What is Middleware?

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What is middleware? An easy-to-understand explanation of its types, functions, and roles!
2022-08-19(Updated: 2025-01-30 )
IT knowledge

Middleware is software that performs a variety of functions and sits between applications, which provide the functions necessary for business operations, and the OS, which provides the basic functions of a computer.

This article will provide a detailed introduction to the different types of middleware, including web servers, application servers, and database management servers, as well as a detailed las vegas email list explanation of the roles and functions of middleware.



Table of Contents [Hide]

2.Types of middleware
Web Server
2.2. Application Server
2.3.Database Management Server
3. Roles and Functions of Middleware
3.1. System Backup
3.2. Improving job operation efficiency
3.3.System Management
3.4. Switching to a backup server in an emergency
3.5. Middleware used in email delivery
3.6. Sending and receiving emails is possible thanks to middleware
4. Summary
What is Middleware?
Middleware refers to software that exists between an application and the OS. An application is software that performs processing according to a particular task, and word processing software, spreadsheet software, and browsers used to browse the Internet are all types of applications.

On the other hand, an OS is software that manages the entire system, including the basic controls of a computer. Examples include Mac OS and Windows OS.







The difference between an OS and an application is that the OS has a wide range of functions for a wide variety of uses and situations, while applications have functions specialized for each task. Middleware exists between the two and assists each of them in their respective roles. Computers can be classified into hardware and software. The computer itself and peripheral devices that can be physically touched are called hardware, and everything else that cannot is called software.

In other words, any system or program that you cannot actually touch is considered software, so applications, middleware, and operating systems are all classified as software.

The term middleware was coined around 1968. After appearing at the 1968 NATO Software Engineering Conference held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, the term became popular in the 1980s and 1990s and continues to be used to this day.