What is a computer program? The highlights!

Know throughout this excellent article,qwhat is a computer program? Ademore you will find out the details of the applications that are considered important and that you should have on your computer.

What is a computer program?

The computer program is defined as a set of lines of code that, through their interpretation by the operating system or hardware, allow a computer to carry out a specific action. These by means of the lines of codes are armed direct access in the computers so that these software or programs can work.

In the language of computing, programmers loaded these instructions directly into the hardware, through cards pre-designed to work for something specific, which fortunately changed thanks to the so-called programming languages.

In this way the programmer will not have problems with the darkest hardware processes such as memory addressing, data inputs or outputs and IRQ interrupt requests, among others.

Before being able to reach our computer software, a program must first be written in a programming language and then compiled to achieve a successful executable in which we can run more easily without having this technical knowledge.

This compilation process is absolutely necessary, since without it, the PC hardware could never interpret it, that is, execute it. The compilation process is basically a translation from a high-level programming language.

A source code, in the usual machine language, an intermediate code called bitecodes by means of text which can be interpreted by the hardware.

As a general rule, the user can only access the finished version of a software or computer program, that is, its executable.

But fortunately some movements such as Open Source also distribute the source code of the program so that all those who have enough knowledge can modify it and adapt it to their own needs.

How are computer programs or software divided?

There are basically two classes of computer software or programs, system software, which consist of a group of programs or applications that make a computer work.

Among which we can mention operating systems. These are essential for a computer to start, recognize the peripherals and internal hardware of the same.

In a second place we can locate all that software that performs a specific action in the system, and that are not so essential for the system to work. It is essential for computer users but not for operating systems, an example would be office applications.

10 essential computer programs

There are numerous applications and programs that are very important in daily life or frequently used, however for not everyone it is essential for a computer, not everyone considers an essential game when having a computer.

But if there are enough others necessary and in that this article will help you, we will recommend 10 programs or applications that we consider that everyone uses or should use and we will detail why ?; pay attention in case you don't have it installed, run to download it and don't waste time and get the most out of your computer.

avast Antivirus

Avast is one of the most popular antivirus programs on the market, completely free, Avast has always been one of the best solutions to put a barrier to threats to our security such as viruses, malware and spyware.

Although you may suddenly have one or another freemiun option which you will have to pay for, this antivirus is undoubtedly the most recommended to date, it will keep your computer active and clean and eliminate cache files that are not important.

WinRAR

Compactor and file extractor, is a legend of computing, and has a simple and intuitive interface. It is essential on any PC to carry heavy files and fully compress them into a lightweight file.

It can also be compressed in parts and when decompressing the file it is automatically joined by means of links from the compressed files, it is a marvel.

Google Chrome

The most suitable browser of all that you can find today without any doubt, it is developed by Google, really effective and totally reliable, it has all the characteristics and functionalities. In addition, everything related to you links you through your Google account, passwords, history, among others.

VLC

If you are a person who is used to watching videos and movies from your computer, you cannot miss the VLC player, or what is the same, the most famous multimedia player in the world.

You will be able to view modify, change the format of your videos or movies without losing the quality and you will be able to fully adjust to your convenience if it becomes in English, change the language or add subtitles. In addition, it allows you to raise the normal level x2.

Microsoft office

Microsoft Office is one of your best companions in life, both in the new adventure with your computer, and in life, since it is used on multiple occasions during the day. Very indispensable applications such as the word processor or the spreadsheet are used.

But it also has many others that can be very useful depending on how you use your computer: PowerPoint, Outlook, Access, Share Point or Microsoft Team, among others.

CCleaner

This software will be very helpful if you want to keep your computer safe and always optimized, CCLeaner is essential for you. Since it is a program whose main function is to clean cache files and disable programs, to end all those files that accumulate in Windows over time.

Fully optimize the operating system and each folder you have on your computer by displaying a range of options to choose from, so that the user has the power to decide on their files.

Skype or Whatsapp

It is a free application available on both computer and mobile devices capable of communicating in video calls from anywhere in the world and with multiple people at the same time, this type of application is used to talk with distant friends or family, work meetings, courses and even schools or universities.

Mega

It is a program capable of downloading at the user's whim tools that are hosted on this server and the user wishes to download, its modality is like the torrent modality, fast download without interference through an internet connection link and the application.

Google drive

It is a downloadable tool to keep things in the cloud. You can view and download your files very easily and make backup copies of them, choosing and connecting your account and the files to the root folder of the computer.

Spotify

It is an application to listen to music playlists that you choose yourself without downloading or advertising, with a direct routing to the company's servers so that it does not stick at any time between the songs. Always with the highest quality audio.

