CompSci Software Review Flashcards

Flashcards for reviewing software concepts, programming languages, translators, IDEs, operating systems, and interrupts.

System Software

Provides services that the computer requires, including operating systems and utility software.

Application Software

Provides services that the user requires.

Operating System (OS)

Manages files, handles interrupts, provides an interface, manages peripherals and drivers, manages memory, manages multitasking, provides a platform for running applications, provides system security, and manages user accounts.

Interrupt

A request generated by hardware, software, or a user to seek the attention of the operating system.

Interrupt Service Routine (ISR)

The interrupt program code the CPU searches for after it has been interrupted.

High-Level Language

A programming language consisting of English-similar words, offering advantages such as ease of reading and writing, ease of debugging, machine independence, and direct manipulation of hardware.

Low-Level Language

A programming language that requires an assembler to translate the assembly language program into machine code. Assembly language is a form of low-level language that uses mnemonics.

Compiler

A translator that translates the whole code at once before executing it, producing an executable file, and provides an error report for the whole code if errors are detected.

Interpreter

A translator that translates and executes code line-by-line and stops execution when an error is found.

Assembler

Translates source code in assembly language into object code through scanning for errors, providing an error report, and translating the code if no errors are found, saving the translated code as an executable file.

Integrated Development Environment (IDE)

Provides code editors, a run-time environment, translators, error diagnostics, auto-completion, auto-correction, and pretty print for writing program code.

Firmware

Software that provides basic control for the hardware.