The following table highlights the points that differentiate a hardware from a software.
| Hardware | Software |
| It is the physical component of a computer system. | It is the programming language that makes hardware functional. |
| It has the permanent shape and structure, which cannot be modified. | It can be modified and reused, as it has no permanent shape and structure. |
| The external agents such as dust, mouse, insects, humidity, heat, etc. can affect the hardware (as it is tangible). | The external agents such as dust, mouse, insects, humidity, heat, etc. cannot affect (as it is not tangible). |
| It works with binary code (i.e., 1’s to 0’s) . | It functions with the help of high level language like COBOL, BASIC, JAVA, etc. |
| It takes in only machine language, i.e., lower level language. | It takes in higher level language, easily readable by a human being. |
| It is not affected by the computer bug or virus. | It is affected by the computer bug or virus. |
| It cannot be transferred from one place to other electronically. | It can transfer from one place to other electronically. |
| Duplicate copy of hardware cannot be created. | A user can create copies of a software as many as he wishes. |
