What Is Computer Program ?
Computer Program | Program Coding | Computer Programming
The computer program is essentially a set of instructions which directs the computer system to perform user specified tasks . The computer program is an essential component of the computer system .
The computer program is also alternately referred to as software application .The computer programs are generally written using any human readable high level programming language .
The high level programming language offers a human friendly interface to write the program code . This high level code cannot be directly executed by the computer system .
However , the high level program code first needs to be converted into machine code instruction in binary that computer can execute and perform user specified operations.
What Is Computer Program ?
Table Of Contents
What Is Computer Program ?
The computer system is an digital electronic device that can be used to perform some meaningful work such data processing , calculations , data storage and other such user specified work .
However , the computer system needs to be programmed to perform any meaningful work . The computer system consist of two essential components which includes hardware and software components .
The software components are computer programs which consist of set of instructions that directs the computer system hardware components to perform desired operations . This set of instructions which directs the computer system is called computer program.
The computer system interprets the program and then performs the desired operations by executing the program instructions one by one.
Types Of Computer Programs
As per the computer system architecture , the computer programs can be broadly grouped into two categories .
- System Programs
- Application Programs
System Programming
What Is A System Program ?
In computer system architecture , the System Software is a program used by the operating system to communicate with the hardware component.
Each hardware component needs a system software that allows the operating system to communicate with that hardware component or device and perform the desired operation.
The system software functions as an interface between the operating system and the hardware components part of the computer system . The OS communicates and drives the hardware components through system software components.
And therefore , whenever a device is connected to the computer system either internally or externally essentially needs a system software ( Commonly referred as Device Driver ) to perform various user specified operations.
The system software components are designed to operate , control and extend the processing capabilities of the computer system and the other hardware devices connected to the computer system.
The system software is also designed and developed by the computer manufacturer to communicate with specific hardware components connected to the computer system such as camera , printer , scanner and other such devices .
What Is Application Program ?
The application programs ( Software ) are designed to provide the user friendly interface to the computer user to perform various tasks on the computer system.
For example , we generally use Microsoft word program for creating document , Power point for making presentation and Excel Spreadsheet program for creating the spreadsheets .
The application program is written in high level programming language such as C language , Java , C++ , Python or any other high level programming language.
However , the high level program needs to be converted to machine code instructions in binary and this conversion is referred as program compilation.
The compiled programs in the form of executable file ( Exe file ) can be directly executed by the computer system .
The Application software is a term used for the program created for a specific purpose that provides specific functionality to the user. The application software can be a single program or group of programs used by end users.
The application software also commonly referred as application or simply an app. All the programs used in a computer other than system software are referred to as application software.
What Is Program Compilation ?
The computer programs written in high level programming language must be first converted to machine code in binary . The microprocessor can decode and execute only program instructions in binary .
And therefore , the high level computer program is converted to binary code by using a special system program called compiler. This conversion process is referred as program compilation.
The program compilation is a process in which a human readable program code written in a any programming language ( C , C ++ , Java , Python ) is converted to a machine readable code in binary ( using only 0’s and 1’s ) .
The compiler only converts the program source code in to the Object code ( Binary Code ) . The object code cannot be directly executed by the operating system .
The Object code file further needs to be processed by another program called “Linker”. The linker ( type of system software ) which is built into the compiler itself .
The compiler may produce number of object code files for a single program source code file . The object code consist of machine code instructions in binary which is equivalent of corresponding high level program instructions in program source file .
And therefore , the linking is required to link all object code files and other files together to create an “Executable” file . The executable code can be directly executed by the CPU ( microprocessor ).
Why Computer Understands Binary Machine Code ?
Compiled Vs Interpreted Programs
The programming languages can be broadly categorized into either interpreted or compiled language . In case of compiled language , the compiler accepts the program code and converts into machine code in binary .
For example , the C language compiler converts the entire source code into machine readable executable code . This executable code can be directly executed by the computer .
Whereas , in the case of interpreted language , the interpreter converts the source code into intermediate code line by line .
The interpreter first converts the program statement into an intermediate code . Another system program then converts this code into native machine code . And therefore , the execution process is relatively slower in case of interpreted language .
For example , the Java program compiler converts the program source code into an intermediate byte code which is platform independent . And the Java virtual machine ( JVM ) then converts this intermediate byte code into native machine code.
How Computer System Executes the Program ?
The computer user initiates the program execution by instructing the operating system to start the program execution . The operating system then loads the executable program into the main system memory RAM.
The microprocessor ( CPU – Central Processing Unit ) is the brain of the computer system and performs all the arithmetic calculations and logical operations.
The CPU provides the processing power to the computer system and executes the program . The processor ( CPU ) initiates the program execution by fetching the program instructions from main memory one by one.
The CPU makes use of its internal high speed memory registers and cache memory to optimize the processor execution speed .
The CPU decodes the program instructions and performs then operates on the program data as per the program instructions.
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