CSC 101 - Computer Software Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering core definitions and terms from the CSC 101 Computer Software lecture notes.

Software

Detailed instructions that control the operation of a computer system.

Software Program

A series of statements or instructions given to the computer.

Programming

The process of writing or coding a software program.

Programmer

An individual who specializes in writing or coding software programs.

System Software

A set of generalized programs that manage computer resources, such as the central processor, communication links, and peripheral devices.

System Programmer

A programmer who writes system software.

Application Software

Programs written for or by users to apply the computer to a specific task.

Application Programmer

A programmer who writes application software.

Operating System

The system software that manages and controls the activities of the computer.

Language Translation Programs

System software that converts programming languages into machine language.

Utility Programs

System software that performs common processing tasks.

Application Packages

Ready-made programs or suites of programs with associated documentation used for a particular type of problem or variety of similar problems.

Machine Language

The first generation of programming language consisting of 0s and 1s of binary code used to communicate with the first generation of computers.

Assembly Language

The second generation of programming language from the early 1950s that used language-like acronyms and words such as add, sub, and load.

Assembler

A program translator that translates assembly language instructions into machine language.

High-Level Language

The third generation of programming language (mid-1950s to mid-1970s) that allowed programs to be written with regular words using sentence-like statements.

FORTRAN

Formula Translator; a high-level language developed in 1956 for writing scientific and engineering applications.

COBOL

Common Business Oriented Language; developed in the early 1960s by a government and industry committee for business administration and processing large data files.

BASIC

Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code; developed in 1964 by Joan Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz to teach students at Dartmouth College how to use computers.

Pascal

A high-level programming language named after Blaise Pascal, developed in the late 1960s by Swiss computer science Professor Niklaus Wirth.

Ada

A programming language developed in 1980 by the U.S. Defense Department as a standard for all its applications, named after Ada, Countess of Lovelace.

Fourth-Generation Languages

Software tools created beginning in the late 1970s that enable end users to develop software applications with minimal or no technical assistance.

Procedural Languages

Programming languages that require specification of the sequence of steps or procedures that tell the computer what to do and how to do it.

Nonprocedural Languages

Programming languages that need only specify what has to be accomplished rather than details about how to carry out the task.

Query Languages

High-level languages for retrieving data stored in databases or files.

Report Generators

Software tools that extract data from files or databases to create customized reports in many formats.

Graphic Languages

Software tools that retrieve data from files or databases and display it in a graphic format.

Application Generators

Software tools containing preprogrammed modules that can generate entire applications speedily.

Syntax

A set of characters and the acceptable sequences of those characters, representing the rules of a language.

Semantics

The meaning associated with each syntactically correct sequence of characters.

Syntax Error

An error that occurs when a programmer breaks one of the grammatical rules of the language being used.

Program Logic

The path followed by the program to solve a problem.

Logic Error

An error that occurs when a grammatically correct program does not perform correctly the tasks laid down in the program specification.

Program Listing

A printout of all the statements in a program, together with error messages and data.

Executable Statements

Program instructions that the computer must process during execution.

Coding

Writing program statements in any programming language.

Source Program

The original program as coded by a programmer.

Object Program

A program that has been translated into machine language.

Loop

A series of program instructions executed repeatedly until a certain condition is satisfied.

Compiler

A type of translator that translates programs directly into machine code to be executed by the CPU.

Interpreter

A type of translator that executes program instructions directly in place of running on top of the CPU.