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*a diagram showing how the ‘user’ interacts with ‘application software’ on a typical ‘desktop computer’*
*the ‘application software layer’ interfaces with the ‘operating system’, which in turn communicates with the ‘hardware’*
*the ‘arrows’ indicate ‘information flow’*
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-PROGRAMS-
*the ‘building blocks’*
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*FILE-PATHS*
“connecting the dots”
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___*TYPES*___
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-‘software’ is a ‘collection’ of [‘instructions’ / ‘data’] that tell a ‘computer’ how to ‘work’-
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This is in contrast to physical hardware, from which the system is built and actually performs the work.
In computer science and software engineering, computer software is all information processed by computer systems, including programs and data
Computer software includes computer programs, libraries and related non-executable data, such as online documentation or digital media
Computer hardware and software require each other and neither can be realistically used on its own
At the lowest programming level, executable code consists of machine language instructions supported by an individual processor—typically a central processing unit (CPU) or a graphics processing unit (GPU).
A ‘machine language’ consists of ‘groups’ of ‘binary values’ signifying ‘processor instructions’ that ‘change’ the ‘state’ of the ‘computer’ from its ‘preceding state’
For example, an instruction may change the value stored in a particular storage location in the computer—an effect that is not directly observable to the user.
An instruction may also invoke one of many input or output operations,
for example displaying some text on a computer screen;
causing state changes which should be visible to the user.
The processor executes the instructions in the order they are provided, unless it is instructed to “jump” to a different instruction, or is interrupted by the operating system.
As of 2015, most personal computers, smartphone devices and servers have processors with multiple execution units or multiple processors performing computation together, and computing has become a much more concurrent activity than in the past.
The majority of software is written in high-level programming languages.
They are easier and more efficient for programmers because they are closer to natural languages than machine languages
High-level languages are translated into machine language using a compiler or an interpreter or a combination of the two
Software may also be written in a low-level assembly language, which has strong correspondence to the computer’s machine language instructions and is translated into machine language using an assembler.
History
An outline (algorithm) for what would have been the first piece of software was written by Ada Lovelace in the 19th century, for the planned Analytical Engine.[2] She created proofs to show how the engine would calculate Bernoulli Numbers.[2] Because of the proofs and the algorithm, she is considered the first computer programmer.[3][4]
The first theory about software—prior to the creation of computers as we know them today—was proposed by Alan Turing in his 1935 essay, On Computable Numbers, with an Application to the Entscheidungsproblem (decision problem).
This eventually led to the creation of the academic fields of computer science and software engineering; Both fields study software and its creation. Computer science is the theoretical study of computer and software (Turing’s essay is an example of computer science), whereas software engineering is the application of engineering and development of software.
However, prior to 1946, software was not yet the programs stored in the memory of stored-program digital computers, as we now understand it. The first electronic computing devices were instead rewired in order to “reprogram” them.
In 2000, Fred Shapiro, a librarian at the Yale Law School, published a letter revealing that John Wilder Tukey’s 1958 paper “The Teaching of Concrete Mathematics”[5][6] contained the earliest known usage of the term “software” found in a search of JSTOR’s electronic archives, predating the OED’s citation by two years.[7] This led many to credit Tukey with coining the term, particularly in obituaries published that same year,[8] although Tukey never claimed credit for any such coinage. In 1995, Paul Niquette claimed he had originally coined the term in October 1953, although he could not find any documents supporting his claim.[9] The earliest known publication of the term “software” in an engineering context was in August 1953 by Richard R. Carhart, in a Rand Corporation Research Memorandum.[10]
Types
On virtually all computer platforms, software can be grouped into a few broad categories.
Purpose, or domain of use
Based on the goal, computer software can be divided into:
Application software
which is software that uses the computer system to perform special functions or provide entertainment functions beyond the basic operation of the computer itself. There are many different types of application software, because the range of tasks that can be performed with a modern computer is so large—see list of software.
System software
which is software for managing computer hardware behaviour, as to provide basic functionalities that are required by users, or for other software to run properly, if at all. System software is also designed for providing a platform for running application software,[11] and it includes the following:
Operating systems
which are essential collections of software that manage resources and provide common services for other software that runs “on top” of them. Supervisory programs, boot loaders, shells and window systems are core parts of operating systems. In practice, an operating system comes bundled with additional software (including application software) so that a user can potentially do some work with a computer that only has one operating system.
