WEB STER’ 3
`
`".b.-:-‘--'.---'6-'='
`
`"— --'4' =|-'-"'-'- $'
`
`COMPUTER
`
` DICTIONARY
`
`3
`
`2 E L
`
`The Best Computer .D1'crionary Anyzulzere
`
`Revised and updated
`
`Coxltnim‘ extensive coverage of Internet and multimedia terms
`
`Over 4,750 words. phrases, 21bbre\'iati0ns. and :u.‘1‘m1yms
`
`§3=i3f."z".\_“~.
`
`‘H7-.‘x ET?‘ .“~; i’$H~i..i} €12.
`
`BOSCH 2005
`
`Cardioco
`
`Bosch
`
`IPR2
`
`-00451
`
`

`
`
`
`COMPUTER
`
`DICTIONARY
`
`
`
`10TH EDITION
`
`By Bryan Ifcflenberger, Ph.D.
`
`WILEY
`
`Wiley Publishing, Inc.
`
`
`
`

`
`Webster’s New World'” Computer Dictionary, 10th Edition
`
`Copyright © 2003 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
`
`Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
`Published simultaneously in Canada
`
`No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted
`in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning
`or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States
`Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authoriza-
`tion through payment of the appropriate per—copy fee to the Copyright Clearance
`Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8700.
`Requests to the Publisher For permission should be addressed to the Legal Department,
`Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, (317) 572-3447,
`fax (317) 572-4447, E-mail: pernicoordinator@wiley.co1n.
`
`Ttademarks:\Viley, the Wiley Publishing Iogo,Webster's New World, and the Webster's
`New World logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Wiley Publishing, Inc., in the
`United States and other countries, and may not be used without written pe1'mission.All
`other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.Wiley Publishing. Ine., is not
`associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.
`
`Limit of Liability/Disclaimer oFWarranry:WhiIe the publisher and author have used their
`best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with
`respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically dis-
`claim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No
`warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials.
`The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation.You
`should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author
`shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not
`limited to special, incidental, consequential. or other damages.
`
`For general information on our other products and services or to obtain technical support
`please contact our Customer Care Department within the US. at 800-762-2974, outside
`the US. at 317-572-3993 or fax 317-572-4002.
`
`Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that
`appears in print may not be available in electronic books.
`
`Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from the publisher.
`ISBN 0-7645-2478—X
`
`Manufactured in the United States of America
`
`54321
`
`

`
`procedural programming language
`
`procedural programming language
`A programming language such as BASIC or
`’ascal
`that
`requires
`the programmer
`to
`specify the procedure the computer must
`follow to accomplish the task. See declarative
`prognirirrirfng la:-(garage.
`
`In operating systems designed
`process
`for server applications (including Witidows
`2fJ{J(), Unix, and Linux). an executing pro-
`gram or service.A parent process may have
`one or more child processes that perform
`additional tasks.
`
`process color One of the four colors—
`cyan, magenta, yellow. and black—that are
`mixed to create other colors. See CMYK
`
`color morlvl, color model, spot color.
`
`processing The execution of program
`instructions by the computer's central pro-
`cessing unit
`(CPU)
`that
`in some way
`transforms data. such as sorting it, selecting
`some of it according to specified criteria,
`or performing mathematical computations
`on it.
`
`processor
`
`See m‘ft't’tJpI’tJfr:’S.Wf'.
`
`processor serial number
`
`See PSN.
`
`processor upgrade A chip designed to
`1'eplace or complement a microprocessor
`and provide improved performance. Intel’s
`OverDrive chip is a processor upgrade for
`tl1e Intel 80486. Also. the act of installing
`such a chip.
`
`production In digital video, the phase in
`which the raw footage is shot. See post‘-
`produrrinn.
`
`Professional Graphics Array (PGA)
`Ari early video adapter for IBM personal
`computers that was designed for computer-
`assisted design (CAD) applications. The
`adapter displays 256 colors with a resolu—
`tion of 640 X 480.
`
`professional workstation A high—per—
`formance personal computer optimized for
`professional applications in fields such as
`digital circuit design, architecture. and tech-
`nical drawing. Professional workstations
`typically offer excellent screen resolution,
`
`fast and powerful microprocessors, and log
`of memory. Examples include the work-
`stations made by Sun Microsystems and
`NeXT,
`lnc. Professional workstations are
`more expensive than personal coinputei-5
`and typically use the Unix operating sy5_
`tem. The boundary between high—t=_-nd
`personal computers and professional work-
`stations, however,
`is eroding as persorm]
`computers become more powerful.
`
`program A list of instructions, written in
`a programming language. that a computer
`can execute so that the machine acts in a
`
`predetermined way. Synonymous with soft-
`ware. See
`compiler.
`cxrarmble program.
`l1i'glt-laud pitwgrairtiiririq Iaugurigc, nmrlune lau-
`gurige, stmrre rode.
`
`program development life cycle
`PDLC.
`
`See
`
`program generator A program that
`creates
`the program code automatically
`from a description of the application. In
`database management programs, fin‘ exam-
`ple. one can use simple pl.'0gI'“.ll'11-gt.‘IIt.‘T&llIl0I]
`techniques to describe the format he or she
`wants graphically. The program generator
`then uses the input as a set of parameters by
`which to build the output program code.
`
`Program Information File
`
`See pff
`
`programmable Capable of being con-
`trolled through instructions that can be
`varied to suit the users needs.
`
`programmable read—only memory
`See PR()M.
`
`programmer A person who designs.
`codes, tests. debugs, and documents a com-
`puter program. Professional progranimerfi
`often hold bachelor of science or master of
`
`science degrees in computer science. but a
`great deal of programming {professional
`and otherwise) is done by individuals with
`little or no formal training. More than half
`the readers of a popular personal coniputcl‘
`niagazine, for example, stated in a survey
`that they regularly progeamiried their per-
`sonal computers using languages such as
`BASIC, Pascal. and assembly language.