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Some functions of computers are physically built into the design of the machine; they have substance, and they cannot be changed without modifying the machine itself. The physical machine is considered "hardware", so that term includes the functions and information that is physically incorporated into the machine. The term "hardware" has been around for centuries; it was applied to computers in the 1940s.

In contrast, the term "software" was coined in the 1950s; it first appeared in print in 1958. The word arose as an amusing contrast to "hardware", as it encompasses all the information, particularly programming, that is not a permanent part of the machine. Programs and data are considered "soft" in the sense that they can be easily modified; by analogy, they are more malleable than the "hard" parts of the machine.

Later, with the advent of microprogramming, a third class of information, intermediate between hardware and software, arose. This class, logically, got the name "firmware". Firmware not as permanent as hardware and usually lacks physical substance, but it is not as easily modified as software.

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