Device drivers
which operate or control a particular type of device that is attached to a computer. Each device needs at least one corresponding device driver; because a computer typically has at minimum at least one input device and at least one output device, a computer typically needs more than one device driver.
Utilities
which are computer programs designed to assist users in the maintenance and care of their computers.
Malicious software or malware
which is software that is developed to harm and disrupt computers. As such, malware is undesirable. Malware is closely associated with computer-related crimes, though some malicious programs may have been designed as practical jokes.
Nature or domain of execution
Desktop applications such as web browsers and Microsoft Office, as well as smartphone and tablet applications (called “apps”). (There is a push in some parts of the software industry to merge desktop applications with mobile apps, to some extent. Windows 8, and later Ubuntu Touch, tried to allow the same style of application user interface to be used on desktops, laptops and mobiles.)
JavaScript scripts are pieces of software traditionally embedded in web pages that are run directly inside the web browser when a web page is loaded without the need for a web browser plugin. Software written in other programming languages can also be run within the web browser if the software is either translated into JavaScript, or if a web browser plugin that supports that language is installed; the most common example of the latter is ActionScript scripts, which are supported by the Adobe Flash plugin.
Server software, including:
Web applications, which usually run on the web server and output dynamically generated web pages to web browsers, using e.g. PHP, Java, ASP.NET, or even JavaScript that runs on the server. In modern times these commonly include some JavaScript to be run in the web browser as well, in which case they typically run partly on the server, partly in the web browser.
Plugins and extensions are software that extends or modifies the functionality of another piece of software, and require that software be used in order to function;
Embedded software resides as firmware within embedded systems, devices dedicated to a single use or a few uses such as cars and televisions (although some embedded devices such as wireless chipsets can themselves be part of an ordinary, non-embedded computer system such as a PC or smartphone).[12] In the embedded system context there is sometimes no clear distinction between the system software and the application software. However, some embedded systems run embedded operating systems, and these systems do retain the distinction between system software and application software (although typically there will only be one, fixed application which is always run).
Microcode is a special, relatively obscure type of embedded software which tells the processor itself how to execute machine code, so it is actually a lower level than machine code. It is typically proprietary to the processor manufacturer, and any necessary correctional microcode software updates are supplied by them to users (which is much cheaper than shipping replacement processor hardware). Thus an ordinary programmer would not expect to ever have to deal with it.
Programming tools
Programming tools are also software in the form of programs or applications that software developers (also known as programmers, coders, hackers or software engineers) use to create, debug, maintain (i.e. improve or fix), or otherwise support software.
Software is written in one or more programming languages; there are many programming languages in existence, and each has at least one implementation, each of which consists of its own set of programming tools. These tools may be relatively self-contained programs such as compilers, debuggers, interpreters, linkers, and text editors, that can be combined together to accomplish a task; or they may form an integrated development environment (IDE), which combines much or all of the functionality of such self-contained tools. IDEs may do this by either invoking the relevant individual tools or by re-implementing their functionality in a new way. An IDE can make it easier to do specific tasks, such as searching in files in a particular project. Many programming language implementations provide the option of using both individual tools or an IDE.
Topics
Architecture
Users often see things differently from programmers. People who use modern general purpose computers (as opposed to embedded systems, analog computers and supercomputers) usually see three layers of software performing a variety of tasks: platform, application, and user software.
Platform software
The Platform includes the firmware, device drivers, an operating system, and typically a graphical user interface which, in total, allow a user to interact with the computer and its peripherals (associated equipment). Platform software often comes bundled with the computer. On a PC one will usually have the ability to change the platform software.
Application software
Application software or Applications are what most people think of when they think of software. Typical examples include office suites and video games. Application software is often purchased separately from computer hardware. Sometimes applications are bundled with the computer, but that does not change the fact that they run as independent applications. Applications are usually independent programs from the operating system, though they are often tailored for specific platforms. Most users think of compilers, databases, and other “system software” as applications.
User-written software
End-user development tailors systems to meet users’ specific needs. User software includes spreadsheet templates and word processor templates. Even email filters are a kind of user software. Users create this software themselves and often overlook how important it is. Depending on how competently the user-written software has been integrated into default application packages, many users may not be aware of the distinction between the original packages, and what has been added by co-workers.
