Here are some examples of software being used by businesses today to exchange data. This will help students understand OCR A Level Computer Science, Exchanging Data.
Compression, Encryption and Hashing – 7-zip
7-zip is the de-facto compression program. 7-zip can compress files using the Zip protocol and Tar/Gzip. Gzip is faster at compressing files than Zip. Gzip is often used alongside Tar. Gzip can compress files but not archive files like Tar. Together GZIP and Tar make a good combination. Zip both compresses and archives files.
7-zip is supports encrpytion. Businesses often use the encryption feature of 7-zip to securely transfer files.
Databases – Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL and PostgreSQL
The three main database programs used used in business are Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL and PostgreSQL. MySQL and PostgreSQL are open source. PostgreSQL is gaining popularity among developers. MySQL still remains to be the more widely used than PostgreSQL.
Microsoft SQL Server Express is free to use. There are a number of paid versions of Microsoft SQL Server. Commercial versions do not have limitiations such as database size. Microsoft’s cloud platform Azure now provides SQL Server as a cloud based service.
Networks – Ping, Telnet, Netstat, Nslookup
Many of the software tools used in business to troubleshoot network issues are part of the Microsoft Windows and Linux Operating system.
- Ping, test connectivity to another IP address.
- Telnet, test if a TCP port is open (send emails if you want to be retro).
- Netstat, display listening and connected ports.
- nslookup, test a website address against a dns server.
Web Technologies – Apache, Nginx, Javascript and Text Editors
The two most popular webserver programs in use today are Apache and Nginx. Nginx is the new kid on the block and becoming very popular.
Javascript was once frowned upon as a computer language. Javascript is now the goto language for development. The popularity of Facebook’s React and React Native platforms for app development may have a part to play in Javascript’s growth. The async feature of Javascript is important as websites can have millions of requests every minute. I like to think of async like a clever barista. A clever barista makes coffee for multiple people and serves them when the coffee is ready. Alternatively a sync barista would only server one person at a time. Javascript is the clever barista.
Most developers use Text Editors to write computer code. Developers are often dedicated to one text editor. Sublime and Atom are popular text editors. Microsoft have just released an open source version of Vistual Studio which is also becoming popular.
Hopefully some of the software discussed in this article can help students of OCR A Level Computer Science. The software discussed above is moslty free to use. The article was written by the team at Freeperiod.