[computer-science] What are the differences between a program and an application?

What are the differences between a program and an application?

I am trying to understand this to form a concept in ontology. Can anyone explain?

A "program" can be as simple as a "set of instructions" to implement a logic.

It can be part of an "application", "component", "service" or another "program".

Application is a possibly a collection of coordinating program instances to solve a user's purpose.

Without more information about the question, the terms 'program' and 'application' are nearly synonymous.

As Saif has indicated, 'application' tends to be used more for non-system related programs. That being said, I don't think it's wrong to describe the operating system as an special application that provides an environment in which to run other applications.

i guess you mean System Programs and Application programs

System Programs makes the hardware run , Applications are for specific tasks

an Example for System Programs are Device Drivers

as for the Applications you can say web browsers , word porcessros etc

My understanding is this:

• A computer program is a set of instructions that can be executed on a computer.
• An application is software that directly helps a user perform tasks.
• The two intersect, but are not synonymous. A program with a user-interface is an application, but many programs are not applications.

When I studied IT in college my prof. made it simple for me:

"A computer "program" and an "application" (a.k.a. 'app') are one-in-the-same. The only difference is a technical one. While both are the same, an 'application' is a computer program launched and dependent upon an operating system to execute."

Got it right on the exam.

So when you click on a word processor, for example, it is an application, as is that hidden file that runs the printer spooler launched only by the OS. The two programs depend on the OS, whereby the OS itself or your internal BIOS programming are not 'apps' in the technical sense as they communicate directly with the computer hardware itself.

Unless the definition has changed in the past few years, commercial entities like Microsoft and Apple are not using the terms properly, preferring sexy marketing by making the term 'apps' seem like something popular market and 'new', because a "computer program" sounds too 'nerdy'. :(

I use the term program to include applications (apps), utilities and even operating systems like windows, linux and mac OS. We kinda need an overall term for all the different terms available. It might be wrong but works for me. :)