Windows

Windows may refer to any of the following:

1. Microsoft Windows (also referred to as Windows or Win) is a graphical operating system developed and published by Microsoft. It provides a way to store files, run software, play games, watch videos, and connect to the Internet.

Microsoft Windows was first introduced with version 1.0 on November 10, 1983. Over a dozen versions of Windows were released after that, including the current version, Windows 10.

Editions of Windows

Starting with Windows XP, Microsoft has published various editions of Windows. Each of these Windows editions has the same core operating system, but some editions have additional features, at an additional cost.

The two most common editions of Windows for home computers are Windows Home and Windows Professional.

Windows Home

Windows Home (also called Win Home) is the basic edition of Windows. It provides all the fundamental functions of Windows, such as connecting to the Internet, browsing the web, watching videos, using office software, and playing video games. It is the least expensive edition of Windows, and it comes preinstalled on many new computers.

Windows Pro

Windows Professional (also called Windows Pro, or Win Pro) is an enhanced Windows edition, for power users, and small to medium sized businesses. It includes all the features of Windows Home, plus the following:

• Remote Desktop — allows you to remotely control another Windows computer connected to the Internet.
• Bitlocker — Microsoft’s integrated file encryption.
• Trusted Boot — provides encryption of the boot loader, protecting the computer against rootkits.
• Hyper-V — a Windows hypervisor for running virtual machines, equivalent to third-party software, such as VirtualBox.
• Windows Sandbox — provides a lightweight, sandboxed Windows 10 instance. You can use this isolated «Windows within Windows» environment to safely run suspicious or untrusted software. Windows Sandbox requires a Windows Insider build of Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise.
• Group policy management — Administrators can define group policies, for managing multiple Windows users in a business or organization.
• Support for more than 128 GB of RAM.
• Greater Windows Update installation options, including more flexible scheduling and postponement for up to 35 days.

Business editions

Windows Professional for Workstations and Windows Enterprise provide advanced features for professional studios and large businesses. For more information, refer to the side-by-side comparison in the official Microsoft Windows business edition comparison chart.

Why is Microsoft Windows called Windows?

Before the release of Microsoft Windows, Microsoft users were used to the single task command line operating system MS-DOS. Because Microsoft names most of its products with one word, it needed a word that best described its new GUI operating system. Microsoft chose «Windows» because of the multiple windows that allow different tasks and programs to run at the same time. Because you cannot trademark a common name like «Windows,» it’s officially known as «Microsoft Windows». The first version of Microsoft Windows was version 1.0, released in 1985.

Microsoft Windows help pages

Related pages

2. In general, a window is a fundamental part of a computer GUI (graphical user interface). A window is an area of the display containing a single running application. The window can be moved, resized, hidden, or maximized as desired by the user. The Microsoft Windows operating system is named after this UI element.

3. Regarding Unix-like operating systems, such as Linux or BSD, Windows may refer to the X Window System.

What is windows system programming

System Programming can be defined as the act of building Systems Software using System Programming Languages. According to Computer Hierarchy, one which comes at last is Hardware. Then it is Operating System, System Programs, and finally Application Programs. Program Development and Execution can be done conveniently in System Programs. Some of the System Programs are simply user interfaces, others are complex. It traditionally lies between the user interface and system calls.

So here, the user can only view up-to-the System Programs he can’t see System Calls.
System Programs can be divided into these categories :

1. File Management –
   A file is a collection of specific information stored in the memory of a computer system. File management is defined as the process of manipulating files in the computer system, its management includes the process of creating, modifying and deleting files.
   • It helps to create new files in the computer system and placing them at specific locations.
   • It helps in easily and quickly locating these files in the computer system.
   • It makes the process of sharing files among different users very easy and user-friendly.
   • It helps to store files in separate folders known as directories.
   • These directories help users to search files quickly or to manage files according to their types of uses.
   • It helps users to modify the data of files or to modify the name of files in directories.
2. Status Information –
   Information like date, time amount of available memory, or disk space is asked by some users. Others providing detailed performance, logging, and debugging information which is more complex. All this information is formatted and displayed on output devices or printed. Terminal or other output devices or files or a window of GUI is used for showing the output of programs.

