Difference between Software and Other Systems

Difference between Software and Other Systems

For example, how software is different from a car, a TV or the similar systems or what is the difference between software engineering and other engineering like mechanical or electrical engineering. Lets look at some of the non-software systems like TV, Car or an Electric Bulb. The car may be malfunctioned due to some problem in engine while driving. Similarly an electric bulb may be fused while glowing and a TV
could be dysfunctional while working.


So the major thing that distinguishes a software system from other systems is that;

“Software does not wear out!”

What does that mean?
As we have seen in above example that our non-software systems could be malfunctioned or crash while working. That mean they are affected by the phenomenon of wear and tear. They have a particular life and after that they could have some problem and may not behave and perform as expected. But this is not the case with software. Software systems does not affect by the phenomenon of wear and tear. If a software has any defect then that defect will be there from the very first day and that defect normally called bug. That
means if a software is not working then it should not work from the very first day. But this could not be the case that at a particular point in time a software is functioning well and after some time the same software is not performing the same task as required. So software does not have the element of wear and tear. Lets elaborate this point further. We have just talked about software defects which we call bugs. If a part of a car became wear out you just need to get a new one from market and replace the damages one with the
new one. And the car will start working properly as it was working previously. Similarly if an electric bulb got fused then you just need to get a new one and put into the socket in place of the fused one and your room will again be illuminated. But the case of software is somewhat different. If a software has a bug then the same process of replacing faulty part with the new one may not work. You cannot remove the bug by just replacing the faulty part of software with the new one. Or it will not be as simple that, you go to the
concerned company, get a new CD of that software and it will start working properly. If the software has a bug and that bug was present in the older CD then that will remain in the new one. This is a fundamental difference between software and other systems.