Page 15 - DCAP305_PRINCIPLES_OF_SOFTWARE_ENGINEERING

Unit 1: Introduction to Software Engineering

1.5.2 Real Time Software Notes
This software is used to monitor, control and analyze real world proceedings as they occur.
An example may be software required for weather forecasting. Such software will gather and
process the position of temperature, humidity and other environmental parameters to forecast
the weather.

1.5.3 Embedded Software
This type of software is located in “Read-Only-Memory (ROM)”of the product and controls the
various functions of the product. The product could be an aircraft, automobile, security system,
signalling system, control unit of power plants, etc. The entrenched software handles hardware
components and is also termed as intelligent software.
1.5.4 Business Software

This is the largest application area. The software designed to procedure business applications is
called business software. Business software could be payroll, file monitoring system, employee
management, and account management. It may also be a data warehousing tool which helps
us to take decisions based on obtainable data. Management information system, enterprise
resource planning (ERP) and such other software are accepted examples of business software.
1.5.5 Personal Computer Software

The software used in personal computers is roofed in this category. Examples are word processors,
computer graphics, multimedia and animating, Business software, Embedded software, Real time
software, System software, Engineering and technical software, Web based software Artificial
intelligence software, Personal computer software tools, database management, computer games
etc. This is a very upcoming area and many large organizations are concentrating their attempt
here due to great customer base.
1.5.6 Artificial Intelligence Software

Artificial Intelligence software makes use of no numerical algorithms to resolve multifaceted
problems that are not amenable to computation or straight forward analysis [PRESOI]. Examples
are expert systems, artificial neural network, signal processing software etc.

1.5.7 Web Based Software
The software connected to web applications comes under this category. Examples are CGI,
HTML, Java, Perl, DHTML etc.
1.5.8 Engineering and Scientific Software

Technical and engineering application software is grouped in this category. Enormous computing
is usually required to process data. Examples are CAD/CAM package, SPSS, MATLAB,
Engineering Pro, Circuit analyzers etc. The expectations from software are increasing in modern
civilization. Software of any of the above groups has a specialized role to play. Customers and
development organizations desire more features which may not be always possible to provide.
Another trend has emerged to provide source code to the customers and organizations so that
they can make modifications for their needs. This trend is particularly visible in infrastructure
software like data bases, operating systems, compilers etc. Software where source codes are
available, are known as open source. Organizations can develop software applications around
such source codes. Some of the examples of “open source software” are LINUX, MySQL, PHP,
open office, Apache web server etc. Open source software has risen to great prominence. We
may say that these are the programs whose licenses give users the freedom to run the program
for any purpose, to study and modify the program, and to redistribute copies of either the
original or modified program without paying royalties to original developers. Whether open

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