Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 4.19
Warehouse
and
storage
Production
Raw materials
Use of Integrated Supply Chain
Management Software
Inbound
logistics
Customer
service
Marketing and sales
Finished product
storage
Outbound
logistics
Integrated enterprise software to support supply chain management
and equipment, and enabling supply chain management. Even small businesses can benefit
from enterprise application software. Intuit's QuickBooks and Microsoft's Office Small
Business Accounting are accounting and recording-keeping programs for small businesses
and organizations.
Application Software for Information, Decision Support,
and Specialized Purposes
Specialized application software for information, decision support, and other purposes is
available in every industry. Genetic researchers, for example, are using software to visualize
and analyze the human genome. Music executives use decision support software to help pick
the next hit song. Sophisticated decision support software is also being used to increase the
cure rate for cancer by analyzing about 100 scans of a cancerous tumor to create a 3-D view
of the tumor. Software can then consider thousands of angles and doses of radiation to
determine the best program of radiation therapy. The software analysis takes only minutes,
but the results can save years or decades of life for the patient. As you will see in future
chapters, information, decision support, and specialized systems are used in businesses of all
sizes and types to increase profits or reduce costs. But how are all these systems actually
developed or built? The answer is through the use of programming languages, discussed next.
Both OSs and application software are written in coding schemes called
programming
languages
. The primary function of a programming language is to provide instructions to the
computer system so that it can perform a processing activity. IS professionals work with
programming languages
, which are sets of keywords, symbols, and rules for constructing
statements by which people can communicate instructions to be executed by a computer.
Programming involves translating what a user wants to accomplish into a code that the
computer can understand and execute.
Program code
is the set of instructions that signal the
CPU to perform circuit-switching operations. In the simplest coding schemes, a line of code
typically contains a single instruction such as, “Retrieve the data in memory address X.” As
discussed in Chapter 3, the instruction is then decoded during the instruction phase of the
programming languages
Sets of keywords, symbols, and a
system of rules for constructing
statements by which humans can
communicate instructions to be
executed by a computer.
