studyhelp: Programming Definitions

Programming Definitions

Programming definitions

Number

.NET

1GL

2GL

3GL

4GL

5GL

.NET

1. .NET is a Microsoft web services strategy to connect information, people, systems, and devices through software, making it easier for users to share and use their information between multiple web sites, programs, and computers. In addition to being a web service, .NET is also a programming model that enables software developers the ability to do rapid application development by bundling a collection of software in on package. For example, Microsoft Visual Studio .NET is part of the .NET programming model.

The official Microsoft .net page is found at: http://www.microsoft.com/net/

Additional information about finding the .NET framework can be found on document CH000850.

2. A .net is also a domain suffix, see our Internet domain suffix listing for additional information about .net as well as other domain suffixes.

Newline

A character used to represent the end of a line of text and the beginning of a new line. In programming languages such as C, Java, and Perl the newline character is represented as '\n'. Below is an example of how the newline may be used in Perl.

#!/usr/bin/perl

# Print "Hello World!" and start a new line with \n

print "Hello World!\n";

#Locate and replace any newlines in the mydata variable

#and replace those newlines with a ** as the separator.

$mydata =~ s/\n/**/g;

Short for Carriage Return, CR is often used to represent a carriage return (the enter / return key). In programming languages such as C, Java, and Perl the return or CR character is represented as '\r'.

Generation languages

1. The first generation languages, or 1GL, are low-level languages that are machine language.

2. The second generation languages, or 2GL, are also low-level languages that generally consist of assembly languages.

3. The third generation languages, or 3GL, are high-level languages such as C.

4. The fourth generation languages, or 4GL, are languages that consist of statements similar to statements in a human language. Fourth generation languages are commonly used in database programming and scripts.

5. The fifth generation languages, or 5GL, are programming languages that contain visual tools to help develop a program. A good example of a fifth generation language is Visual Basic.

Abend

Short for Abnormal end, abend is a term used to describe when a program or task ends without warning. Generally when an abend is encountered the user will receive some type of error message.

If you are encountering an abend when running any type of program please see our online help section for troubleshooting tips.

Absolute address

Also known as a direct address, machine address or real address, an absolute address is a specific memory address location, instead of an expression.

Absolute coding

A type of computer programming that uses absolute addressing instead of indirect addressing.

Action statement

A command used in various programming languages that performs an action such as opening a file, saving a file, etc...

ActiveX

ActiveX is an extension to Microsoft's OLE and COM technologies used in applications and on the Internet. Using the ActiveX technology, users can incorporate various interactive types of technologies on the Internet. For example, using ActiveX enables users to scan their computer for viruses through their browser.

Microsoft Internet Explorer is the primary browser that utilizes and supports the ActiveX plug-in although many alternative browsers do have plug-ins that will enable this feature as well.

Ada

Originally known as DoD-1, Ada was officially given its name in May 1979 and was named after Augusta Ada Byron. Developed by the United States Department of Defense, Ada is a high-level Pascal-based programming language.

ASPI

Short for Advanced SCSI Programming Interface, ASPI was developed by Adaptec and is an interface specification for sending commands to an SCSI host adapter. ASPI has become a de facto standard for programmers that need to create drivers that work with all ASPI-compatible SCSI adapters.

ALGOL

Short for ALGOrithmic Language, ALGOL is a portable language for scientific computations and was first introduced with ALGOL 58 in the late 1950's, and later included ALGOL 60 and ALGOL 68 through the 1960's.

Algorithm

Derived from the name of the mathematician Mohammed ibn-Musa Al-Khowarizmi, an Algorithm is a list of instructions, procedures or formulas used to solve a problem.

AOP

Short for Aspect-Oriented Programming, AOP was developed by Xerox PARC that helps the programmer decide on how the program is going to be compiled.

API

Short for Application Program Interface, API is a set of routines, protocols and tools for building software applications. APIs make it easier for computer programmers by allowing them to implement pre-programmed software into their own programs.

Applet

Special kind of program on the Internet that interfaces with Java, such as a game.

Argument

A value that is passed into a command, function, or routine. In the below example, "myfile.txt" is the argument for the edit command.

edit myfile.txt

Arithmetic operator

Arithmetic operators are the symbols that represent arithmetic math operations. Examples include + (addition operator), - (subtraction operator), * (multiplication operator), and / (division operator).

ASCII

Short for American Standard Code for Information Interexchange, ASCII is an industry standard, which assigns letters, numbers and other characters within the 256 slots available in the 8-bit code.

The ASCII table is divided in 3 sections:

• Non printable, system codes between 0 and 31.

• Lower ASCII, between 32 and 127. This part of the table originates from older, American systems, which worked on 7 bit character tables. Foreign letters, like Ø and Ü were not available then. Shown Below.

• Higher ASCII, between 128 and 255. This part is programmable, in that you can exchange characters, based on which language you want to write in. Foreign letters are placed in this part. Shown Below.

Below is the standard ASCII characters.

