Vocabulary - Computers and the Internet 3

Computer Programmes

If computers are the power (1) ... of the modern industrial revolution, (2) ... is more like knitting. Software engineers still code by hand, writing and rewriting one line after another. Not surprisingly, they sometimes drop a (3) ... , which later unravels as a (4) ... in the programme. More often, they end (5) ... with something that does not fit right, or is simply out of fashion. For a software user this is frustrating. Programmes are slow, they break (6) ... , none does all the things you want, and each is missing favourite bits of the other programmes. The problem is one of ever-increasing (7) ... . Computer (8) ... doubles in power every year and a half. Software writers have struggled to take advantage of these (9) ... , but in the process programmes have become too massive and complicated for a single person to understand. Each (10) ... works line by line on a part of the software, which is then stitched together with the others. No wonder programmes become difficult and confusing.