What are the differences between a program and an application?

computer-science terminology
waterlilies picture waterlilies · Dec 13, 2010 · Viewed 105.9k times · Source

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?

Answer

Andy Thomas picture Andy Thomas · Dec 13, 2010

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.

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