Dec Char Dec Char Dec Char Dec Char Dec Char Dec Char

33 ! 49 1 65 A 81 Q 97 a 113 q

34 " 50 2 66 B 82 R 98 b 114 r

35 # 51 3 67 C 83 S 99 c 115 s

36 $ 52 4 68 D 84 T 100 d 116 t

37 % 53 5 69 E 85 U 101 e 117 u

38 & 54 6 70 F 86 V 102 f 118 v

39 ' 55 7 71 G 87 W 103 g 119 w

40 ( 56 8 72 H 88 X 104 h 120 x

41 ) 57 9 73 I 89 Y 105 i 121 y

42 * 58 : 74 J 90 Z 106 j 122 z

43 + 59 ; 75 K 91 [ 107 k 123 {

44 , 60 < 76 L 92 \ 108 l 124 |

45 - 61 = 77 M 93 ] 109 m 125 }

46 . 62 > 78 N 94 ^ 110 n 126 ~

47 / 63 ? 79 O 95 _ 111 o 127 _

48 0 64 @ 80 P 96 ` 112 p

While the regular American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) uses seven bits of code characters (equaling 128 characters), extended ASCII uses eight bits, adding another 128 characters. The original ASCII defines the codes for the average letters and numbers used by computers. Extended ASCII defined extra characters, such as a special symbols, foreign language letters, or drawing characters.

Below is the extended ASCII characters.

Also see: ASCII Art, ASCII printer, Character code, Codepage, EBCDIC, Programming definitions, Unicode

Assembler

Program used to convert or translate programs written in assembly code to machine code. Some users may also refer to assembly language or assembler language as assembler.

Assembly language

Sometimes referred to as assembly, an assembly language is the low-level programming language designed for specific processors. Assembly language uses structured commands as substitutions for numbers allowing humans to read the code more easier than looking at binary. Most high level programming languages convert the code to assembly language when they are compiled. Below is an example of assembly language code.

mov ax,4C00h

int 21h

Back-end

A task or operation being performed in the background without the user being aware of it.

BCPL

Short for Basic Combined Programming Language, BCPL is a programming language developed in 1966 by Martin Richards of the University of Cambridge that became very popular because of its portability. BCPL is the successor to the CPL programming language and was the first language to print the infamous Hello World! test message and create the first MUD.

Bind

1. In computer programming, to bind is to make an association between two or more programming objects for a specified amount of time.

2. In computer networking bind is used to allow a resource to be sent or received. For example, one may bind a request to TCP/IP indicating that it is ready to receive and or send information.

3. In IBM's System Network Architecture, to bind is to setup a session between two logical units or network end points prior to communicating.

4. When referring to the computer keyboard and/or gaming binding refers to assigning an action to a single key. For example, binding the space bar to shoot a gun in a game.

5. BIND is also short for Berkeley Internet Name Domain and is a popular name (DNS) server software originally designed for BSD.

Block

1. When referring to a hard disk drive or other storage medium a block is a segment of a large area that can be assigned to store data.

2. When referring to computer programming a block is a conditional statement or loop in code. Below is an example of a conditional statement block.

if (conditional statement) {

print "Computer Hope";

}

BOM

1. Short for Byte Order Mark, BOM is another name for the Unicode character at the beginning of a file that indicates whether or not a file is UTF-16 or UTF-32.

2. Short for Bill of Materials, BOM is a complete listing of everything that makes up a product. For example, a computer purchased from a computer manufacturer will have a BOM of every part and/or a purchasable parts. A BOM contains the name of the part, it's part number, and the quantity of each parts.

3. Short for Beginning of Medium, BOM is a string of characters that mark the beginning of a medium such as a tape drive.

4. Short for Beginning of Message, BOM is a signal or string of characters that indicate a message is starting.

oolean

Developed by the English mathematician and computer pioneer George Boole, a Boolean consists of operators such as "AND", "OR", "NOT" and "XOR". Generally, Booleans are commonly used in programming and today in Internet search engines. Boolean expressions are expressions that result in the value of either TRUE or FALSE.

As mentioned above a user can use Boolean searches to help locate more exact matches in Internet searches. For example, a user could search for "computers help and DOS", which would search for any document containing computer help that also contain the word "DOS". Performing Boolean searches often help users find results relating more to what the user may need to find. In addition to using a Boolean operator many search engines also substitute "AND" with "+" and "NOT" with "-", so using our same above example a user could type "computer help +dos" to achieve the same results.

Below is an example chart that help explains the Boolean operations even more by giving examples and explanations of each of the different Boolean situations.

Example data = "Computer Hope is a location where users can find free computer help and information"

Boolean Value_1 Value_2 Explanation Results

AND Free Help Because the above example data contains both "free" and "help" the results would be TRUE. TRUE

AND Expensive Help Although the above example does have "help", it does not contain "expensive" therefore the result would be FALSE. FALSE

OR Free Help The above example data has both "free" and "help", however the OR Boolean only requires one or the other therefore this would be TRUE. TRUE

OR Expensive Help Although "expensive" is not in the example data, it still does contain "help" therefore this would still remain TRUE. TRUE

NOT Free The above example does contain "free", therefore the result would be FALSE. FALSE

NOT Expensive The above example does not contain "expensive", therefore this result would be TRUE. TRUE

XOR Free Help The above example contains both "free" and "help", the XOR Boolean only requires one or the other but not both, therefore this is FALSE. FALSE

XOR Expensive Help The above example does not contain "expensive", however does contain "help", therefore this would be TRUE. TRUE

Bug

A term used to describe issues with hardware or software. Grace Hopper logged and taped a moth bug in a log book that caused issues with the Mark II after it was discovered in one of its components. This is often considered the first use of the term bug; however, there are many other earlier accounts of bug being used to describe a problem with electrical circuits and hardware.

Today, computer software bugs are often resolved by running a software patches and resolvable hardware bugs are fixed with firmware updates and/or replacement of hardware components.

Source computer

Also known as a build computer, a source computer is a computer designated to assemble or generate a program from code. This computer is commonly a separate computer on a network because of the length of time required to build a program and/or because multiple people may be working on the same program.

