Application software
lastmod 2024-11-18created 2024-11-181 edits
Application software, or an application, refers to any software that runs on an operating system. So not only word processors, spreadsheets, and web browsers but also compilers and linkers belong to application software. In a narrower sense, it refers to the software that users use directly on top of the OS. In that case it mainly means software such as word processors, excluding system software such as compilers and linkers. With this narrower definition, application software can be thought of as the complement of system software. It is often shortened to application, or app for short.
To use an easy but not quite accurate analogy from the world of hardware, electric light would be the application program (application) and the power plant would be the system. A power plant produces electricity, but until it is used through an application such as a lamp, it does not by itself perform the function the user wants, such as giving off light.
Categories
- Korean: 모바일 웹 (Mobile Web) - Web built to fit mobile screens
- Korean: 웹 앱 (Web App/Web Application) - Similar to the mobile web, but made to look and run like an app
- Korean: 하이브리드 앱 (Hybrid App) - App developed by combining features of web apps and native apps
- Korean: 네이티브 앱 (Native App) - App developed in the native language optimized for mobile devices