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Computing platform

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Short description: Environment in which a piece of software is executed

A computing platform, digital platform,[1] or software platform is an environment in which software is executed. It may be the hardware or the operating system (OS), a web browser and associated application programming interfaces, or other underlying software, as long as the program code is executed using the services provided by the platform. Computing platforms have different abstraction levels, including a computer architecture, an OS, or runtime libraries.[2] A computing platform is the stage on which computer programs can run.

A platform can be seen both as a constraint on the software development process, in that different platforms provide different functionality and restrictions; and as an assistant to the development process, in that they provide low-level functionality ready-made. For example, an OS may be a platform that abstracts the underlying differences in hardware and provides a generic command for saving files or accessing the network.

Components

Platforms may also include:

  • Hardware alone, in the case of small embedded systems. Embedded systems can access hardware directly, without an OS; this is referred to as running on "bare metal".
  • A browser in the case of web-based software. The browser itself runs on a hardware+OS platform, but this is not relevant to software running within the browser.[3]
  • An application, such as a spreadsheet or word processor, which hosts software written in an application-specific scripting language, such as an Excel macro. This can be extended to writing fully-fledged applications with the Microsoft Office suite as a platform.[4]
  • Software frameworks that provide ready-made functionality.
  • Cloud computing and Platform as a Service. Extending the idea of a software framework, these allow application developers to build software out of components that are hosted not by the developer, but by the provider, with internet communication linking them together.[5] The social networking sites Twitter and Facebook are also considered development platforms.[6][7]
  • A virtual machine (VM) such as the Java virtual machine or .NET CLR. Applications are compiled into a format similar to machine code, known as bytecode, which is then executed by the VM.
  • A virtualized version of a complete system, including virtualized hardware, OS, software, and storage. These allow, for instance, a typical Windows program to run on what is physically a Mac.

Some architectures have multiple layers, with each layer acting as a platform for the one above it. In general, a component only has to be adapted to the layer immediately beneath it. For instance, a Java program has to be written to use the Java virtual machine (JVM) and associated libraries as a platform but does not have to be adapted to run on the Windows, Linux or Macintosh OS platforms. However, the JVM, the layer beneath the application, does have to be built separately for each OS.[8]

Operating system examples

Further information: List of operating systems

Desktop, laptop, server

Mobile

Android, a popular mobile operating system

Software examples

Hardware examples

Further information: Lists of computers

See also

References

  1. ↑ "What I Talk About When I Talk About Platforms". martinfowler.com. https://martinfowler.com/articles/talk-about-platforms.html. 
  2. ↑ "platform". Free On-line Dictionary of Computing
  3. ↑ Andrew Binstock (July 2, 2012). "Google's Redefinition of the Browser As Platform". http://www.drdobbs.com/web-development/googles-redefinition-of-the-browser-as-p/240003086?itc=edit_stub. 
  4. ↑ "Microsoft Office as a Platform for Software + Services". http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb906062.aspx. 
  5. ↑ "What Is PAAS?". http://www.interoute.com/what-paas. 
  6. ↑ "Twitter Development Platform - Twitter Developers". https://dev.twitter.com/. 
  7. ↑ "Facebook Development Platform Launches...". August 15, 2006. https://www.facebook.com/notes/2207512130. 
  8. ↑ "Platform independence in Java's Byte Code". https://stackoverflow.com/questions/17101796/platform-independence-in-javas-byte-code. 
  9. ↑ "The Future of Developing Firefox Add-ons" (in en-US). https://blog.mozilla.org/addons/2015/08/21/the-future-of-developing-firefox-add-ons/. 
  10. ↑ "Upcoming Changes in Compatibility Features" (in en-US). https://blog.mozilla.org/addons/2017/08/10/upcoming-changes-compatibility/. 
  11. ↑ "How to enable legacy extensions in Firefox 57 - gHacks Tech News". 12 August 2017. https://www.ghacks.net/2017/08/12/how-to-enable-legacy-extensions-in-firefox-57/. 
  12. ↑ "Porting a Google Chrome extension". Mozilla. https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Add-ons/WebExtensions/Porting_a_Google_Chrome_extension. 

External links



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