1. C is commonly used to describe the C: drive or the first hard disk drive on IBM compatible computers.

See document CH000799 about why the hard disk drive is assigned as C.

2. The abbreviation for Celsius.

3. A high-level programming language developed by Dennis Ritchie and Brian Kernighan at Bell Labs in 1972 from an almost unknown language named B. The first major program written in C was the Unix operating system, and for many years, C was considered to be inextricably linked with Unix. Below is an example of a C program that prints "Hello World!".

#include

main()

{

printf ("Hello World!\n");

}

Also known as C sharp, C# is a programming language based on C++ and Java that was developed by Microsoft and announced to the public in June 2000 with the introduction of .NET. In 2003, C# became an ISO standard. C# helps developers create XML web services and Microsoft .NET-connected applications for Windows operating systems and the Internet. Below is a basic example of printing "HelloWorld!" to the screen.

public class HelloWorld

{

public static void Main()

{

System.Console.WriteLine("Hello World!");

}

C++

High-level programming language developed by Bjarne Stroustrup at Bell Labs. C++ adds object-oriented features to its predecessor, C. C++ is one of the most popular programming languages for graphical applications, such as those that run in Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh environments. C++ is named after C's incrementation operator. Below is an example of a C++ program that prints "Hello World!".

#include

int main()

{

std::cout << "Hello, world!\n";

}

public class HelloWorld

{

public static void Main()

{

System.Console.WriteLine("Hello World!");

}

Camel book

Nickname given to the O'Reilly series of books written about the programming language Perl. Each of these books have a picture of a Camel on the front of the book.

1. Short for Carbon Copy, CC is used to send copies of an e-mail to additional people. This allows a user to quickly send that e-mail to individuals who may be interested or may need to know about the e-mail, but the e-mail is not directly to those individuals.

2. When referring to the mouse or mouse cursor, CC is short for Cursor Control. Cursor Control describes the ability to move the cursor. Generally, this is accomplished by using the arrow keys.

3. When referring to a Linux / Unix command, cc is a C compiler command. Additional information about the cc command can be found on our Linux / Unix cc command page.

4. Abbreviation for Creative Commons.

Character code

Also known as the character set, charset, character encoding, and code page. A character code describes a specific encoding for characters; it defines how the bits in a stream of text are mapped to the characters they represent. ASCII is the basis of most code pages, for example, the value for a character "C" is represented by 67.

Class

1. Term used in object-oriented programming to refer to a set of related objects that share common characteristics. Classes and the ability to create new classes are what make object-oriented programming a powerful and flexible programming model.

2. When referring to a game a class is a type of character based off abilities. For example, warrior and mage are both examples of game classes, a warrior is often strong can withstand a lot of damage but doesn't often deal much damage. A mage class is the complete opposite, a class that can often deal a lot of damage but can't take much.

Classpath

The CLASSPATH is an environment variable that tells the Java compiler where to look for class files to import.

COBOL

Short for Common Business Oriented Language, COBOL was developed in 1960 and is the second-oldest high-level programming language (FORTRAN being the oldest).

Codepage

Another name for a character code.

Command language

Sometimes referred to as a command script, a command language is a language used for executing a series of commands that would otherwise be executed at the prompt. A good example of a command language are Microsoft Windows batch files. Although command languages are great for performing a series of commands or commonly performed series of commands that would be run at the command prompt, some command languages can be limited when compared to other programming languages and scripting languages because they often only allow little more than what is available at the command prompt. However, this language is often much easier to use and run because they often are no more than a series of the same commands run at the command prompt and do not require the files to be compiled.

Below is a basic example of a Microsoft Windows batch file that deletes all the files in the Windows temp directory.

REM Delete Windows files.

echo Deleting Windows temp files.

cd\window\temp

del *.* /q

Below is a basic example of a Perl script that could be run in Microsoft Windows that performs a similar task to the above batch file example but with some more sophistication.

# Delete Windows files and log results into log.txt

my (@files, $files);

my ($sec, $min, $hour, $mday, $mon, $year, $wday, $yday, $isdst, $timeoffset);

($sec, $min, $hour, $mday, $mon, $year, $wday, $yday, $isdst) = localtime;

$year = $year + 1900;

@files = `dir /b c:\windows\temp`;

open(mylog, ">>log.txt") || print "ERROR: $!";

foreach $files (@files) {

$files =~ s/\n//g;

system("del c\:\\windows\\temp\\$files /q");

print "Deleting $files at $hour:$min:$sec on $mon/$mday/$year\n";

print mylog "Deleting $files at $hour:$min:$sec on $mon/$mday/$year\n";

}

close(mylog);

Note: It is possible to do what we have done in Perl in a batch file, we are just using this as an example. We would also like to mention that the above Perl script is just a quick example and could easily be expanded to do almost anything imaginable. Finally, because this is just a quick script for Microsoft Windows, we are using system commands which would make the script difficult to port over to another operating system such as Linux. Of course the script could be modified to work with any operating system and/or Perl modules could be used to make this script more efficient.

Advantages of command languages:

• Very easy for all types users to write.

• Do not require the files to be compiled.

• Easy to modify and make additions to.

• Commonly very small files.

• Do not require any additional programs or files that are not already found on the operating system.

Disadvantages of command languages:

• Can be limited when comparing with other programming languages or scripting languages.

• May not execute as fast as other languages or compiled programs.

• Some command languages often offer little more than using the commands available for the operating system used .

In conclusion, scripts and command languages are very similar; however, scripts or programs offer the user the ability to perform much more than just commands that would otherwise be executed at the prompt.

