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Computing platform

A computing platform, digital platform,[1] or software platform is an environment in which software is executed. It may be the hardware or the operating system (OS), a web browser and associated application programming interfaces, or other underlying software, as long as the program code is executed using the services provided by the platform. Computing platforms have different abstraction levels, including a computer architecture, an OS, or runtime libraries.[2] A computing platform is the stage on which computer programs can run.

A platform can be seen both as a constraint on the software development process, in that different platforms provide different functionality and restrictions; and as an assistant to the development process, in that they provide low-level functionality ready-made. For example, an OS may be a platform that abstracts the underlying differences in hardware and provides a generic command for saving files or accessing the network.

Hardware alone, in the case of small . Embedded systems can access hardware directly, without an OS; this is referred to as running on "bare metal".

embedded systems

A in the case of web-based software. The browser itself runs on a hardware+OS platform, but this is not relevant to software running within the browser.[3]

browser

An application, such as a spreadsheet or word processor, which hosts software written in an application-specific , such as an Excel macro. This can be extended to writing fully-fledged applications with the Microsoft Office suite as a platform.[4]

scripting language

that provide ready-made functionality.

Software frameworks

and Platform as a Service. Extending the idea of a software framework, these allow application developers to build software out of components that are hosted not by the developer, but by the provider, with internet communication linking them together.[5] The social networking sites Twitter and Facebook are also considered development platforms.[6][7]

Cloud computing

A (VM) such as the Java virtual machine or .NET CLR. Applications are compiled into a format similar to machine code, known as bytecode, which is then executed by the VM.

virtual machine

A version of a complete system, including virtualized hardware, OS, software, and storage. These allow, for instance, a typical Windows program to run on what is physically a Mac.

virtualized

Platforms may also include:


Some architectures have multiple layers, with each layer acting as a platform for the one above it. In general, a component only has to be adapted to the layer immediately beneath it. For instance, a Java program has to be written to use the Java virtual machine (JVM) and associated libraries as a platform but does not have to be adapted to run on the Windows, Linux or Macintosh OS platforms. However, the JVM, the layer beneath the application, does have to be built separately for each OS.[8]

AmigaOS 4

AmigaOS

ChromeOS

Unix

Linux

IBM i

Microsoft Windows

OpenVMS

- discontinued in 2002

Classic Mac OS

OS/2

QNX

with their custom operating systems

Midrange computers

Mainframe computers

VM

EulerOS

openEuler

HarmonyOS

Shockwave

(BREW)

Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless

Cocoa

Cocoa Touch

.NET

Mono

Flash

AIR

Java

Java ME

LiveCode

Microsoft XNA

XUL and XULRunner

Mozilla Prism

Mozilla is modeled after Google Chrome's API.[9][10][11] Thus Firefox extensions are now largely compatible with their Chrome counterparts.[12]

WebExtensions API

Web platform

Oracle Database

Qt

SAP NetWeaver

Smartface

Universal Windows Platform

Windows Runtime

HMS Core

Cangjie

ArkTS

ArkUI

ArkUI-X

ARM architecture

Raspberry Pi

systems

IBM PC compatible

and IBM Power Systems computers

IBM System p

IBM mainframes

z/Architecture

computers based on the S-100 bus, maybe the earliest microcomputer platform

CP/M

Video game consoles

3DO Interactive Multiplayer

architectures

Supercomputer

Cross-platform software

Hardware virtualization

Third platform

Platform ecosystem

Media related to Computing platforms at Wikimedia Commons

Ryan Sarver: What is a platform?