Execution
Computer software has to be “loaded” into the computer’s storage (such as the hard drive or memory). Once the software has loaded, the computer is able to execute the software. This involves passing instructions from the application software, through the system software, to the hardware which ultimately receives the instruction as machine code. Each instruction causes the computer to carry out an operation—moving data, carrying out a computation, or altering the control flow of instructions.
Data movement is typically from one place in memory to another. Sometimes it involves moving data between memory and registers which enable high-speed data access in the CPU. Moving data, especially large amounts of it, can be costly. So, this is sometimes avoided by using “pointers” to data instead. Computations include simple operations such as incrementing the value of a variable data element. More complex computations may involve many operations and data elements together.
Quality and reliability
Software quality is very important, especially for commercial and system software like Microsoft Office, Microsoft Windows and Linux.
If software is faulty (buggy), it can delete a person’s work, crash the computer and do other unexpected things.
Faults and errors are called “bugs” which are often discovered during alpha and beta testing.
Software is often also a victim to what is known as software aging, the progressive performance degradation resulting from a combination of unseen bugs.
Many bugs are discovered and eliminated (debugged) through software testing. However, software testing rarely—if ever—eliminates every bug; some programmers say that “every program has at least one more bug” (Lubarsky’s Law).[13] In the waterfall method of software development, separate testing teams are typically employed, but in newer approaches, collectively termed agile software development, developers often do all their own testing, and demonstrate the software to users/clients regularly to obtain feedback. Software can be tested through unit testing, regression testing and other methods, which are done manually, or most commonly, automatically, since the amount of code to be tested can be quite large. For instance, NASA has extremely rigorous software testing procedures for many operating systems and communication functions. Many NASA-based operations interact and identify each other through command programs. This enables many people who work at NASA to check and evaluate functional systems overall. Programs containing command software enable hardware engineering and system operations to function much easier together.
License
The software’s license gives the user the right to use the software in the licensed environment, and in the case of free software licenses, also grants other rights such as the right to make copies.
Proprietary software can be divided into two types:
freeware, which includes the category of “free trial” software or “freemium” software (in the past, the term shareware was often used for free trial/freemium software). As the name suggests, freeware can be used for free, although in the case of free trials or freemium software, this is sometimes only true for a limited period of time or with limited functionality.
software available for a fee, often inaccurately termed “commercial software”, which can only be legally used on purchase of a license.
Open-source software, on the other hand, comes with a free software license, granting the recipient the rights to modify and redistribute the software.
Patents
Software patents, like other types of patents, are theoretically supposed to give an inventor an exclusive, time-limited license for a detailed idea (e.g. an algorithm) on how to implement a piece of software, or a component of a piece of software. Ideas for useful things that software could do, and user requirements, are not supposed to be patentable, and concrete implementations (i.e. the actual software packages implementing the patent) are not supposed to be patentable either—the latter are already covered by copyright, generally automatically. So software patents are supposed to cover the middle area, between requirements and concrete implementation. In some countries, a requirement for the claimed invention to have an effect on the physical world may also be part of the requirements for a software patent to be held valid—although since all useful software has effects on the physical world, this requirement may be open to debate. Meanwhile, American copyright law was applied to various aspects of the writing of the software code.[14]
Software patents are controversial in the software industry with many people holding different views about them. One of the sources of controversy is that the aforementioned split between initial ideas and patent does not seem to be honored in practice by patent lawyers—for example the patent for Aspect-Oriented Programming (AOP), which purported to claim rights over any programming tool implementing the idea of AOP, howsoever implemented. Another source of controversy is the effect on innovation, with many distinguished experts and companies arguing that software is such a fast-moving field that software patents merely create vast additional litigation costs and risks, and actually retard innovation. In the case of debates about software patents outside the United States, the argument has been made that large American corporations and patent lawyers are likely to be the primary beneficiaries of allowing or continue to allow software patents.
Design and implementation
Design and implementation of software varies depending on the complexity of the software. For instance, the design and creation of Microsoft Word took much more time than designing and developing Microsoft Notepad because the latter has much more basic functionality.
