Introduction to Computer Systems
Review these notes. For maximum benefit, go through these notes interactively, thinking about and answering the questions at the bottom of each page. These notes are an experiment in applying the "programmed learning" method to web-based computer aided instruction. The subject is Java Programming for beginning programmers. The content is intended to start beginning programmers out on the track to professional-level programming and reinforce learning by providing abundant feedback. Java is a programming language that is used often in professional practice.
Hardware and Software
Answer:
A classic movie!
(You should make an effort to answer the question at the bottom of each page of these notes. Doing so will reinforce the concepts being discussed.)
Hardware and Software
In thinking about The Wizard of Oz, you are thinking about information, not about something physical. You would not usually think about the actual material used to store the information (movie film or a DVD) nor about the device which uses the information (a movie projector or a DVD player). A DVD is physical, but the movie itself is intangible information.
When you speak of a movie, you usually mean the intangible movie, not a particular device that has a record of it. (Although human language is wonderfully flexible; if you were in a video store and asked for "The Wizard of Oz" you would probably get the correct DVD.)
The word hardware is used for physical devices such as TV sets, DVD players and computers. The word software is used for the information used with such devices: movies, music, novels, web pages, computer programs, and data.
When talking about computer systems, hardware means the physical parts of the computer. Software means the programs and data used with the physical computer.
Question 2:
Imagine that you have a copy of the book Tom Sawyer. You tear it to pieces and push the shreds through your garbage disposal. (It was probably assigned reading.) Have you destroyed the novel Tom Sawyer?