Replace the pendrive with the cloud

The pendrive has been for years the preferred method of transporting files for users, until the beloved internet and servers called "The cloud" appeared, and with it online storage services.

In this sense, the offer is immense, but that they offer, in addition to a good amount of space and security, applications with which to use the service from any platform and device are few. The best applications for online storage are Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive. And what is a Computer program also used is mega.

Free programs that cannot be missing from your computer

Nowadays many people do not like to work with free software or better called open source, it may be due to lack of knowledge or because they have not tried it yet, they distrust this software and decide to go for proprietary software, without knowing the great potential that they have these software internally.

Free software is one of the best ways to get well-developed and productive computer programs installed without paying a single penny for them, and they are often even better than other expensive, paid solutions.

At this point, for the free and free software experience to be the best, an excellent idea is to research and test until we find the piece of software that suits our needs; one of the charms of freeware is precisely the large number of programs available for us to download, try and choose.

Security Programs

At this point it is very important that our PC is well protected against viruses and other threats. Fortunately, there are many such solutions on the market in the form of renowned antivirus and antispyware such as Microsoft Windows Defender, Avast Antivirus and AVG AntiVirus Free Edition.

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Is it necessary to keep computer programs up to date?

In computers there are different computer programs, so what is a computer program is always mentioned, also if our computer comes with Windows as the operating system, surely one of the first tasks that we will have to face is the update of the operating system and update of applications and drivers.

The updates of our operating system we never have to let them pass, since they are totally important, we depend on them on new options or resources that improve our computer with the highest possible quality.

That is why the automatic updates system incorporated in most modern operating systems such as Linux, Windows or Mac distributions play such an important role in its performance, since they will allow us to always have a fast computer and with the lowest rate of possible faults.

Not only is it necessary to update the operating system automatically, but also many programs and applications can and must do the same to always remain in excellent operating condition.

There are many applications that are developed so that they connect daily to the servers of their developers, to check if there are updates for a better development and although it seems an important interference in the software, the truth is that in the long run it will provide us with new functionalities for our use.

Types of updates for computer programs

The most repetitive types of updates on a computer can be classified as add-ons, drivers, improvements or another that can improve its capacity, correct problems related to security and that may contain errors in its code so that it does not generate again.

The list with the types of software that we must try to keep always updated or we must take into account when considering an update in the system are the following:

• The operating system.
• Antivirus or other security software such as Firewalls or Antimalware programs.
• Drivers or device drivers.
• Version updates.

Updates to a computer program today

At present, most of the programs, if not all, incorporate some type of automatic update system, that is, they are capable of searching and downloading anything new from the developer company's servers by themselves, without any kind of intervention on our part.

One of the examples that most clearly exemplify how update systems work today are the automatic updates incorporated into Google Chrome, totally transparent to the user.

To such an extent that the user has practically no idea what version of the program he is using, in the event that this information was useful for something at this point in time.

The speed and the null participation of the user in the procedure of updates of this type of software allow that the developer company incorporates improvements and modifications to the code of the programs in a matter of seconds.

Which will be available to all users of the same almost instantly which provides great flexibility of work, since the fragmentation of the versions of a product is avoided, being able to enjoy the improvements to all users.

Should computer program updates be ignored?

Definitely the answer of a computer program is no, and although it seems that we have our own reasons for being able to ignore them, the truth is that we cannot always control what happens in our environment.

Since these programs obtain data from the network and from the root of the system, that is to say that if we consider that by not using the browser, for example, we are safe from it not being updated at any time, we are very wrong.

Updates are really very important, since they can have improvements or corrections to serious security or execution problems, and they can be the solution to many of the problems that we may have on our computer.

Therefore it is essential that our computer is always up to date, although it seems like a waste of time, system memory and slows down our daily activities a bit, they are a necessary complement to the routine of our applications.

In which cases can we skip updates?

In the only cases in which we should not review the update window and check which one is available is when it is already a certain age and works well.

Since there are updates that weigh too much for the system which can generate incompatibilities and even slowness in its operation, to give an example, if an application has a certain version and works well in Windows XP, when updating it to a more recent version, probably it may not work well under that old version of Windows.

The programs on computers are extremely important since our use of them depends on this, they make us spend time on the computer, make use of the multitasking of the Internet connection and even make use of multiple servers worldwide.

These are in charge of the fun and entertainment of the human being within these systematic boxes, a new one comes out every day, even if it is a modified one to give some use within the software or use some peripheral or hardware of daily use in the computer. All this allows us to understand what a computer program is.