Application

What is an Application?

An application is a computer program that can be applied to solve some user need. There are various types of applications, like text editors for editing text files, image editors for editing image files, file manages for managing files, video players for playing video files, video editors for editing video files, web browsers for browsing the web, office applications for dealing with spreadsheets, and so on. In general, an application will have a graphical user interface, meaning that opening the application opens a window full of menus, buttons, a status bar, and dialog boxes.

One type of program that isn't an application is a computer game. Games count as software, but not as an application. A game launcher, which is a program made to list and launch games, does count as an application, however.

Another type of program that isn't an application are terminal commands (or console commands), such as mkdir. In the past, when computers were simpler, there weren't many GUIs, but the term application was still used, so I assume that some terminal-based programs were also called applications in the past, even though nobody calls them that anymore.

Operating systems aren't called applications either. So Windows itself isn't an application, but many programs that are part of Windows, such as Paint, Notepad, Edge, and Explorer (the file manager), are considered to be applications.

The term app is an abbreviation of application that tends to be used to refer to applications for smartphone operating systems like Android and iOS.

Nowadays we also have web applications, which are applications that use web technologies (HTML, CSS, Javascript, HTTP) or that are actually a website where you can edit images, and things like that. For example, Discord is a web application for chatting. You can open it in your web browser and go chat to people. Some web applications are only accessible through their website, while others can be downloaded like a normal desktop application, or even installed as a smartphone app.

Not every web application is actually called a web application. For instance, a search engine in your computer would be an application, but a search engine like Google isn't called a web application for some reason. Likewise, a program to convert PNG images to JPG in your computer would likely be an application, but if there's a website that does, people don't call it a web application, they just call it an utility website. The same goes for all sorts of simple Javascript utilities you can find on the web. If a program that lets you calculate your BMI from your height and weight, and it's in your computer, it's an application, but if it's a single webpage, it's not.

It doesn't make a lot of sense, but it's how it is.