File Modification –
For modifying the contents of files we use this. For Files stored on disks or other storage devices, we used different types of editors. For searching contents of files or perform transformations of files we use special commands.

Programming-Language support –
For common programming languages, we use Compilers, Assemblers, Debuggers, and interpreters which are already provided to users. It provides all support to users. We can run any programming language. All languages of importance are already provided.

Program Loading and Execution –
When the program is ready after Assembling and compilation, it must be loaded into memory for execution. A loader is part of an operating system that is responsible for loading programs and libraries. It is one of the essential stages for starting a program. Loaders, relocatable loaders, linkage editors, and Overlay loaders are provided by the system.

Communications –
Virtual connections among processes, users, and computer systems are provided by programs. Users can send messages to another user on their screen, User can send e-mail, browsing on web pages, remote login, the transformation of files from one user to another.

Some examples of system program in O.S. are –

• Windows 10
• Mac OS X
• Ubuntu
• Linux
• Unix
• Android
• Anti-virus
• Disk formatting
• Computer language translators

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what exactly is system programming?

I have never understood what system programming meant. The usual definition given is «. doing something close to the Os or extending Os features. «.

Does using Windows API directly rather than some libraries to say do file i/o make it system programming? Was writing Android OS system programming? If I write something that would expose linux kernel through a console like app on Android am I doing system programming? If I am writing software to control a washing machine am I writing system programming?

I am a beginner in programming and this is confusing me to no end. Please explain contrasting it with «application programming».

7 Answers 7

System programming (or systems programming) is the activity of programming system software. The primary distinguishing characteristic of systems programming when compared to application programming is that application programming aims to produce software which provides services to the user (e.g. word processor), whereas systems programming aims to produce software which provides services to the computer hardware (e.g. disk defragmenter). It requires a greater degree of hardware awareness.

There are several questions you can ask yourself to gain practice in deciding that question.

• Was the system originally sold without this program? Angry Birds may be a «Killer App» for a smart phone (the reason why someone buys it), but it is still a separate third-party app written long after the phone was introduced. Writing it would have been applications programing. But the display driver of the same smart phone is essential to using it at all, so it would have been systems programming.
• Can you imagine porting the code to another platform without largely rewriting it? TeX and troff have been ported to virtually any system with few changes, so they are applications, even though they are located towards the bottom of the tool chain that people typically use. The file system that TeX writes its output to, e.g. UFS or VFAT, is a borderline case. You could port a file system to a different OS if it was totally awesome, but usually people just take over awesome ideas and write their own file system for their own OS. That makes file systems system software.
• Is the functionality implemented in the kernel or in separate binaries? (File systems occupy a middle ground here as well. many parts of many file systems are in fact kernel code, but many have substantial parts in user-space.) Graphics display drivers can in principle be pluggable external components, but they are often implemented in the kernel or at least with privileged direct access to the kernel (or even to the hardware). That would be systems programing. On the other hand, computer games that use the graphics display stack are applications.

To your questions, writing the Android OS was definitely systems programming. Writing a program that uses Windows API calls is application programming. It is not as portable as if would be if you used cross-platform libraries such as SDL or OpenGL, but it can in principle be ported, it is third-party-code, and it runs in user space. A console app that exposes the state of the Linux kernel is an interesting thought experiment. I would definitely say it involves systems programing, since you’d have to know a lot about the structure of Linux (note that «Linux» is properly only the kernel, not the distribution) to write, and probably even to use it!

System Programming

Table of Contents

What Does System Programming Mean?

System programming involves designing and writing computer programs that allow the computer hardware to interface with the programmer and the user, leading to the effective execution of application software on the computer system. Typical system programs include the operating system and firmware, programming tools such as compilers, assemblers, I/O routines, interpreters, scheduler, loaders and linkers as well as the runtime libraries of the computer programming languages.

Techopedia Explains System Programming

System programming is an essential and important foundation in any computer’s application development, and always evolving to accommodate changes in the computer hardware. This kind of programming requires some level of hardware knowledge and is machine dependent; the system programmer must therefore know the intended hardware on which the software is required to operate.

