Computer Program

Computer Program

Introduction

A computer program is developed by creating a set of instructions in a language that is understandable by the computer, a language also known as the machine language. Machine language or the machine code is a language that a computer understands. Machine language is system impartial instructions directly executed by the central processing unit of a computer (Dowker, D. 2010). Each instruction performs a specific set of tasks; this task could either be a jump operation, or a typical operation on a specified unit of data. Every computer program is made up off a series of instructions these instructions are also known as the atomic instructions (Roberts, E. 2008). Machines language entirely depends on the hardware of the computer (Monroe, M. 1997). A person who develops a computer program is know as a developer. There could be two purposes resulting in the development of program, to update the current software as it has become obsolete due to the continous advancement in the technology such as Micrsoft Office, or to develop a new software for making the life of the people easy such as home automation systems.

Discussion

A computer program also known as software and the development of software is carried out in a life cyclic process. There are few essential steps that are to be followed by a developer for the development of the software. It is immensely important to follow those steps for the development of perfect software for the computer. Following are the steps involved in the software development life cycle.

Planning

In the first step, of the life cycle the developer constructs a plan regarding the software that has to be developed. Every computer program is developed for some purpose. It is immensely important that the developers thoroughly understands the purpose of why this software is being developed, who will be the users of this software, and what are the requirements that the software should satisfy.

Requirements gathering

In the second step, the developer starts to gather all the essential things required for the development of the software. The developers try to understand the scope of the software that has to be developed. These things include the hardware requirements, the system requirements and the type of software that has to be developed. Once, this phase is complete the developer proceeds to the next stage (Leffingwell, D., & Widrig, D. (2003).

Designing

In this step, the main focus of the developer is on the software's architectural representation. The architectural representation of software is immensely important for the development of ideal software; it is the architectural representation that determines how successful the software is in satisfying the needs of users for whom the software is being developed.

Implementation

Once, the above three phases are complete then the programmer starts to work on the coding of the software. This work must be done with great concentration keeping in mind the steps that were discussed above the programmer starts the development of the software.

Prototype

In this phase, a prototype of the desired software is created, to find out that the development of the software is going according to the plan, along with the verification that the software works as it was supposed to, this operation is performed to find out the deficiencies that could be present in the software...