Comment

1. Text in a program's code, script or other type of file that is not meant to be seen by the user running the program. However, comment text can be seen by an individual viewing the code; this is often used to help understand what the code is performing. Comments allow for changes to be made or statements to be made about why something may have been done one way or another.

Additional information about comment as well as examples of how to comment out a line in various types of files and programming languages can be found on our nonexecutable statement definition page.

2. Hidden text in Microsoft Excel that enables users to make comments about cells and their values.

CGI

1. Short for Common Gateway Interface, CGI allows users visiting a web page to send and receive information from a server. A common example of how a CGI script can be used is by allowing a user to type a set of keywords, pass those keywords to a CGI application to process a search, and then return results based off the search to the web page. Often CGI scripts and executables are ran through CGI-BIN directory.

2. Short for Computer Generated Image, CGI is also sometimes abbreviated as CG and is any image or sequence of images that have been generated with the aid of computers. CGI is commonly seen in movies today to generate images or animated objects that appear real but are really not. The 1976 movie Futureworld was the first feature film to use 3D computer generated images.

Compile

The process of creating an executable program from code written in a compiled programming language that allows the computer to run the program without the need of the programming software used to create it. When a program is compiled it is often compiled for a specific platform such as an IBM platform, which would work with any IBM compatible computers but not other platforms such as the Apple Macintosh platform. Below are some examples of compiled programming languages.

C++

Pascal

Computer Science

Sometimes abbreviated as CS, Computer Science is the study of computers and how they work and basic skills in computer programming.

Conditional statement

Also known as a conditional expression, a conditional statement is a statement performed if true or false. Below are some examples of conditional statements in programming.

Example 1:

if ($myval <>

If the variable $myval is less than 10, the software program will print "Value is less than 10".

Example 2:

if ($myval == 10) { print "The value equals 10"; }

In this example if the variable is equal to 10, nothing less, nothing more than print "The value equals 10".

Example 3:

if ($myval >= 10) {print "Value is greater than or equal to 10"; }

Finally, this example uses two operators. If the variable is greater than 10 or if it's equal to 10 then print "Value is greater than or equal to 10".

Conditional statement

Also known as a conditional expression, a conditional statement is a statement performed if true or false. Below are some examples of conditional statements in programming.

Example 1:

if ($myval <>

If the variable $myval is less than 10, the software program will print "Value is less than 10".

Example 2:

if ($myval == 10) { print "The value equals 10"; }

In this example if the variable is equal to 10, nothing less, nothing more than print "The value equals 10".

Example 3:

if ($myval >= 10) {print "Value is greater than or equal to 10"; }

Finally, this example uses two operators. If the variable is greater than 10 or if it's equal to 10 then print "Value is greater than or equal to 10".

CPL

1. Short for Combined Programming Language, CPL is a programming language developed in the early 1960s by the University of Cambridge and the University of London. Later this programming language was replaced with BCPL.

2. A computer file extension.

CSS

1. Short for Cascading Style Sheet, CSS is a specification first completed in 1996 by W3C that enables a web developer to create a look and feel for his or her page. For example, CSS may define how each of the pages look by defining the fonts used, colors, table borders, etc within a .css file. The CSS file could then be loaded onto any web page and if the developer ever wanted to change the look or feel of their pages could simply change the CSS file instead of editing each page. Below is a basic example of CSS code that could be stored in a .css file, in this example the CSS code is defining the type of fonts to be used in the page, the color of the links, color of the visited links, and color of the links when the mouse is over the link.

body {

font: normal 100% "trebuchet ms", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;

}

a {

color: #000000;

}

A:visited {

color: #005177;

}

a:hover {

color: #005177;

}

The above CSS code could be within the HTML of each of the pages using the below code or can be stored in a separate file and called with

2. Short for Content Scramble System, CSS is a protection scheme used to help protect copyrighted material store don DVD's from being copied.

CVS

Short for Concurrent Version System, CVS is software solution that helps keep track of all changes and versions of a software program. By utilizing a CVS solution a company can have several developers working on the same project without much fear of overwriting each others work or loosing any of your changes as well as having the ability to revert back to older versions in case changes made caused conflicts and view the overall history of a project.

CVS works by having a primary server or computer that handle's and keeps track of all the changes and clients or other computers that commit all their changes to the server. When a client submits its data to the server if no conflicts exist with the server version and the client version the two versions are merged. However, if conflicts exist before submitting the changes the CVS program displays the conflicts and enable the person to either commit the changes or adjust their changes accordingly so no additional conflicts occur after the merge.

D is a computer programming language that is a higher level language than C++ that started development in December 1999. D has many similarities to C and C++ and is well suited for creating medium to large scale million line programs.

import std.stdio;

int main()

{

writefln("Hello world");

return 0;

}

• The official D programming language page can be found at http://www.digitalmars.com/d/

DarkBASIC

A programming language that shares some similarities to the BASIC language with additional commands needed for designing computer games with 3D objects, music, multiplayer, and more. DarkBASIC is a great solution for someone who is interested in getting into game development but is not sure if they are ready to jump into learning more advanced and difficult to learn programming languages.

The official DarkBASIC web page can be found at: http://www.darkbasic.com

DDE

Short for Dynamic Data Exchange, DDE is a two-way connection between two or more programs that allows the programs to actively exchange data while both programs are running.

Debug

1. In general, refers to the process of taking a deep look into an issue and removing errors that are found. For example, a developer may debug the code or an error to get additional information to how that error occurred and then resolve that error.

