Computer instructions or data. Anything that can be stored electronically is Software. The storagedevices and display devices are hardware.
The terms software and hardware
are used as both nouns and adjectives. For example, you can say: "The
problem lies in the software," meaning that there is a problem with the
program or data, not with the computer itself. You can also say: "It's
a software problem."
The
distinction between software and hardware is sometimes confusing
because they are so integrally linked. Clearly, when you purchase a
program, you are buying software. But to buy the software, you need to
buy the disk (hardware) on which the software is recorded.
