types:
alpha software
a first release of a software product that is usually tested only by the developers
authoring language
software that can be used to develop interactive computer programs without the technically demanding task of computer programming
beta software
software that has not yet been released but has received an alpha test and still has more bugs than a regular release
compatible software
application software programs that share common conventions so they can be utilized together
CAD,
computer-aided design
software used in art and architecture and engineering and manufacturing to assist in precision drawing
freeware
software that is provided without charge
groupware
software that can be used by a group of people who are working on the same information but may be distributed in space
OS,
operating system
(computer science) software that controls the execution of computer programs and may provide various services
shareware
software that is available free of charge; may be distributed for evaluation with a fee requested for additional features or a manual etc.
shrink-wrapped software
software on CD-ROMs that are boxed and shrink-wrapped and sold in stores (implying a widely supported standard platform)
spyware
computer software that obtains information from a user's computer without the user's knowledge or consent
supervisory software
specialized programs that reside permanently in the computer's main memory and control the processing of user's programs
upgrade
software that provides better performance than an earlier version did
anti-virus program
a computer program that checks a computer for viruses and prevents their spread
binary,
binary program
a pre-compiled, pre-linked program that is ready to run under a given operating system; a binary for one operating system will not run on a different operating system
loop
a computer program that performs a series of instructions repeatedly until some specified condition is satisfied
patch
a short set of commands to correct a bug in a computer program
checking program
a program that examines other computer programs for syntax errors
compiler,
compiling program
(computer science) a program that decodes instructions written in a higher order language and produces an assembly language program
debugger
a program that helps in locating and correcting programming errors
interface,
user interface
(computer science) a program that controls a display for the user (usually on a computer monitor) and that allows the user to interact with the system
job control
a program that is called to prepare each job to be run
source program
a program written in a language from which statements are translated into machine language
parser
a computer program that divides code up into functional components
tagger,
tagging program
a computer program that attaches labels to the grammatical constituents of textual matter
relocatable program
a program that can be located in different parts of memory at different times
search engine
a computer program that retrieves documents or files or data from a database or from a computer network (especially from the internet)
spider,
wanderer
a computer program that prowls the internet looking for publicly accessible resources that can be added to a database; the database can then be searched with a search engine
spreadsheet
a screen-oriented interactive program enabling a user to lay out financial data on the screen
stored program
a program that is stored in the memory of the computer that executes it
text-matching
a computer program that looks for text that matches a given text
Windows
(trademark) an operating system with a graphical user interface
cataloged procedure
a set of control statements that have been placed in a library and can be retrieved by name
contingency procedure
an alternative to the normal procedure; triggered if an unusual but anticipated situation arises
tracing routine
a routine that provides a chronological record of the execution of a computer program