2. Debug is also a MS-DOS command; additional information about this command can be found on our debug command help page.

Debugger

Program or utility designed to locate errors or issues within a program while checking the code structure.

Debugging

Debugging is a process of ridding a computer program of the logical or syntactical errors. This is commonly achieved by manually examining the program's source code.

Declaration

In programming a declaration or a declare is a statement in programming that defines a variable, array, or programming statement and if applicable its value. Below are some examples of Perl declarations.

my $help;

This simply declares the $help variable.

my ($help, $support);

Declares both $help and $support variables in one line.

my $help = "Computer Hope";

Declares the $help variable and assigns the value "Computer Hope" to that variable.

Decompiler

Program or utility that converts machine code back into a high-level programming language allowing it to be read and/or modified.

Dependent variable

A variable that depends on a previous variable to determine its value.

DHTML

1. Short for dynamic HTML, dHTML can refer to a web content that changes each time it is viewed.

2. When capitalizing the D, for example, Dynamic HTML or DHTML, it refers to a new HTML extension that will enable web pages to react to user input without sending requests to the web server.

Diff

Also known as compare, diff is short for different or difference. Diff is a term used to describe a program's capability of showing you the difference between two or more files. This can be an invaluable tool in programming as it enables a developer to see what has changed in-between versions.

• See our Linux / Unix diff command page for additional information about this command.

Dissembler

Program that converts machine language into assembly language, allowing the program to be viewed and/or modified.

DML

Short for Data Manipulation Language, DML is a computer language used to interact with a database by deleting, inserting, retrieving, and/or updating data within the database.

A type of loop statement in programming that performs pre-defined tasks while or until a pre-determined condition is met. For example, in Perl you may use code similar to the below, which performs a do loop until the $count variable has reached the value of 10.

my $count = 0;

do {

print "$count\n";

$count++;

} until ($count >= 10);

Dump

Sometimes referred to as barf or disaster dump, a dump is a list of data in the computer's memory that is displayed or saved when a computer crashes. This information enables developers to help track down the issue and hopefully resolve it.

Dynamic dump

The process performed by a programmer that terminates a program before it has properly closed in order to obtain a list of operating commands and memory functions that are active at the time of termination.

Ellipsis

Term used to describe three periods that are together (…). In English the ellipsis is often used as an indication to show any omitted word or other text. You'll often see an ellipsis in file names and commands on a computer to indicate the full file name or command is not being displayed. For example, a file named "Computer Hope" may be displayed as "Compute..." because the column the file name is being displayed in is not wide enough to display the full file name.

• Additional information about inserting a ellipsis into a word processor such as Microsoft Word can be found on document CH000886.

In computer programming a two (..) or three (...) ellipsis is often used to specify a range. For example, in the below Perl example "Hello World!" would be printed 20 times.

#!/usr/bin/perl

foreach (1...20) {

print "Hello World!\n";

}

Else

Programming statement that if previous conditions are not true displays alternate information or performs alternate commands.

If X = 10 then print "X is equal to 10"

else print "X is NOT equal to 10"

In the above example, if the X value was not equal to 10, the program would display "X is NOT equal to 10". Note: the above example is a general example and does not apply to any programming language.

Else if

Also known as elsif, else if is a conditional statement performed after an if statement that if true performs a function. Below is an example of an if, elsif, and else conditional statement in Perl.

#!/usr/bin/perl

print "Enter number: ";

my $number = ;

if ($number <= 10) {

print "Your number is less than or equal to 10";

}

elsif ($number <= 50) {

print "Your number is more than 10 but less than 50";

}

else {

print "Your number is greater than 50";

}

The above example shows how elsif could be used to create an additional conditional statement and not just a simple if / else statement. This could also be extended adding as many elsif or else if statements as the program needed.

Not all programming languages are the same, although this above example used elsif, in a different language such as ANSI C you would use "else if".

Encapsulation

1. When referring to networking, encapsulation is the process of taking data from one protocol and translating it into another protocol so the data can continue across a network.

2. When referring to programming, encapsulation is information within a module or other packaged section of code that enables the program or programmer to use the code while keeping it intact so other programs can use it.

Endian

The order of bytes in a multi-byte value. It can also be the order of bits in a byte. Big-endian and little-endian are the common forms of endianness, and middle-endian is another.

Endless loop

Also known as an infinite loop or a continuous loop, an endless loop is a continuous repetition of a program segment. For example, when creating a batch file, an endless loop can be created by using the GOTO statement that refers back to the beginning of the loop.

:BEGIN

Echo This is an endless loop!

GOTO BEGIN

As illustrated in the above example, the program will print "This is an endless loop!", go back to the BEGIN statement and repeat this process indefinitely.

Epoch

The operating system starting time that is used as a beginning point to determine the computers current time and date by counting the number of ticks that have elapsed since the epoch. Below is a listing of different operating systems and their associated tick and epoch.

Operating System Tick Epoch

Apple Mac OS 1 sec

January 1, 1904 to February 6, 2040

Microsoft DOS 1 sec

January 1, 1980 to January 1, 2108

Microsoft Windows 100 ns

January 1, 1601 to AD 30828

OpenVMS 100 ns

November 17, 1858 to AD 31086

POSIX 1 sec

January 1, 1970 to January 19, 2038

S/390 244.14 picosec January 1, 1970 to January 19, 2038

Unix 1 sec

January 1, 1970 to January 19, 2038

• If your computer is getting set back to the starting Epoch time or you're loosing time see document CH000386 for additional information about this issue.