Software is usually designed and created (aka coded/written/programmed) in integrated development environments (IDE) like Eclipse, IntelliJ and Microsoft Visual Studio that can simplify the process and compile the software (if applicable). As noted in a different section, software is usually created on top of existing software and the application programming interface (API) that the underlying software provides like GTK+, JavaBeans or Swing. Libraries (APIs) can be categorized by their purpose. For instance, the Spring Framework is used for implementing enterprise applications, the Windows Forms library is used for designing graphical user interface (GUI) applications like Microsoft Word, and Windows Communication Foundation is used for designing web services. When a program is designed, it relies upon the API. For instance, a Microsoft Windows desktop application might call API functions in the .NET Windows Forms library like Form1.Close() and Form1.Show()[15] to close or open the application. Without these APIs, the programmer needs to write these functionalities entirely themselves. Companies like Oracle and Microsoft provide their own APIs so that many applications are written using their software libraries that usually have numerous APIs in them.
Data structures such as hash tables, arrays, and binary trees, and algorithms such as quicksort, can be useful for creating software.
Computer software has special economic characteristics that make its design, creation, and distribution different from most other economic goods.[specify][16][17]
A person who creates software is called a programmer, software engineer or software developer, terms that all have a similar meaning. More informal terms for programmer also exist such as “coder” and “hacker” – although use of the latter word may cause confusion, because it is more often used to mean someone who illegally breaks into computer systems.
Industry and organizations
A great variety of software companies and programmers in the world comprise a software industry. Software can be quite a profitable industry: Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft was the richest person in the world in 2009, largely due to his ownership of a significant number of shares in Microsoft, the company responsible for Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office software products – both market leaders in their respective product categories.
Non-profit software organizations include the Free Software Foundation, GNU Project and the Mozilla Foundation. Software standard organizations like the W3C, IETF develop recommended software standards such as XML, HTTP and HTML, so that software can interoperate through these standards.
Other well-known large software companies include Google, IBM, TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCL Technologies, Oracle, Novell, SAP, Symantec, Adobe Systems, Sidetrade and Corel, while small companies often provide innovation.
See also
Software release life cycle
Independent software vendor
Outline of software
Software asset management
Open-source software
References
^ “Compiler construction”. Archived from the original on 2 November 2013.
^ Jump up to: a b Evans 2018, p. 21.
^ Fuegi, J.; Francis, J. (2003). “Lovelace & Babbage and the creation of the 1843 ‘notes'” (PDF). Annals of the History of Computing. 25 (4): 16–26. doi:10.1109/MAHC.2003.1253887. S2CID 40077111. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 February 2020.
^ “Ada Lovelace honoured by Google doodle”. The Guardian. 10 December 2012. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
^ Tukey, John Wilder (January 1958). “The Teaching of Concrete Mathematics”. American Mathematical Monthly. Taylor & Francis, Ltd. / Mathematical Association of America. 65 (1): 1–9, 2. doi:10.2307/2310294. ISSN 0002-9890. JSTOR 2310294. CODEN AMMYAE. […] Today the “software” comprising the carefully planned interpretive routines, compilers, and other aspects of automative programming are at least as important to the modern electronic calculator as its “hardware” of tubes, transistors, wires, tapes, and the like. […]
^ Beebe, Nelson H. F. (22 August 2017). “Chapter I – Integer arithmetic”. The Mathematical-Function Computation Handbook – Programming Using the MathCW Portable Software Library (1 ed.). Salt Lake City, UT, USA: Springer International Publishing AG. pp. 969, 1035. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-64110-2. ISBN 978-3-319-64109-6. LCCN 2017947446. S2CID 30244721.
^ Shapiro, Fred (2000). “Origin of the Term Software: Evidence from the JSTOR Electronic Journal Archive” (PDF). IEEE Annals of the History of Computing. 22 (2): 69–71. doi:10.1109/mahc.2000.887997. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 June 2003. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
^ Leonhardt, David (28 July 2000). “John Tukey, 85, Statistician; Coined the Word ‘Software'”. The New York Times. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
^ Niquette, R. Paul (2006), Softword: Provenance for the Word ‘Software, ISBN 1-58922-233-4, archived from the original on 8 August 2019, retrieved 18 August 2019
^ Carhart, Richard (1953). A survey of the current status of the electronic reliability problem (PDF). Santa Monica, CA: Rand Corporation. p. 69. […] It will be recalled from Sec. 1.6 that the term personnel was defined to include people who come into direct contact with the hardware, from production to field use, i.e., people who assemble, inspect, pack, ship, handle, install, operate, and maintain electronic equipment. In any of these phases personnel failures may result in unoperational gear. As with the hardware factors, there is almost no quantitative data concerning these software or human factors in reliability: How many faults are caused by personnel, why they occur, and what can be done to remove the errors. […]
^ “System Software”. The University of Mississippi. Archived from the original on 30 May 2001.
