Computing platform
A computing platform is a system for running a computer program.
Abstraction levels
The term computing platform can refer to different abstraction levels, including:
- A certain hardware architecture
- An operating system (OS)
- Various runtime libraries
Hardware platforms
Binary executables have to be compiled for a specific hardware platform, since different central processor units have different machine codes. In addition, operating systems and runtime libraries allow re-use of code and provide abstraction layers which allow the same high-level source code to run on differently configured hardware.
For example, there are many kinds of data storage device, and any individual computer can have a different configuration of storage devices; but the application is able to call a generic save or write function provided by the OS and runtime libraries, which then handle the details themselves.
Philosophy
A platform can be seen both as:
- A constraint on the application development process
- The application is written for a particular process
- An assistance to the development process
- The computing platform provides low-level functionality ready-made
See also
External links
- Computing platform @ Wikipedia