1. Short for equals, eq is an operator used in programming languages and in command line commands as an abbreviation for equals. For example, in programming languages such as Perl, you could type something similar to the below example.

if ($variable1 eq $variable2) { print "They are equal"; }

In the above example, if the contents in $variable1 are the same as $variable2, then the program would print "They are equal".

2. Short for equalizer, eq is a software program or hardware device that increases or decreases the volume of specific audio frequencies.

3. Short for EverQuest, EQ, also known as EverCrack for its addictiveness, is a highly popular MMORPG game.

• The official EverQuest page can be found at: http://www.everquest.com

Error

Term used to describe an issue that arises unexpectedly causing the program not to function properly and/or to close. Software errors are commonly resolved with software updates or patches.

Errorlevel

Command used in a batch file and the level generated if a program properly executed. Most programs generate an errorlevel of 0 if the program or command executed properly and error level 1 and above indicates that the program did not execute properly.

Esac

Denotes the end of a case statement in some computer languages, such as in Linux / Unix shell scripts.

ESC

1. Short for escape, esc is a key located on a computer keyboard that allows a user to cancel or abort operations.

2. Short for escalation, esc is used to describe or refer to an escalation number dealing with an important customer related issue.

3. Escape also shorthand for an escape character, an escape is often a single backward slash ( \ ) in programming (and some portions of Linux) or a period forward slash (./) in Linux and Unix operating systems. An escape enables a user to perform a special function or to have a character treated as plain text and not a function. Below are some examples of how an escape could be used.

The above example would treat the asterisk as a plain text asterisk and not as a wild card.

The above example would treat the quote character as a quote character and not a beginning or end container. For example, in programming languages such as perl this is required if you're printing text to a file or the screen that contains a quote characters using the print command with quotes, e.g., print "This is a \" quote.";

Print a newline character to a file or the screen.

ESC

1. Short for escape, esc is a key located on a computer keyboard that allows a user to cancel or abort operations.

2. Short for escalation, esc is used to describe or refer to an escalation number dealing with an important customer related issue.

The above example would treat the asterisk as a plain text asterisk and not as a wild card.

Print a newline character to a file or the screen.

Escape sequence

Two or more characters that often begin with an escape character that tells the computer or software program to perform a function or command. Below is a listing of some of the commonly used and available escape sequences used in programming languages and some text editors.

\b Backspace

\f Form feed

\n Newline

\r Carriage return

\t Horizontal tab

Below is an example of how an escape sequence appears to a computer and then how it is displayed to the user.

Hello\nThis is an example of\nescape sequences.

The above example with escape sequences would display the below text.

Hello

This is an example of

escape sequences.

Eval

Short for evaluate, eval is a function that can be found in various different interpreted and compiled programming languages that has a variety of different abilities that depend on the language you're using.

For example, in Perl, PHP, and JavaScript the eval command can be used to interpret a variable string as code and execute it. Below is a basic example of how this could be used in Perl. This could also be extended upon by taking a complete Perl program stored in another file and executing it.

my $one = 1;

my $two = 2;

my $total = 0;

my $example = '$total = $one + $two';

eval $example;

print $total;

In the above example the string stored in the $example variable is executed using the eval command.

Exception

In computer programming, an exception is an issue that occurs because of a confliction or abnormality in the code. An exception will generally cause the program to stop or abort.

Exists

A function used to determine if something is valid or found. For example, in Perl the exists function could be used with an array or a hash to determine if a value exists. In the below example if the example value exists in the test array the computer would print "Test exists..." to the computer screen.

print "Test exists..." if exists $test{example};

Some programming languages or script languages also use exist, which performs the same or similar function but under a different name. For example the MS-DOS if command has the ability to use an exist function. See our MS-DOS if command page if you're looking for additional information and examples of how to use the MS-DOS if command.

Expression

A combination of letters, numbers and/or symbols used to represent a value. The term expression is used differently, however an expression will contain at least one operand. Expressions are found and used in various programming languages, databases and spreadsheets. Below are some basic examples of expressions in the Perl programming language.

$test = "example text";

In the above example, "example text" is the expression of the $test variable.

$total = $value1 + $value2;

In the above example the total value of $value1 and $value2 is the expression of the $total variable. In other words if $value1 and $value2 both had an expression of "1" then the $total expression is "2".

Generation languages

1. The first generation languages, or 1GL, are low-level languages that are machine language.

2. The second generation languages, or 2GL, are also low-level languages that generally consist of assembly languages.

3. The third generation languages, or 3GL, are high-level languages such as C.

5. The fifth generation languages, or 5GL, are programming languages that contain visual tools to help develop a program. A good example of a fifth generation language is Visual Basic.

Flag

Bit of information that can have an "ON" or "OFF" value more commonly represented as "1" or "0". For example, in the win.ini on an IBM compatible computer running Microsoft Windows a flag to set the wallpaper to tiled on is: TileWallpaper=1.

Floating-point

Sometimes referred to as a float, a floating-point is any fractional number. For example, 123.4 is an example of a floating-point number.

For

A type of loop statement in programming that performs pre-defined tasks while or until a pre-determined condition is met. For example, in Perl you may use a for loop similar to the below example that prints "Computer Hope" five times.

for ($i = 1; $i <>

print "Computer Hope\n";

}

In the above example, the for loop first sets the variable $i to a value of 1; each time it executes, the $i variable is increased by 1, while it is less than 6 "Computer Hope" is printed to the screen.

See our MS-DOS for command page if you're looking for additional information about the MS-DOS for command.

