1. Student Activity - Evolution of Software Applications
Evolution of Sofware Applicatons
Before the advent of the personal computer, hardware and software were intimately linked.
Software applications were written for large military or business organisations.
The hardware and software were purchased together as a total solution.
This is still the case with large business systems.
Personal computers altered the connection between hardware and software purchases.
In this section, we examine the origin of some common groups of software and the effect of their evolution on the design features present in today’s software.
We shall examine the origin of the following influential software areas whose evolution has had a profound impact on the design of software products we use today:
Command line and Graphical User Interface (GUI)
Internet Applications
Email,
Web browsers,
search engines and
social networking applications
Spreadsheets and presentation software
A Brief History of Computers and Programming
Student Activity
Introductory notes
In your Social & Ethical Issues Software Design Folder -
Create a new document called Evolution of Software Applications.
Under this heading write up some notes on how the following have evolved:
Command Line vs Graphical User Interface
Explain the differences and how one transformed to the other
Internet Applications
Email
Search Engines
Web browsers
Social Networking applications
Business Applications
VisiCalc
Presentation software
Use the notes below to help compile some notes on these topics
Student Activity 2
Try out the following Trial HSC Exam Questions to see what is involved. You will not necessarily know the answer up front.... research the answers using your Text Book and the Internet.
