APPLICATION SOFTWARE: Scientific, engineering, graphics, Business, Productivity, Entertainment, Educational Software

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Introduction to Computing CS101

LESSON 13

APPLICATION SOFTWARE

The focus of the last Lesson was on Operating Systems

Learning Goals for Today

To learn about application software

To become familiar with various software used in the following application areas:

e.g.

Scientific/engineering/graphics

Business

Productivity

Entertainment

Educational

13.1 Two Major Types of Software

System Software

Application Software

Hardware

Operating System

Device Driver

Utility Language Scientific Business Productivity Entertainment

Translator Apps.

Apps.

System software

Application software

13.2 Application Software

Application software are programs that interact directly with the user

They generally do not talk directly to the hardware

13.3 Classification According to the Mode

Interactive-mode

The user runs the program on the computer and keeps on interacting with the computer while the

program runs

Example: Word processor

Batch-mode

The user starts the program and the computer processes the provided data and produces results without

any further intervention of from the user

Example: Payroll

Introduction to Computing CS101

13.4 Classification According to Application Area

Scientific/engineering/graphics

Business

Productivity

Entertainment

Educational

13.5 Scientific/Engineering/Graphics Apps

Key feature: Intense floating-point calculations

Scientific/engineering/mathematical apps

Computers initially were designed just to run them

Generally designed for specialists

Rudimentary UI's

Many run in batch mode

13.6 Scientific SW

Simulation of natural systems

Deforestation and effect on green-house gases

Simulation of artificial systems

NeuralWare (Simulator for artificial neural networks)

Thermo-nuclear explosions

Mathematical computation packages

Mathematica (can do hundreds, if not thousands of functions, e.g. solving a differential eq,

symbolically)

MathCAD

13.7 Engineering SW

Computer-aided design (CAD)

AutoCAD

SPICE

Virtual wind tunnels

Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM)

Telecommunication system SW

Centrex

Industrial control SW

13.8 Graphics & Animation SW (1)

Two types:

Moving

graphics

1. Vector graphics

e.g. cartoons

Treats everything that is drawn as an object

Objects retain their identity after they are drawn

These objects can later be easily moved, stretched, duplicated, deleted, etc

Are resolution independent

Relatively small file size

Example: MS Visio, Corel Draw, Flash

Introduction to Computing CS101

Graphics & Animation SW (2)

2. Bit-mapped or raster graphics

Treats everything that is drawn as a bit-map

If an object is drawn on top of another, it is difficult to move just 1 of them while leaving the other

untouched

Changing the resolution often requires considerable touch-up work

Relatively large file size

Example: MS Paint, Adobe Photoshop

13.9 Business Applications

Most of the SW being developed today belongs to this category

SW that is required to run most any sort of biz:

Payroll

General ledger

Order entry

Accounts receivable & accounts payable

Inventory control

Let's now discuss a few business SW categories which are not that common, but are becoming more

and more popular with time

13.10 E-Commerce Software

Key requirements:

Reliability

Security

Ability to handle 1000's of transactions, simultaneously

13.11 ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) SW

Very large scale, complex & expensive SW

Ties together all key activities & major systems of an organization into a single SW system

Key benefit: Optimization of the business processes of an organization as a single system instead of

many loosely-related stand-alone systems

Example: SAP, Oracle, PeopleSoft, Baan

13.12 DSS (Decision Support Systems) SW

Sometimes also called "expert systems"

Many times are based on a branch of computer science called "artificial intelligence"

This category of SW is designed to help business managers in making effective decisions in complex

situations based on the analysis of the relevant data

13.13 Productivity SW

Most popular category in terms of licenses sold

Common features

Ability to simplify, automate everyday business tasks

Highly interactive and user-friendly design

Designed to run on PC's

Most users do not use 90% of the SW features

Popular productivity SW

Word Processing

-- Spreadsheets

Presentations

-- Databases

13.14 Word Processors

Probably the most popular productivity app

Initially designed as a replacement for the typewriter

Introduction to Computing CS101

Automation

Automatic end-of-line soft carriage return

Style sheets

Table of contents & index

Spelling & grammar checking

Two approaches: WYSIWYG (e.g. Word, WordPerfect, Star) or traditional markup (LaTeX)?

Desktop publishing

13.15 Web Page Development SW

Web pages can be developed using a simple plain-text editor like the "notepad", but more efficient,

easy-to-use HTML editors can make the process quicker

Some of them are WYSIWYG (i.e. you don't really need to know any HTML to use them), others are

not, while some provide both types of interfaces (DreamWeaver)

Most popular word processors now come with a built-in Web page development facility

13.16 Spreadsheet SW (1)

Electronic replacement for ledgers

Is used for automating engineering, scientific, but in majority of cases, business calculations

A spreadsheet - VisiCalc - was the first popular application on PC's.

