Hardware and Software

What is Computer Hardware : Computer hardware is a term used for physical devices that you are able to touch and see.  For example, the monitor on which you are viewing this page is a computer hardware.  Similarly, the keyboard and mouse you use are also hardware.  These devices you are actually able to see and touch

What is Computer Software :  Computer software is a term used for a set of code and instructions that tell a computer (including hardware) as to how to perform a task.  In other words, software is a collection of computer programs, procedures and documentation that perform some task on a computer system.   Unlike hardware, you can not usually touch and see the computer software.   However, you may be able to read the set of instructions.

Thus, we can say that CD or Pen Drive are hardware, whereas the programme which is loaded in the CD / Pen Drive is a software.   You can touch CD and Pen Drive but can not touch the programme which is loaded in the CD / Pen Drive.

Comparison of Computer Hardware and Computer Software /   Hardware vs Software

	Hardware	Software
Definition of	Physical Devices used to store and execute various softwares	Set of instructions that enables a user to interact with the computer. It enables the computer to perform a specific task.
Examples of	Monitor, CPU, Keyboard, Mouse, CD-ROM,  Pen Drives, Printer, Scanners , Modem etc	Microsoft Word , Microsoft Excel; Acrobat Readers, Window XP
Types of	Input Devices, Output Devices, Storage Devices, Processing Devices, Control Devices	System software, Programming software, and Application software
Function of	Hardware acts as the delivery system for software solutions.  Once installed, hardware is not required to be changed on day to day basis.	Software is used to perform the specific task.  Although software is generally not needed to be amended on day to day basis, but data is regularly feeded for certain software.  New versions are released for software from time to tome.
Reliability of	Hardware are reliable and no bugs are usually noticed in its life time.	Software needs constant testing and any deficiencies / bugs noticed are to be fixed from time to time
Chances of Failure	Hardware failure is random.  As the hardware becomes older, the chance of failure increases	Software failure is systematic.  With the passage of time and fixing of bugs, software have lessor chances of failure.
Lifetime of	Hardware wears out over time.	Software does not wear out over time.
Nature of	It is physical in nature	It is logical in nature