^ “Embedded Software—Technologies and Trends”. IEEE Computer Society. May–June 2009. Archived from the original on 28 October 2013. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
^ “scripting intelligence book examples”. 9 May 2018. Archived from the original on 6 November 2015.
^ Gerardo Con Díaz, “The Text in the Machine: American Copyright Law and the Many Natures of Software, 1974–1978,” Technology and Culture 57 (October 2016), 753–79.
^ “MSDN Library”. Archived from the original on 11 June 2010. Retrieved 14 June 2010.
^ v. Engelhardt, Sebastian (2008). “The Economic Properties of Software”. Jena Economic Research Papers. 2 (2008–045). Archived from the original on 5 January 2016.
^ Kaminsky, Dan (1999). “Why Open Source Is The Optimum Economic Paradigm for Software”. Archived from the original on 22 May 2012.
Sources
Evans, Claire L. (2018). Broad Band: The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the Internet. New York: Portfolio/Penguin. ISBN 9780735211759.
External links
Software at Curlie
en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Software
Software
Contributors to Wikimedia projects23-29 minutes
10/18/2001
DOI: 10.1109/mahc.2003.1253887,
Show Details
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*SOFTWARE RELEASE LIFE CYCLE*
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A software release life cycle is the sum of the stages of development and maturity for a piece of ‘computer software’
Cycles range from its initial development to its eventual release, and include updated versions of the released version to help improve software or fix software bugs still present in the software.
Computer users are most likely to be familiar with the beta phase, as software products are sometimes publicly advertised as being beta in order to reduce users’ expectations of their reliability
History[edit]
Usage of the “alpha/beta” test terminology originated at IBM. Similar terminologies for IBM’s software development were used by people involved with IBM from at least the 1950s (and probably earlier). “A” test was the verification of a new product before the public announcement. “B” test was the verification before releasing the product to be manufactured. “C” test was the final test before the general availability of the product. As software became a significant part of IBM’s offerings, the alpha test terminology was used to denote the pre-announcement test and the beta test was used to show product readiness for general availability. Martin Belsky, a manager on some of IBM’s earlier software projects claimed to have invented the terminology. IBM dropped the alpha/beta terminology during the 1960s, but by then it had received fairly wide notice. The usage of “beta test” to refer to testing done by customers was not done in IBM. Rather, IBM used the term “field test”.
Stages of development[edit]
Pre-alpha[edit]
Pre-alpha refers to all activities performed during the software project before formal testing. These activities can include requirements analysis, software design, software development, and unit testing. In typical open source development, there are several types of pre-alpha versions. Milestone versions include specific sets of functions and are released as soon as the feature is complete.
Alpha[edit]
The alpha phase of the release life cycle is the first phase of software testing (alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet, used as the number 1). In this phase, developers generally test the software using white-box techniques. Additional validation is then performed using black-box or gray-box techniques, by another testing team. Moving to black-box testing inside the organization is known as alpha release.[2][better source needed]
Alpha software is not thoroughly tested by the developer before it is released to customers. Alpha software may contain serious errors, and any resulting instability could cause crashes or data loss.[3] Alpha software may not contain all of the features that are planned for the final version.[4] In general, external availability of alpha software is uncommon in proprietary software, while open source software often has publicly available alpha versions. The alpha phase usually ends with a feature freeze, indicating that no more features will be added to the software. At this time, the software is said to be feature complete. A beta test is carried out following acceptance testing at the supplier’s site (alpha test) and immediately prior to general release of the software as a product.[5]
Beta[edit]
Beta, named after the second letter of the Greek alphabet, is the software development phase following alpha. Software in the beta stage is also known as betaware.[6] A beta phase generally begins when the software is feature complete but likely to contain a number of known or unknown bugs.[7] Software in the beta phase will generally have many more bugs in it than completed software and speed or performance issues, and may still cause crashes or data loss. The focus of beta testing is reducing impacts to users, often incorporating usability testing. The process of delivering a beta version to the users is called beta release and is typically the first time that the software is available outside of the organization that developed it. Software beta releases can be either public or private, depending on whether they are openly available or only available to a limited audience. Beta version software is often useful for demonstrations and previews within an organization and to prospective customers. Some developers refer to this stage as a preview, preview release, prototype, technical preview or technology preview (TP),[8] or early access. Since the introduction of Windows 8, Microsoft has called pre-release software a preview rather than beta. All pre-release builds released through the Windows Insider Program launched in 2014 are termed “Insider Preview builds”.