It helped in popularizing PC's by making the task of financial-forecasting much simpler, allowing

individuals to do forecasts which previously were performed by a whole team of financial wizard

13.17 Spreadsheet SW (2)

Consist of cells arranged in rows and columns

Each cell may contain numeric values, text or formulas

Automation

Recalculations

Charts

13.18 Presentation Development SW

Used to prepare multimedia material for lectures & presentations to display key points, graphics,

animation, or video with the help of multimedia projectors

Have replaced acetate films (slides) that were used with over-head projectors

Key advantage over acetate slides:

Easy to modify

Can be sent electronically

Its multimedia nature makes it more interesting for the audience

13.19 Small-Scale Databases SW (1)

Easy to use applications designed for efficient storage and fast and easy retrieval of data

That data may be in the form of numbers, text, or even multimedia, i.e. sounds, graphics, animation,

video

13.20 Small-Scale Databases SW (2)

Before the advent of the currently popular "relational" database model, the databasing function was

performed using what is called the "flat-file" model

That model is not very efficient for storing and searching in large databases

A database consists of a file or a set of files. Information in these is stored in the form of records, and

the records are further subdivided into fields

13.21 Productivity SW Suites

A set of stand-alone productivity applications designed to work easily with each other

Share a common UI

Introduction to Computing CS101

Are available as a bundle along with additional useful utilities

Examples: MS Office, Corel WordPerfect Office, Lotus SmartSuite, Star Office

SW Suites for other app areas are available as well, e.g. the Adobe suite of graphics apps

13.22 Document-Centered Computing (DCC) - 1

The increasing cooperation among the apps included in productivity suites has given rise to a new

computing paradigm called DCC

DCC implies that instead of developing parts of a doc in a number of apps, and then cutting-&-pasting

them to form the final doc, you stay in a single doc and call-up appropriate apps to insert the required

objects

13.23 Document-Centered Computing (DCC) - 2

Let's say that we want to write a letter containing a map, a table and a graph

We can:

Launch the WP and type the text in

Insert a drawing by calling up the drawing toolbar app (without leaving the WP) & draw the map

Insert a table by calling up the spreadsheet app (without leaving the WP) & build the table

Insert a graph based on that table using the same spreadsheet app without leaving the WP

13.24 Entertainment SW

Key feature: Simple, intuitive, many times social UI's

The user is generally assumed to know nothing about computers

Both Microsoft & Apple are pursuing a PC-as-a-personal-entertainment-hub strategy. Probable result:

Already popular entertainment SW will become even more popular

13.25 Music & Video Players

Music players (WinAmp)

Video/Music players (Real player, Windows Media player, QuickTime player)

The Web Browsers can also display video, animation, and play music with the help of helper

applications like Flash

13.26 Music Generation & Movie Editing SW

A PC can be made the hub of a music making studio with help of appropriate HW & SW

Inexpensive, easy-to-use video editing SW has recently become available for the iMac

13.27 Games

Many types

Educational (especially for toddlers)

Strategy/Simulation

Sports

Shoot'em ups

The saddest aspect: You do not need any opponents or partners to play computer games

The application SW category that provides the toughest challenge for computer HW

13.28 Educational SW

Category with probably the highest growth rate

Current focus on augmenting traditional training and education methods, but it is shifting towards

replacing traditional methods

13.29 Electronic Encyclopedias

Great resource of useful information presented in a very interesting format

Superior to the paper-based version because:

Access speed is dramatically higher

Introduction to Computing CS101

Can contain animation and sound

Much lower cost as thousand's of pages in dozens of volumes have been replaced by a couple of CD's

13.30 On-Line Learning

With time, the VU Web site will become more and more focused on interactive online learning

The Website of our textbook "Understanding Computers" is an example of an on-line learning Website

Key features of good online learning SW:

The student can learns at his or her own pace

The student can select his or her own hours

13.31 Interactive CD's

Same as on-line learning, but through a CD instead of a Web site

Key advantage:

Ideal for students with slow Internet access

13.32 Attributes of Good Application Software

Easy to install, un-install

User Interface

Consistent

Intuitive

Configurable

Adapts to the users need

Has a tutorial and a complete help manual

Does not have any critical bugs

13.33 Most Popular Application Software Categories

Web browsers

Email clients

Word processors

What have we learnt today?

Application software are programs that interact directly with the user for the performance of a certain

type of work

That work generally falls into one of the following usage areas

Scientific/engineering/graphics

Business

Productivity

Entertainment

Educational

Focus of the Next Lecture

Next Lesson will be the first among the four lectures that we plan to have on productivity SW

That first Lesson will be on word processing

We'll learn about what we mean by word processing

We'll discuss the usage of various functions provided by common word processors

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