Informatics Practices · Ch 1 — Computer System
Application Software
Application Software
System software makes the computer operational — but an operational computer is not yet a useful one for any particular person. Different users need the machine for different purposes: one wants to edit photographs, another to browse the web, a third to maintain school records. Serving these varied requirements calls for a separate category of software that works on top of the system software: application software.
Application software is the specific software written to cater to the requirements of end users. It divides into two broad categories: general purpose software and customised software.
(A) General Purpose Software
Application software developed for generic applications, aimed at a bigger audience in general, is called general purpose software. It is ready-made: an end user simply takes it and uses it as per their own requirements, with no development effort of their own. For example, the spreadsheet tool LibreOffice Calc can be used by any computer user to do calculations or to create an account sheet — the same single product serves a student, a shopkeeper and an accountant alike. Other examples in this category are Adobe Photoshop, GIMP, the Mozilla web browser and iTunes.
(B) Customised Software
Customised software is the opposite approach: custom or tailor-made application software developed to meet the requirements of a specific organisation or an individual. Because it is designed against special requirements, it fits the needs of that individual or organisation better than any ready-made product could. Examples of such user-defined software include websites, school management software and accounting software built for a particular firm.
The book offers a homely comparison: getting customised software is like buying a piece of cloth of a specific colour and fabric and getting it stitched exactly as desired — rather than buying a ready-made garment off the shelf, which is what general purpose software amounts to.