“Beta” may also indicate something more like a release candidate, or as a form of time-limited demo, or marketing technique.[9]
Beta testers are people who actively report issues of beta software. They are usually customers or representatives of prospective customers of the organization that develops the software. Beta testers tend to volunteer their services free of charge but often receive versions of the product they test, discounts on the release version, or other incentives.[citation needed]
Perpetual beta[edit]
Some software is kept in so-called perpetual beta, where new features are continually added to the software without establishing a final “stable” release. As the Internet has facilitated rapid and inexpensive distribution of software, companies have begun to take a looser approach to use of the word beta.[10] In February 2005, ZDNet published an article about the phenomenon of a beta version often staying for years and being used as if it were in production level.[11] It noted that Gmail and Google News, for example, had been in beta for a long time although widely used; Google News left beta in January 2006, followed by Google Apps (now named Google Workspace), including Gmail, in July 2009.[12]
Open and closed beta[edit]
Developers may release either a closed beta, also called private beta, or an open beta, also called public beta; closed beta versions are released to a restricted group of individuals for a user test by invitation, while open beta testers are from a larger group, or anyone interested. Private beta could be suitable for the software that is capable of delivering value, but is not ready to be used by everyone either due to scaling issues, lack of documentation or still missing vital features. The testers report any bugs that they find, and sometimes suggest additional features they think should be available in the final version.
Examples of a major public beta:
Early customers purchased a “pioneer edition” of the WordVision word processor for the IBM PC for $49.95. In 1984, Stephen Manes wrote that “in a brilliant marketing coup, Bruce and James Program Publishers managed to get people to pay for the privilege of testing the product.”[13]
In September 2000 a boxed version of Apple’s Mac OS X Public Beta operating system was released.[14]
Microsoft’s release of community technology previews (CTPs) for Windows Vista, between September 2005 and May 2006.[15]
From 2009 to 2011, Minecraft was in public beta.
Open betas serve the dual purpose of demonstrating a product to potential consumers, and testing among a wide user base likely to bring to light obscure errors that a much smaller testing team might not find.[citation needed]
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Release candidate
A release candidate (RC), also known as “going silver”, is a beta version with potential to be a stable product, which is ready to release unless significant bugs emerge.
In this stage of product stabilization, all product features have been designed, coded and tested through one or more beta cycles with no known showstopper-class bugs. A release is called code complete when the development team agrees that no entirely new source code will be added to this release. There could still be source code changes to fix defects, changes to documentation and data files, and peripheral code for test cases or utilities.
Beta testers, if privately selected, will often be credited for using the release candidate as though it were a finished product.
Beta testing is conducted in a client’s or customer’s location and to test the software from a user’s perspective
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Stable release
Also called production release, the stable release is the last release candidate (RC) which has passed all verifications / tests.
The remaining bugs are considered as acceptable. This release goes to production. Some domains (for example, Linux distributions), have two types of stable releases: normal, or stable releases and long-term support (LTS) releases which are maintained for a longer period of time.
Release[edit]
Once released, the software is generally known as a “stable release”. The formal term often depends on the method of release: physical media, online release or a web application.
Release to manufacturing (RTM)[edit]
The term release to manufacturing (RTM), also known as “going gold”, is a term used when a software product is ready to be delivered. This build may be digitally signed, allowing the end user to verify the integrity and authenticity of the software purchase. A copy of the RTM build known as the “gold master” or GM[16][17] is sent for mass duplication or disc replication if applicable. This terminology is taken from the audio record making industry, specifically the process of mastering. RTM precedes general availability (GA) when the product is released to the public. A golden master build (GM) is typically the final build of a piece of software in the beta stages for developers. Typically, for iOS, it is the final build before a major release, however, there have been a few exceptions.