Additionally, the programmer may make some assumptions on the hardware and other system components. The software is usually written in a low-level programming language which is able to operate efficiently in a resource-constrained environment, and with little runtime overhead using a small library, or none at all. The low-level language enables direct control over memory access and allows the program to be written directly in an assembly language. The majority of programs are written using assembly languages such as C, C++ and C#.

System programming leads to the development of computer system software that manages and controls the computer operations. The low-level codes are very close to the hardware level and deal with things such as registers and memory allocations. The system programs or system software coordinates data transfer across the various components and deals with the compiling, linking, starting and stopping of programs, reading from files as well as writing to files.

The system programming enhances or extends the functions of an operating system and may comprise components such as drivers, utilities and updates. They enable efficient management of hardware resources such as memory, file access, I/O operations, device management and process management such as process administration and multi-tasking. An example is an operating system, which usually acts as the interface between the user, the application software, and computer hardware. The OS provides an environment that enables users to execute other programs efficiently. Comprising of a set of system programs, the operating system functions include storage management, file handling, memory management, CPU and device scheduling and management, error handling, process control and more.

What is Computer Programming?

I never planned to work in tech; after studying journalism, I was all set for a career as a foreign correspondent for a print newspaper. Sadly, I graduated at the peak of the economic crisis, and the severe decline in print media.

So, after shedding a few tears, I landed a job at a publishing company that specializes in B2B tech. At the time, it was trying to establish a strong online news presence and needed a journalist with basic computer programming skills. While I didn’t know how to code at the time, I gladly stepped up to the plate. I adored learning and loved problem-solving, so computer programming seemed like the perfect fit.

The first thing I had to do was work out exactly what computer programming involved, and how I was going to teach myself how to code. After many hours of research, and help from friends and family in the industry, I finally started to get enough of a handle on it to be able to explain it to other newbies. So here I am, ready to share my newfound knowledge with fellow learners!

What is computer programming?

Computer programming is a way of giving computers instructions about what they should do next. These instructions are known as code, and computer programmers write code to solve problems or perform a task.

The end goal is to create something: that could mean anything from a web page, or a piece of software, or even just a pretty picture. That’s why computer programming is often described as a mix between art and science; it’s technical and analytical, yet creative at the same time.

When I first started looking for courses to teach myself how to code, I realized just how much I didn’t know. My brothers work as programmers, so I’d seen the lines and lines of symbols and letters they wrote, but I had no idea what they all meant. I didn’t even know how what I saw on my screen when I was carrying out simple tasks such as shopping online or browsing social media related to these mystical languages.

I researched the subject thoroughly, but most of the articles I read were full of technical jargon that I didn’t understand. In what is a pretty common problem in the B2B tech world, I couldn’t find anything that explained it clearly and simply.

The definition above is my attempt—as a journalist first and techie second—at explaining exactly what it is, as simply as possible.

Coding versus programming

When I was looking for resources to learn to code at an affordable price, I stumbled across Codecademy’s HTML course. When I told my techie friends what I was learning, they informed me that HTML is not considered a programming language. I had a poke around Stack Overflow to find out more, and I discovered that while some seasoned programmers consider it a programming language, others don’t.

Take this answer:

Any instruction that tells the computer to do something is a programming language.

No, HTML is not a programming language. The «M» stands for «Markup». Generally, a programming language allows you to describe some sort of process of doing something, whereas HTML is a way of adding context and structure to text.

In fact, Stackify doesn’t include either HTML or CSS in its list of most popular coding languages for 2017.

Image via Stackify.

This uncertainty brought me to the debate that continues to rage over the difference between coding and programming. One of the distinctions that is often made: coding is a lightweight version of programming. Programmers write serious code, but coders are often marketers, content creators (like myself), or graphic designers who dabble in a bit of HTML or CSS.

In reality, there is no real difference between the two terms!

What programming languages should I learn?

I’ve lived in both France and Spain, and part of the reason I decided to live in these countries, was because I already spoke the language in both places. If I achieve my dream of living in Italy, I know exactly which language I’ll learn to make it as easy as possible to integrate: Italian, obviously (or love and food, depending on your perspective).

