A module may refer to any of the following:
When referring to computer software, a module is a discrete piece of code which can be independently created and maintained to be used in different systems. For example, a developer may create a module containing the code required to use a sound card or perform I/O on a certain type of filesystem. The module can then be distributed for and used by any system that needs that functionality, and development of the module can proceed independently. This approach is known as modular design.
With computer hardware, a module is an independent component that is used as part of a more complex system. For example, a memory module can connect to a computer’s motherboard to operate as part of the complete system.
The Linux kernel is modular in this way. LKMs (Linux kernel modules) can be loaded using programs such as modprobe.
The loaded modules in Windows are shown in the System Information utility.
Programming terms
