Software and hardware work together thanks to the cooperation of your operating system and central processing unit. Your operating system acts as an interface between you and your CPU which is the brains of your computer. It allows you to deliver instructions to various devices on your computer using things like your keyboard and mouse. Show
Without the cooperation of software and hardware, your computer would essentially be a large paperweight. The hardware is typically what we interact with but it’s the software that is the driving force behind how we use our devices. The stylish and simplistic interface of Apple or the open and customizable Android UI would be nothing if our hardware and software did not work together. To explain how software and hardware interact I’ll first define what they are and then dive into how they work together. I’ve seen this answered before and all of the answers become too abstract and use strange examples. Let’s try and avoid that and not start writing 1s and 0s to illustrate my point. Table of Contents hide 1 What is computer software? 2 What is computer hardware? 3 How do software and hardware work together? 4 What lets the hardware and software work together? 4.1 The relationship between software and hardware 4.2 Related posts: What is computer software?Software is just a cluster of instructions that tell a computer how to function. We can generally split software up into three categories:
The majority of your software is kept on your hard drive except for when your computer first starts and your system software which is booted on RAM. People get too technical with their definitions of software. At a basic level software is just the apps you use on your devices. RELATED Why is HTML called markup language? What is computer hardware?Computer hardware is the parts of your computer that carry out the instructions created by the software. Hardware is the physical parts of a computer and includes the motherboard, CPU, webcam, monitor, and even game controllers. The hardware is the nut and bolts of your device, the physical product. There are a few main types of hardware devices that include:
As a user, you only tend to interact with the input and output devices with the other devices being controlled by the CPU behind the scenes. RELATED Are network cards worth it? 5 things you must consider How do software and hardware work together?
Hardware and software are able to work together because of your operating system and CPU. Your operating system acts as an interpreter between you and the central processing unit which is the brain of your computer. It abstracts away instructions so that you don’t have to continually write code to use your hardware devices. When you start your computer the operating system is first loaded onto the RAM, which is a storage device, and then executed. From there the rest of the operating system is then booted and your device springs to life. Your CPU is the brains of your computer. It is in charge of sending and receiving instructions to other parts of the system and creates the instructions that other devices interpret and use to function. Without your CPU there is no functioning link between your hardware and software. Your CPU:
As users we don’t manage the CPU directly, we use our operating system to do this. When we launch Word, our operating system tells the CPU we need an application received from storage. When we play a song our operating system informs the CPU that our speakers need to emit sound. Information generally flows from users towards the CPU. For example, we move the mouse or type on the keyboard in a Word document it is sent as instructions via your operating system to the processor. Your application software (Word) corresponds with your system software (Windows or macOS) which then communicates with your hardware (CPU). From here, the processor can talk directly with other pieces of hardware using traces on the motherboard. Essentially every operating system is just a layer of abstraction on top of the CPU so that we can tell a computer what to do. There are more elements to it but this is a simplistic way of looking at things. RELATED Why are programmers single? 5 reasons they struggle to find a partner What lets the hardware and software work together?It is your computer’s operating system coupled with the central processing unit that allows your hardware and software to work together. The processor is the brain of the computer and without it controlling hardware would be impossible. Similarly, without system and application software, you wouldn’t be able to run any apps on your device. Without the operating system to act as an intermediary between you and your processor, you would have to directly run everything through the command line. Changing settings on your hardware would be significantly more difficult without your OS to help. Likewise, it is your CPU that is in charge of creating and distributing the necessary instructions that let you use your input and output devices. The relationship between software and hardwareSoftware and hardware are intimately linked. In the context of a computer, one doesn’t exist without the other. Having hardware without any software would be like a car without wheels and an engine. The physical device would be there but it would not be capable of doing anything. What type of software interact with the user?User interface - The features of a computer system which allows the user to interact with it. A user interface, also sometimes called a human-computer interface, comprises both hardware and software components. It handles the interaction between the user and the system.
How does the user interact with the software?The user interface (UI) is the point of human-computer interaction and communication in a device. This can include display screens, keyboards, a mouse and the appearance of a desktop. It is also the way through which a user interacts with an application or a website.
Does the user interact with application software?Users interact with application software while using specific applications. Application software needs system software to run.
Does the user ever interact with the operating system?In addition, users can interact directly with the operating system through a user interface, such as a command-line interface (CLI) or a graphical UI (GUI).
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