Hardware refers to the physical components of a computer. Computer Hardware is any part of the computer that we can touch these parts. These are the primary electronic devices used to build up the computer. Software is a collection of instructions, procedures, and documentation that performs different tasks on a computer system. we can say also Computer Software is a programming code executed on a computer processor.
Difference between hardware and software are stated below
| Parameters | Hardware | Software |
|---|---|---|
| Basic Definition | Hardware is a physical part of the computer that causes the processing of data. | Software is a set of instructions that tells a computer exactly what to do. |
| Development | It is manufactured. | It is developed and engineered. |
| Dependency | Hardware cannot perform any task without software. | The software can not be executed without hardware. |
| Process of creating | Electronic and other materials are used to create hardware. | Created by utilizing a computer language to write instructions. |
| Tangible | Hardware is tangible as hardware is a physical electronic device, that can be touched. | Software is intangible as we can see and also use the software but can’t touch them. |
| Durability | Hardware typically wears out over time. The software does not wear out with time. | However, it may contain flaws and glitches. |
| Types | It has four main categories: input devices, output devices, storage, and internal components. | It is mainly divided into System software and Application software. |
| Virus effect | Hardware is not affected by computer viruses. | Software is affected by computer viruses. |
| Transfer | It cannot be transferred from one place to another electrically through the network. | It can be transferred via a network means. |
| Machine-Level language | Only machine-level language is known to be understood by hardware. | The program accepts human-readable input, interprets it in machine-level language, and sends it to hardware for additional processing. |
| Replacement | If hardware is damaged, it is replaced with a new one. | If the software is damaged, its backup copy can be reinstalled. |
| Failures | Dust, overheating, dust, and other factors are commonly responsible for hardware failures. | Overloading, systematic error, major-minor version error, and other factors are commonly responsible for software failures. |
| Examples | Ex: Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor, Printer, CPU, Hard disk, RAM, ROM, etc. | Ex: MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Photoshop, MySQL, etc. |