Deciding which computer programming language to learn isn’t quite so straightforward; it all depends on what your goal is, what task you want to achieve, or what problem you need to solve.

Some of the most common languages include (we’re including the aforementioned HTML and CSS, despite the debate):

Some of these languages are easier and more desirable to learn than others, although that doesn’t make them any less useful. In fact, it may be more beneficial for your career to learn one of the “dreaded” computer programming languages, as you’ll be more in demand.

According to Stack Overflow’s data, the most disliked languages are Perl, Delphi, and VBA followed by PHP, Objective-C, CoffeeScript, and Ruby.

Image via Stack Overflow.

The most important question you need to ask yourself before starting to learn is:

Do you want to focus on how a website looks to users, or do you care more about how it works?

Those are two of the main distinctions between what are known as front-end and back-end computer programming languages.

What is front-end and back-end computer programming?

Front-end development involves working with code that produces the elements that users can see and interact with; it’s all about how a website looks and feels.

Back-end web developers make sure the website works as it should do, and the code they write is normally invisible to users. Back-end web developers work with databases that store information such as customer details, and servers which are where databases (virtually) live.

Both front-end and back-end computer programming jobs are creative in their own ways, but front-end developers often need to have a visual eye so they can judge what will work best for site users.

Basic examples of front-end development include that pretty-looking font on your favorite web page, or that slider on the homepage of a news site, or even the dropdown menu where you can choose your preferred option. Everything from the color scheme to the layout to the positioning to the typography is a front-end developer’s responsibility.

The three main languages front-end developers need to know are:

The below is an example of some basic HTML coding that has determined the positioning of an image, text bolding, and bullet points.

You might also hear about other elements, such as Bootstrap, AngularJS, and EmberJS, which control how content looks on different devices such as smartphones and tablets. A front-end developer often works with user experience and user interface specialists to make sure the way the website looks, feels, and works is best for users.

On the other hand, common back-end languages include:

Below is an example of some basic Python code that is telling the computer that I want it to print the phrases (or strings) “hello” and “Karen McCandless” (my name).

To get a better understanding of when you might interact with front-end or back-end code, think about when you’re making a purchase on Amazon. When you’re searching, filtering, and going through the process of buying a product, you’ll be interacting with a front-end developer’s work. But the smooth running of functionality such as recommendations, or when you enter your payment details, is the work of a back-end developer.

Some web developers know both front-end and back-end programming languages. They are normally referred to as full-stack developers.

Why should I take a course in computer programming?

If you’re worried about finding a job in this uncertain economy, then a technical role is a good bet, with eight of the top 25 jobs this year being tech positions.

Programmers (or coders) are often portrayed as a certain type of person: geeks (mostly male) who hide behind their glasses and are socially awkward, or spend most of their time home alone playing video games. Thankfully, we’ve moved past this outdated stereotype, and coding is becoming much more accessible (and useful) to a wide variety of different job roles.

Not only have companies and non-profits introduced initiatives to get a more diverse range of people into programming, but the number of resources available to learn to code has dramatically increased.

Codecademy (and especially the free HTML course) was my saviour when I needed to learn how to code fast, so I could run a leading online news website with minimal technical resources.

Aside from online journalists who need to know basic HTML at the very least, there are other, traditionally less “technical” professions that greatly benefit from computer programming skills.

Take marketers for example. If you want to build landing pages, it helps to know front-end development languages to ensure you know what is and isn’t possible, and to ensure you’re able to make changes with minimal input from an engineering team. Or if you work in any other role at a software company, you need to understand how your product was created and works, for which you’ll need to learn coding.

What’s next?

I hope that, by using my journalistic skills of explaining complex subjects in simple terms, you can now understand the basics of computer programming. It’s a really useful skill to have on your resume, no matter what kind of job you’re applying for, and at what level.

The jobs of the future will involve technical skills, and you need to get a headstart now to be prepared (although you shouldn’t neglect your “soft” skills for when the robots eventually take over).

If you’d like to learn the most useful computer programming (or coding!) skills, then check out the wide range of courses that are available on Codecademy Pro.