Software Classification

FatMax Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License Applications Software Applications software is written to improve our productivity i.e. it does something There are various ways of classifying applications software What it does How it is bundled together How it is bought

FatMax Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License Generic vs. Specific Specific This type of software lacks the flexibility of generic software and is only capable doing a single task. Accounting software is capable of doing only accounts and so is more restrictive than a spreadsheet. Generic (general purpose) These applications can be used for a wide variety of tasks e.g. spreadsheets can be used for accounts, sales analysis, forecasting and many others.

FatMax Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License Common Generic Software Generic software includes: Word processing Spreadsheets Database management Graphics DTP Presentation Web page authoring Web browsing

FatMax Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License Common Specialist Applications Common specialist applications include: Payroll School Administration Booking systems Stock control/warehousing Both generic and specialist applications can be bought bespoke or off-the-shelf

FatMax Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License Bespoke (Custom) Software Advantages: Meets purpose exactly Small hard disk footprint compared to off-the-shelf Specialist Backup Source Code Disadvantages: More expensive than off-the shelf May have mistakes in code (untested) which will cost money to correct Not immediately available Very limited overall backup and support – no books, etc

FatMax Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License Off-the-Shelf Software Advantages: Usually cheaper than custom-written Already been tested Choice of brands Immediately available no time delay in implementing Support from a variety of sources: e.g. Internet sites, Books, etc. Disadvantages: Large Memory footprint Many features not required Not completely suited to purpose

FatMax Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License Integrated Package vs. Suite Software Suite Contain common productivity tools in ONE package Limited functionality Usually cheaper than integrated package Often “bundled” with new PCs Integrated Package Separate productivity applications that are bundled together and sold at a discount The applications are "integrated" i.e. have a common interface and can export/import data between apps

FatMax Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License Open Source vs. Proprietary Applies to all software Some software vendors / communities licence their software as open-source Anybody can develop the source code i.e. customise/improve the application Often but not always free

FatMax Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License Tasks/Research Use your textbook to make notes on the different ways of classifying software Complete the interactive revision diagram on “Classifying Software” Disclaimer: Some of the info in this presentation (slides 6 and 7) comes directly from a presentation by G. Milberry and is © G. Milberry (see the original here). If you choose to alter this presentation you MUST leave this copyright notice intact.