Software Application: Software may be applied in many situations for which a prespecified set of procedural steps has been defined.

The following software area indicate breadth of potential applications.

A) System Software: System Software is a collection of program written to service other program.

e.g compilers, editors and file management utilies. Operating system components,drivers,telecom processors.

B )Real Time Software: Program that monitor/analyza/control real world events as they occur are called real time software. Elements of real-time software including a data gathering component that collect & formats information from an external enviornment, an analysis component that transforms information as required by the application, a component that coordinates all other component so that real time response can be maintained.

C) Business Software: Business information processing is the largest single software application area. Discrete "System" (e.g payroll,account,inventory etc) have evolved into management information system software that access one or more large databases containing business informations.

D) Engineering and Scientific Software: Enginerring and scientific software has been characterised by number cruching algorithms.

e.g Computer-Aided Design,Computer- Aided manufacturing, System simulations etc.

E) Embedded Software: Intelligent product have become commonplace in really every consumer and industrial market. Embedded software engineering resides in read-only memory and is used to control products and systems for the consumer and industrial markets. Embadded software engineering can perform very limited and esoteric functions or provide significant function and control capability.

e.g : Fuel control dashboard displays, breking systems.

F) Personal Computer Software: The PC software market has burgeoned over past decade. Word processing spreadsheets, multimedia, games, database management etc. are only few hundreds of applications.

Characteristics of a software:

1) Software is a loginal rather than a physical system elements. therefore, its  charecteristics  deffers from those of hardwares.

2) Software is a develop or engineer, it is not manufacture in the classical sence.

3) Software does not "wear'out".

4) Most software is custom build ( i.e as per requirement of users/ industry), rather then being assembled from existing component.