Graphical User Interface (GUI)
A graphical user interface (GUI) is a human-computer interface (i.e., a way for humans to interact with computers) that uses windows, icons and menus and which can be manipulated by a mouse (and often to a limited extent by a keyboard as well). GUIs stand in sharp contrast to command line interfaces (CLIs), which use only text and are accessed solely by a keyboard. Example is Linux when it is used in console mode (i.e., the entire screen shows text only). An icon is a small picture or symbol in a GUI that represents a program (or command), a file, a directory or a device (such as a hard disk or floppy). Icons are used both on the desktop and within application programs.Commands are issued in the GUI by using a mouse, trackball or touchpad to first move a pointer on the screen to, or on top of, the icon, menu item or window of interest in order to select that object.
Word Processor
A word processor (more formally known as document preparation system) is a computer application used for the production (including composition, editing, formatting, and possibly printing) of any sort of printable material. Word processor may also refer to a type of stand-alone office machine, popular in the 1970s and 1980s, combining the keyboard text-entry and printing functions of an electric typewriter with a dedicated processor (like a computer processor) for the editing of text. Later models introduced innovations such as spell-cheacking programs, increased formatting options, and dot-matrix printing. As the more versatile combination of a personal computer and separate printer became common place, most business-machine companies stopped manufacturing the word processor as a stand-alone office machine. Microsoft Word is the most widely used word processing software.
Spreadsheet
A spreadsheet is a computer application that simulates a paper, accounting worksheet. It displays multiple cells usually in a two-dimensional matrix or grid consisting of rows and columns. Spreadsheets are frequently used for financial information because of their ability to re-calculate the entire sheet automatically after a change to a single cell is made. Visicalc is usually considered the first electronic spreadsheet (although this has been challenged), and it helped turn the Apple 2 computer into a success and greatly assisted in their widespread application.
DBMS
A Database Management System (DBMS) is a set of computer programs that controls the creation, maintenance, and the use of a database. It allows organizations to place control of database development in the hands of database asministrators (DBAs) and other specialists. A DBMS is a system software package that helps the use of integrated collection of data records and files known as databases. It allows different user application programs to easily access the same database. Instead of having to write computer programs to extract information, user can ask simple questions in a query language. Thus, many DBMS packages provide Forth-generation programming language (4GLs) and other application development features. It helps to specify the logical organization for a database and access and use the information within a database. A DBMS also provides the ability to logically present database information to users.
Utility Suites
Utility software is a kind of system software designed to help analyze, configure, optimize and maintain the computer. A single piece of utility software is usually called a utility (abbr. util) or tool.
Utility software should be contrasted with application software, which allows users to do things like creating text documents, playing games, listening to music or surfing the web. Most utilities are highly specialized and designed to perform only a single task or a small range of tasks. However, there are also some utility suites that combine several features in one piece of software.
Audio Editing Software
Audio Editing should include play, record, cut, copy, paste and so on; this rating goes beyond the basic editing tools to include tools such as equalizers, processors, mixers, preset effects, filters as well as analyzing tools like the waveform or spectrogram.
Bitmap Image
In computer graphics, a bitmap or pixmap is a type of memory organization or image file format used to store digital images. The term bitmap comes from the computer programming terminology, meaning just a map of bits, a spatially mapped array of bits. Now, along with pixmap, it commonly refers to the similar concept of a spatially mapped array of pixels. Similarly, most other image file formats, such as JPEG, TIFF, PNG, and GIF, also store bitmap images (as opposed to vector graphics), but they are not usually referred to as bitmaps, since they use compressed formats internally.
Desktop Publishing Program
Desktop publishing (also known as DTP) combines a personal computer page layout software to create publication documents on a computer for either large scale publiching or small scale local multifunction peripheral output and distribution.The term "desktop publishing" is commonly used to describe page layout skills.
HTML Editor
An HTML editor is a software application for creating web pages. Although the HTML markup of a web page can be written with any text editor, specialized HTML editors can offer convenience and added functionality. For example, many HTML editors work not only with HTML, but also with related technologies such as CSS, XML and JavaScript or ECMAScript.
Image Editor
Image editing encompasses the processes of altering images, whether they be digital photographs, traditional analog photographs, or illustrations. Traditional analog image editing is known as photo retouching, using tools such as an airbrush to modify photographs, or editing illustrations with any traditional art medium. Many image editing programs are also used to render or create computer art from scratch.
Multimedia
Multimedia can combines many types of media in one presentation. For example, a presentation can be an animation, music, graphic and text all in one program. Most multimedia used to listen to music as their entertament or even combine music and graphic together to make things more interesting.
Vector Image
Vector graphics is the use of geometrical primitives such as points, lines, curves, and shapes or polygon, which are all based on mathematical equations, to represent images in computer graphics.
Vector graphics formats are complementary to raster graphics, which is the representation of images as an array of pixels, as is typically used for the representation of photographic images. An understanding of the advantages and limitations of each technology and the relationship between them is most likely to result in efficient and effective use of tools.
Web Authoring
A category of software that enables the user to develop a website in a desktop publishing format. The software will generate the required HTML coding for the layout of the Web pages based on what the user designs. Typically, the user can toggle back and forth between the graphical design and the HTML code and make changes to the Web page in either the design of the accompanying code.
Chapter 9
12 years ago
