance their check books, pay bills, track
personal income and expenses, track investments, and evaluate financial plans.

Desktop publishing software


Personal DTP software helps home and small business users create newsletters,
brochures, advertisements, postcards, greeting cards, letterhead, business cards,
banners, calendars, logos, and Web pages.

Personal DTP programs provide hundreds of thousands of graphical images. You


also can import (bring in) your own digital photographs into the documents. These
programs typically guide you through the development of a document by asking a
series of questions. Then, you can print a finished publication on a color printer or
post it on the Web.

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