Foreach

A type of loop statement in programming that performs pre-defined tasks while or until a pre-determined condition is met. For example, in Perl you may use a foreach loop similar to the below example that goes through each of the elements of an array, printing everything in the array.

foreach $value (@value) {

print "$value";

}

Forth

Programming language developed by Charles H. Moore in 1970 on an IBM 1130. Forth was considered a fourth generation programming language. However, because the IBM 1130 only supported 5 characters for a file name, it was named forth.

Generation languages

1. The first generation languages, or 1GL, are low-level languages that are machine language.

2. The second generation languages, or 2GL, are also low-level languages that generally consist of assembly languages.

3. The third generation languages, or 3GL, are high-level languages such as C.

5. The fifth generation languages, or 5GL, are programming languages that contain visual tools to help develop a program. A good example of a fifth generation language is Visual Basic.

FORTRAN

Short for FORmula TRANslator, FORTRAN was one of the first programming languages. FORTRAN began being created in 1954 by members of the IBM team and is still used today. Below is a brief history of FORTRAN.

1954 - FORTRAN

1958 - FORTRAN II

1958 - FORTRAN III (Never released to public)

1961 - FORTRAN IV

1972 - FORTRAN 66

1980 - FORTRAN 77

1991 - FORTRAN 90

1997 - FORTRAN 95

For additional computer history, please see our computer history section.

Function

1. A called group of instructions that return a single result. See our subroutine for a full definition.

2. Another term used to describe a formula.

Short for Greater than or Equal to, ge is an operator also represented as ">=" that is used in programming, with some commands and in mathematics.

For example:

if ($value1 ge $value2) {

do this;

}

In the above example, if value1 is greater than or equal to value2, it would perform the operation "do this". Otherwise, it would continue through the program.

General-purpose language

A type of programming language that is capable of creating various types of programs. A good example of a general-purpose language is C.

Generation languages

1. The first generation languages, or 1GL, are low-level languages that are machine language.

2. The second generation languages, or 2GL, are also low-level languages that generally consist of assembly languages.

3. The third generation languages, or 3GL, are high-level languages such as C.

5. The fifth generation languages, or 5GL, are programming languages that contain visual tools to help develop a program. A good example of a fifth generation language is Visual Basic.

Glitch

An issue with a program generally caused by a mistake in the programming. Glitches can also be caused by errors in other programs installed on the computer, conflictions with hardware installed on the computer or various other issues.

See Computer Hope's online help section for steps in resolving your computer glitches or issues.

Goto

A programming statement that forwards a user to a different section of the program. Below is a basic example of how a goto may be used in Perl.

use strict;

start:

print "Please type your password: ";

my $password = ;

if ($password =~ /secret/i) {

print "Success";

}

else {

goto start;

}

In the above example, when the program is run, it would continue to prompt the user for a password until he or she enters "secret". This is accomplished by first creating a label called "start:"; at the beginning of the document, if the user does not enter secret, then the user is referred back to the start label through the goto statement and this will continue to loop until properly entered.

Although a goto statement is an easy method of moving through a program, it is commonly considered bad practice to use goto statements excessively in your programs because it creates difficult to read code, commonly known as spaghetti code. However, in some cases, a goto may be the only option or the best solution. We feel that it is best left to the programmer to decide when and when not to use the goto statement and stay away from the endless debate of using or not using goto statements in your code.

1. Short for Greater Than, GT is an operator represented as ">" used in programming, with some commands, and in mathematics.

For example:

if ($value1 > $value2) {

do this;

}

In the above example, if value1 is greater than value2, it would perform the operation "do this". Otherwise, it would continue through the program.

2. GT is also short for Greenwich Mean Time.

GTK

Short for GIMP ToolKit, GTK is used to create graphical user interfaces, originally designed for use with the graphics program GIMP. GTK allows programmers to create graphical user interfaces (GUI) for many operating systems relatively easily.

HAL

1. Short for Hardware Abstraction Layer, HAL is an operating system programming layer that enables the operating system to operate with a hardware device. Additional information for Microsoft Windows NT, 2000, and XP users and the hal.dll file can be found on document CH000490.

2. More appropriately known as the "HAL 9000", HAL is the name of the artificial intelligent computer in the 1968 Science Fiction movie "2001: A Space ODYSSEY".

Hard code

1. Term used to describe a type of programming language that may be more difficult than others such as BASIC.

2. Term used to describe code written that is likely not going to change.

Hash

1. When referring to Perl, a hash is an associative array. Hashes have a % prefix and contain a listing of keys and values. Below is an example of a basic Perl hash.

my %hope = ("hardware", "Monitor", "software", "office");

2. A hash is also another word for Octothrope.

Heap

Area of preserved memory available in programming languages such as C that allows the program being created to store information in.

Hello World

First introduced in the BCPL programming language "Hello World!" is a software program or script used to help introduce someone to a programming language, to test a programming language, and/or to test a compiler of a programming language. The few lines of code print the message: "Hello World!" to the computer screen and give the user a basic understanding of how to print something to the screen, compile, and run the program or script. Below is an example of how to print "Hello World!" in Perl.

#!/usr/bin/perl

print "Hello World!\n";

A great collection of printing "Hello World!" to the screen in over 290 different programming languages can be found here.

HDML

Created by Unwired Planet in 1997, HDML is short for Handheld Device Markup Language. HDML is a language that allows the text portions of web pages to be presented on cellular phones and personal digital assistants via wireless access.

