Software and Hardware

Computer software can be described as a group of instructions which control the operations of a computer, and perform different tasks. This includes all computer programs, as well as the information processed by a computer. 🖥

Computer hardware, however, is the physical parts of a computer. For example, the keyboard ⌨️, the mouse 🖱, and the microphone 🎙. It includes input and output devices, storage devices, and internal components.

Just thinking about it, there really are numerous examples of both software and hardware. Any program on your device is software, and similarly, any physical part of your device is hardware. The parts of a computer can be categorised into one of software and hardware.

Computer software and computer hardware usually go together, and it is rare for either to work or be used without the other. However, some systems function with just hardware.

For example, at a very basic level: there is some code, which may be supported by the central processing unit. The hardware of a computer is mostly controlled by the software.

Computers nowadays follow the Von Neumann architecture, contained in a paper from 1945 by John Von Neumann. It is an architecture containing a processing unit (formed of registers and an arithmetic logic unit), a control unit (formed of another register and program counter), memory, and input and output systems.

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