Hardware and software — Computing, 7–10 years
Learn the difference between the parts of a computer you can touch and the instructions that make them work.
What are hardware and software?
Hardware is the computer’s physical equipment: the screen, keyboard, speakers and chips. Software is the set of instructions and information that tells this equipment what to do, such as a game or a drawing app. They work as a team.
Why do we separate them?
People needed a way to talk about two different kinds of change. You can replace a keyboard without rewriting a game, and you can update a game without changing the screen. The words help us ask whether a problem is in the equipment or in the instructions.
A drawing app
You tap a drawing app and choose a red brush. The touchscreen detects your finger, the processor follows the app’s instructions, and the screen shows a red line. The screen, touch sensor and processor are hardware; the app’s instructions are software.
The common mix-up
A common mistake is calling everything on a screen “the computer”. That feels reasonable because hardware and software act together so quickly that they seem like one thing. Try asking: can I touch it, or is it an instruction or piece of information?
Finding a fault
This difference helps when a device stops working. If the screen is cracked, the hardware may be damaged; if one app freezes while others work, its software may have a problem. Technicians use this first question to choose what to test or replace.
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