1.2.2 Application Generation

Question 1

What is general purpose software?

Answer 1

• Software that can perform a wide variety of tasks.
• Attracts many users so is usually cheap.

Question 2

What is special purpose software?

Answer 2

• Software designed to perform a specific task
• Only users who need the specific functionality of the software will purchase it so usually more expensive.

Question 3

What is bespoke software?

Answer 3

• Software designed around a specific users need.
• Very expensive because it’s unlikely that other users will purchase the software.

Question 4

What is application software?

Answer 4

• Software that performs tasks that a user wants to complete

Question 5

What is system software?

Answer 5

• Software that controls the hardware of the computer

Question 6

Give an example of system software

Answer 6

• Utility software (file manager, defragmentation)
• Translators

Question 7

What are the four layers of a computer system in descending order?

Answer 7

User
Application
System Software
Hardware

Question 8

What is closed source software?

Answer 8

• Software that is accessed by the user by purchasing or acquiring a license.
• The source code is not freely available as it is provided to the user in a fully compiled state.
• Support is usually provided by the developers.

Question 9

What is open source software?

Answer 9

• Software for which the source code is freely available to download and use.
• Code can be modified to the users needs.
• Support is usually provided by other users/collaborators.

Question 10

What is a compiler?

Answer 10

• Software that translates source code into an executable file.
• The machine code of the executable file is specific to the architecture of the computer’s CPU which increases compilation complexity.
• Any errors or warnings are reported after compilation

Question 11

What is an interpreter?

Answer 11

• Software that translates and executes source code line-by-line.
• Program runs slower than compiled because each line must be translated on each runtime.

Question 12

What is an assembler?

Answer 12

• Software that converts assembly code into an executable file.
• Since ASM instruction sets are specific to the CPU, the compilation is much simpler than high level compilers.