Software – problems and prospects

Software Engineering is about methods, tools and techniques used for developing soft-
ware. This particular chapter is concerned with the reasons for having a field of study
called software engineering, and with the problems that are encountered in developing
software. This book as a whole explains a variety of techniques that attempt to solve the
problems and meet the goals of software engineering.
Software surrounds us everywhere in the industrialized nations – in domestic appli-
ances, communications systems, transportation systems and in businesses. Software comes
in different shapes and sizes – from the program in a mobile phone to the software to
design a new automobile. In categorizing software, we can distinguish two major types:
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system software is the software that acts as tools to help construct or support appli-
cations software. Examples are operating systems, databases, networking software,
compilers.
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applications software is software that helps perform some directly useful or enjoyable
task. Examples are games, the software for automatic teller machines (ATMs), the
control software in an airplane, e-mail software, word processors, spreadsheets.