What is the difference in a computer program and software?

How does a program differ from a software? Please give me an example of a program, and an example of a software so I can compare?

What is the difference in a computer program and software?
Computer software is a general term used to describe a collection of computer programs, procedures and documentation that perform some task on a computer system.


The term includes application software such as word processors which perform productive tasks for users, system software such as operating systems, which interface with hardware to provide the necessary services for application software, and middleware which controls and co-ordinates distributed systems.








Who cares who dares?
Reply:They are both the same.





A software is a program.
Reply:Software is the program on a removable data storage. A data storage can be a floppy disk, CD-ROM, mini Flash DRIVE, external hard drive and many many more.





The program is what is already installed onto the computer and is executable
Reply:a program is that such as c ,c++,,java etc...


a software is an internal part in which the program does work with eg..ms-dos.


so it differs.
Reply:The two terms are the same. By definition a computer program is software and software is a computer program. Hardware is the computer itself. You may have heard the term firmware. Firmware is kind of a "grey area" that is neither completely hardware or completely software. Think of firmware as a computer chip with some program already built into it. Hope that helps.
Reply:Computer Program:


An organized list of instructions that, when executed, causes the computer to behave in a predetermined manner. Without programs, computers are useless.


A program is like a recipe. It contains a list of ingredients (called variables) and a list of directions (called statements) that tell the computer what to do with the variables. The variables can represent numeric data, text, or graphical images.





There are many programming languages -- C, C++, Pascal, BASIC, FORTRAN, COBOL, and LISP are just a few. These are all high-level languages. One can also write programs in low-level languages called assembly languages, although this is more difficult. Low-level languages are closer to the language used by a computer, while high-level languages are closer to human languages.





Software:


Computer instructions or data. Anything that can be stored electronically is software. The storage devices and display devices are hardware.


The terms software and hardware are used as both nouns and adjectives. For example, you can say: "The problem lies in the software," meaning that there is a problem with the program or data, not with the computer itself. You can also say: "It's a software problem."





The distinction between software and hardware is sometimes confusing because they are so integrally linked. Clearly, when you purchase a program, you are buying software. But to buy the software, you need to buy the disk (hardware) on which the software is recorded.





Software is often divided into two categories:





systems software : Includes the operating system and all the utilities that enable the computer to function.


applications software : Includes programs that do real work for users. For example, word processors, spreadsheets, and database management systems fall under the category of applications software.