It is typically used in certain retail mass-production software contexts—as opposed to a specialized software production or project in a commercial or government production and distribution—where the software is sold as part of a bundle in a related computer hardware sale and typically where the software and related hardware is ultimately to be available and sold on mass/public basis at retail stores to indicate that the software has met a defined quality level and is ready for mass retail distribution. RTM could also mean in other contexts that the software has been delivered or released to a client or customer for installation or distribution to the related hardware end user computers or machines. The term does not define the delivery mechanism or volume; it only states that the quality is sufficient for mass distribution. The deliverable from the engineering organization is frequently in the form of a golden master media used for duplication or to produce the image for the web.
General availability (GA)[edit]
General availability (GA) is the marketing stage at which all necessary commercialization activities have been completed and a software product is available for purchase, depending, however, on language, region, electronic vs. media availability.[18] Commercialization activities could include security and compliance tests, as well as localization and worldwide availability. The time between RTM and GA can be from a week to months in some cases before a generally available release can be declared because of the time needed to complete all commercialization activities required by GA. At this stage, the software has “gone live”.
Release to the Web (RTW)[edit]
Release to the Web (RTW) or Web release is a means of software delivery that utilizes the Internet for distribution. No physical media are produced in this type of release mechanism by the manufacturer.
Web releases are becoming more common as Internet usage grows.
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Support
During its supported lifetime, software is sometimes subjected to service releases, patches or service packs, sometimes also called “interim releases” or “maintenance release” (MR)
For example, Microsoft released three major service packs for the 32-bit editions of Windows XP and two service packs for the 64-bit editions. Such service releases contain a collection of updates, fixes, and enhancements, delivered in the form of a single installable package. They may also implement new features. Some software is released with the expectation of regular support. Classes of software that generally involve protracted support as the norm include anti-virus suites and massively multiplayer online games. Continuing with this Windows XP example, Microsoft did offer paid updates for five more years after the end of extended support. This means that support ended April 8, 2019.
End-of-life [edit]
When software is no longer sold or supported, the product is said to have reached end-of-life, to be discontinued, retired, deprecated, abandoned, or obsolete, but user loyalty may continue its existence for some time, even long after its platform is obsolete—e.g., the Atari ST and Sinclair ZX Spectrum.
After the end-of-life date, the developer will usually not implement any new features, fix existing defects, bugs or vulnerabilities (whether known before that date or not) or provide any support for the product. If the developer wishes, they may release the source code, so the platform will live again, and be maintained by volunteers
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See also
Application retirement
Merge window
Release automation
Release engineering
Release management
Rolling release
Software deployment
Software versioning
Lifecycle management
References[edit]
^ “Why Google kept Gmail in “beta” for so many years”. 2009-07-07.
^ “Encyclopedia definition of alpha version”. PC Magazine. Archived from the original on 2011-04-27. Retrieved 2011-01-12.
^ Ince, Darrel, ed. (2013). “Alpha software”. A Dictionary of the Internet (3 ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191744150. Retrieved 2019-07-15.
^ “The Next Generation 1996 Lexicon A to Z”. Next Generation. No. 15. Imagine Media. March 1996. p. 29. Alpha software generally barely runs and is missing major features like gameplay and complete levels.
^ A Dictionary of Computer Science (7th ed.). Oxford University Press. 2016. p. 44. ISBN 9780199688975.
^ “Definition of betaware in the Free Online Encyclopedia”. thefreedictionary.com. Retrieved 2015-04-06.
^ “The Next Generation 1996 Lexicon A to Z”. Next Generation. No. 15. Imagine Media. March 1996. p. 30.
^ “Technology Preview Features Support Scope”. Red Hat. Retrieved 2015-03-18.
^ The inconvenient truths behind betas Archived 2011-04-30 at the Wayback Machine
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Bibliography[edit]
Continuous Delivery: Reliable Software Releases through Build, Test, and Deployment Automation by Jez Humble, David Farley; ISBN 0-321-60191-2
en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Software_release_life_cycle
Software release life cycle
Contributors to Wikimedia projects15-19 minutes 5/3/2003
An example of a basic software release life cycle
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