What is the difference between software and tool?
software | tool |
(computing) Encoded computer instructions, usually modifiable (unless stored in some form of unalterable memory such as ROM). Compare hardware.
* 1958 , John W. Tukey, "The Teaching of Concrete Mathematics" in The American Mathematical Monthly , vol. 65, no. 1 (Jan. 1958), pp 1-9:
* 1995 , Paul Niquette, Softword: Provenance for the Word ‘Software’ :
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(senseid)A mechanical device intended to make a task easier.
Equipment used in a profession, e.g., tools of the trade.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2012-03, author=
, volume=100, issue=2, page=106, magazine=(American Scientist)
, title= Something to perform an operation; an instrument; a means.
* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author=
, magazine=(American Scientist), title= (computing) A piece of software used to develop software or hardware, or to perform low-level operations.
A person or group which is used or controlled, usually unwittingly, by another person or group.
(slang) Penis.
(by extension, slang, pejorative) An obnoxious or uptight person.
To work on or shape with tools, e.g., hand-tooled leather .
To equip with tools.
To work very hard.
(slang) To put down another person (possibly in a subtle, hidden way), and in that way to use him or her to meet a goal.
(volleyball) To intentionally attack the ball so that it deflects off a blocker out of bounds.
(transitive, UK, slang, dated) To drive (a coach, etc.)
1000 English basic words
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In computing terms the difference between software and tool
is that software is encoded computer instructions, usually modifiable (unless stored in some form of unalterable memory such as ROM). Compare hardware while tool is a piece of software used to develop software or hardware, or to perform low-level operations.As a verb tool is
to work on or shape with tools, e.g., hand-tooled leather.software
English
Noun
(-)- The "software " comprising the carefully planned interpretive routines, compilers, and other aspects of automative programming are at least as important to the modern electronic calculator as its "hardware" of tubes, transistors, wires, tapes and the like.
- As originally conceived, the word "software " was merely an obvious way to distinguish a program from the computer itself. A program comprised sequences of changeable instructions each having the power to command the behavior of the permanently crafted machinery, the "hardware."
Usage notes
Software'' is a mass noun (''some software'', ''a piece of software''). By non-native speakers it is sometimes erroneously treated as a countable noun (''a software'', ''some softwares ).Hyponyms
* See alsoDerived terms
* * * * * * * *See also
* application * assembly * assembler * bug * code * coding * compilation * compiler * debugging * interpreter * linking * linker * open source * patch * programming * script * utilities * warezReferences
tool
English
(wikipedia tool)Noun
(en noun)Pixels or Perish, passage=Drawings and pictures are more than mere ornaments in scientific discourse. Blackboard sketches, geological maps, diagrams of molecular structure, astronomical photographs, MRI images, the many varieties of statistical charts and graphs: These pictorial devices are indispensable tools for presenting evidence, for explaining a theory, for telling a story.}}
Catherine Clabby
Focus on Everything, passage=Not long ago, it was difficult to produce photographs of tiny creatures with every part in focus.
Synonyms
* See also * See alsoDerived terms
* toolbar * toolbox * toolchain * tool chest * tooling * toolkit * toolless * toollike * toolmaker * toolsetVerb
(en verb)- Dude, he's not your friend. He's just tooling you.