program
    n 1: a series of steps to be carried out or goals to be
         accomplished; "they drew up a six-step plan"; "they
         discussed plans for a new bond issue" [syn: plan,
         program, programme]
    2: a system of projects or services intended to meet a public
       need; "he proposed an elaborate program of public works";
       "working mothers rely on the day care program" [syn:
       program, programme]
    3: a radio or television show; "did you see his program last
       night?" [syn: broadcast, program, programme]
    4: a document stating the aims and principles of a political
       party; "their candidate simply ignored the party platform";
       "they won the election even though they offered no positive
       program" [syn: platform, political platform, political
       program, program]
    5: an announcement of the events that will occur as part of a
       theatrical or sporting event; "you can't tell the players
       without a program" [syn: program, programme]
    6: an integrated course of academic studies; "he was admitted to
       a new program at the university" [syn: course of study,
       program, programme, curriculum, syllabus]
    7: (computer science) a sequence of instructions that a computer
       can interpret and execute; "the program required several
       hundred lines of code" [syn: program, programme,
       computer program, computer programme]
    8: a performance (or series of performances) at a public
       presentation; "the program lasted more than two hours" [syn:
       program, programme]
    v 1: arrange a program of or for; "program the 80th birthday
         party" [syn: program, programme]
    2: write a computer program [syn: program, programme]

computer program \computer program\ n.
   a sequence of instructions, stored in any medium, that can be
   interpreted and executed by a computer; -- called most
   frequently a program. This term is used both for the
   written program (a document) and for its corresponding
   electronic version stored or executed on the computer. See
   instruction; as, Version 1.0 of the program had a serious
   bug that caused the computer to crash frequently..

   Syn: program, program, computer programme.
        [WordNet 1.5 +PJC]

Program \Pro"gram\, n.
   Same as Programme.
   [1913 Webster]

program
 n.

    1. A magic spell cast over a computer allowing it to turn one's input into
    error messages.

    2. An exercise in experimental epistemology.

    3. A form of art, ostensibly intended for the instruction of computers,
    which is nevertheless almost inevitably a failure if other programmers
    can't understand it.

software
computer program
program

    (Or "computer program", "program", "code") The
   instructions executed by a computer, as opposed to the
   physical device on which they run (the "hardware").

   The term was coined by the eminent statistician, John Tukey.

   Programs stored on non-volatile storage built from
   integrated circuits (e.g. ROM or PROM) are usually
   called firmware.

   Software can be split into two main types - system software
   and application software or application programs.  System
   software is any software required to support the production or
   execution of application programs but which is not specific to
   any particular application.  Examples of system software would
   include the operating system, compilers, editors and
   sorting programs.

   Examples of application programs would include an accounts
   package or a CAD program.  Other broad classes of
   application software include real-time software, business
   software, scientific and engineering software, embedded
   software, personal computer software and artificial
   intelligence software.

   Software includes both source code written by humans and
   executable machine code produced by assemblers or
   compilers.  It does not usually include the data processed
   by programs unless this is in a format such as multimedia
   which depends on the use of computers for its presentation.
   This distinction becomes unclear in cases such as spread
   sheets which can contain both instructions (formulae and
   macros) and data.  There are also various intermediate
   compiled or semi-compiled, forms of software such as
   library files and byte-code.

   Some claim that documentation (both paper and electronic) is
   also software.  Others go further and define software to be
   programs plus documentation though this does not correspond
   with common usage.

   The noun "program" describes a single, complete and
   more-or-less self-contained list of instructions, often stored
   in a single file, whereas "code" and "software" are
   uncountable nouns describing some number of instructions which
   may constitute one or more programs or part thereof.  Most
   programs, however, rely heavily on various kinds of operating
   system software for their execution.  The nounds "code" and
   "software" both refer to the same thing but "code" tends to
   suggest an interest in the implementation details whereas
   "software" is more of a user's term.

   (2002-07-21)