Introduction to Hardware and Software

• The two parts of the computer are hardware and software.
• The hardware is the machine or physical part of the computer.
• The software includes computer programs.
• The hardware is ruled by the software.
• Programming is the process of making software.
• Computer hardware consists of Central Processing Unit (CPU), Memory and Input and output devices.
• CPU can be considered as the "brain of the computer".
• CPU consists of the following :

  1. Arithmetic and Logic Unit ( ALU )
  2. Control Units ( CU )
  3. Registers
  4. Memory Unit
• Arithmetic and Logic Unit ( ALU ) - All the arithmetic and logic operations are  performed in here.
• Control Unit ( CU ) - The data and instructions are organized and processed by  Control Unit. It controls the activities of other parts of the computer. 
• Registers – CPU’s certain temporary areas of storage for holding certain data or  instructions temporarily.  
• The program instructions are executed by the CPU, while the data and instructions are stored in Memory Unit. 
• All the data, instructions and results are stored in the memory.
• The computer has primary  memory or main memory.
• The instructions for data operations are stored in primary memory.
• The  input data needed for the processing is first brought to the main memory.
• Secondary memory is another type of memory which is external to the computer, it includes optical disks and magnetic disks.
• The physical parts of the computer form the hardware which is mainly constituted by CPU, memory and input / output devices.
• The programming part or programs that control the working of the computer forms the software. 
• Primary memory stores the data and instructions during instruction execution.
• Primary memory includes Random Access Memory ( RAM ) and Read Only Memory ( ROM ).
• Primary memory is volatile and data is not stored permanently.
• Secondary memory is non-volatile and data is permanently saved in secondary memory. 
• A program is a set of instructions instructing the computer to do specific tasks.
• Even though software is a general term used for computer programs, the computer software is of three types : System software, Application software and Programming software.
• System software includes the software that helps the computer in its efficient operation like operating system ( OS ) device drivers, compilers and text editors.
• System software acts as a base for application software.
• Hardware components are managed by the system software. 
• Programming software are used for writing programs and developing codes for various applications using tools like linkers, debuggers, compilers or interpreters and editors.
• Application software is used for performing specific tasks like educational software, gaming applications and office suites.
• System software is used to manage and control the computer hardware and other application software.
• Application software is used to perform specific tasks.
• System software can run independently and provides a platform for the application software to run.
• Application software cannot run independently. It is dependent on system software and cannot run as standalone.
• System software is programmed and starts  running as soon as the system  is shut down.
• Application software is run based on user requirement for a particular application.
• System software is installed on the computer initially at the time when the operating system is installed.
• Application software is installed only when the user has the requirement.
• Users do not interact with the system software as it functions in  the background.
• Users interact with application software while using specific applications.