High-level language

A type of advanced computer programming language that isn't limited by the type of computer or for one specific job and is more easily understood. Today, there are dozens of high-level languages; some commonly used high-level languages are BASIC, C, FORTAN and Pascal.

HTML

First proposed as hypertext in 1990 by Tim Berners-Lee, HTML is short for HyperText Markup Language and is a language used to create electronic documents, especially pages on the World Wide Web, that contain connections called hyperlinks to other pages. Below is an example of a basic web page in HTML code.

This is an example of a basic HTML page.

• See our HTML help page for additional information and help with HTML.

• HTML and HTM are also computer file extensions for files containing HTML to be displayed on the Internet. A listing of computer file extensions can also be found here.

HTML

This is an example of a basic HTML page.

• See our HTML help page for additional information and help with HTML.

• HTML and HTM are also computer file extensions for files containing HTML to be displayed on the Internet. A listing of computer file extensions can also be found here.

IDE

1. Short for Integrated Drive Electronics or IBM Disc Electronics, IDE is more commonly known as ATA and is a standard interface for IBM compatible hard drives. IDE is different from the Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI) and Enhanced Small Device Interface (ESDI) because its controllers are on each drive, meaning the drive can connect directly to the motherboard or controller. IDE and its updated successor, Enhanced IDE (EIDE), are the most common drive interfaces found in IBM compatible computers today. Below is a picture of the actual IDE connector and cable.

Additional information about IDE and other computer interfaces can be found here.

2. Short for Integrated Development Environment, IDE also sometimes referred to as IDLE, IDEs are visual tools that allow programmers to develop programs better. Commonly, an IDE may have a compiler, debugger, text editor, and other integrated tools. Smalltalk was the first programming language to have a first true IDE.

If statement

Programming conditional statement that, if proved true, performs a function or displays information. For example:

If X = 10 then print "X is equal to 10"

which could also be written as:

if ($x == 10) { print "X is equal to 10"; }

In the above example, if the X value was equal to 10, the program would display "X is equal to 10". Note: the above example is a general example and does not apply to any programming language. See our conditional statement dictionary definition for additional information and some basic programming examples.

Inherent error

Type of error found in a program that will cause it to fail regardless of what the user does and is commonly unavoidable. This type of error requires the programmer or software developer to modify the code to correct the issue.

Input/output statement

Portion of a program that instructs a computer how to read and process information from an input device and/or send the information to an output device.

Instructions

1. When referring to the computer processor, an instruction is small segment of code that contains steps that need to be executed by the computer processor.

2. Portion of programming that prompts a computer to execute a function.

3. Documentation included with a product that provides information and help about that product.

Integer

A numeric value, for example, 1 and 1234 are examples of integers. A negative integer is any negative numeric value, for example, -1 and -1234 are examples of a negative integers.

IDE

Additional information about IDE and other computer interfaces can be found here.

Interpreted

When referring to a programming language, an interpreted language refers to a language that does not need to be compiled before it is executed. However, because the script or program is not compiled the program requires an interpreter to run the program. An interpreter takes the script or program code and interprets it into something that can be executed and understood by the computer. Below are some examples of interpreted programming languages.

JavaScript

JScript

Perl

PHP

Python

Invalid

Error message generated by invalid data, a logical programming flaw, or an input error. For example, if a computer has a floppy disk in the computer that is not bootable, when booting the computer you will receive an Invalid System Disk error message.

IPC

Short for InterProcess Communication, IPC is the ability of applications to share information and handle many requests at one time. An example of IPC is dynamic data exchange (DDE) in which information modified in one application automatically is updated in another.

Microsoft Windows users may experience an issue relating to the IPC$ when attempting to connect to a Microsoft Windows NT / 2000 computer from a Windows 9x. Additional information about this issue can be found on document CH000473.

ISAPI

Short for Internet Server Application Program Interface, ISAPI is a Microsoft API similar to CGI scripts that allow programmers to create web based scripts / programs to be run on IIS and similar web servers.

Java

Originally known as oak, Java is a programming language developed by Sun Microsystems that was first introduced to the public in 1995 and today is widely used to create Internet applications and other software programs.

When used on the Internet, Java allows for small programs known as an applets to be downloaded, enabling the user to perform a specific function or feature that is not available with the standard web browser. Unlike JavaScript, the users must download and/or install the applet or program before being able to utilize the program. Below is an example of a Java applet from Sun and a method of testing if Java is installed on your computer. If Java is installed on your computer you should see additional information about the installed Java version and your operating system.

• The official Java page is located at http://java.sun.com. This page will also allow users to freely install and check your browser's Java availability.

Java native interface

Sometimes abbreviated as JNI, the Java Nataive Interface is a programming interface that is part of the JDK that allows a programmer to ensure that the code being written is portable across all platforms.

JavaScript

Formerly known as LiveScript and renamed to JavaScript in 1995, JavaScript is an interpreted programming language that allows a web designer the ability to easily insert code into their web page. JavaScript is commonly placed into a HTML, ASP, or a similar type of file and run directly from the web page to perform tasks such as printing the time and date, creating a calendar, or other tasks that are not possible through plain HTML. Below is a basic example of a JavaScript that prints "Hello World!".

Below is an example of a JavaScript implemented into this page that will print the current time and date. Like all JavaScript files the user must have a browser capable of viewing JavaScript as well as have it enabled. If JavaScript is not enabled you will see a message instead of the date. Finally, a user could also view the source code of this page to get the source code for this script.

Although JavaScript files are often embedded into the HTML file, users can also save their JavaScript code in an external file. This file often ends with a .js file extension.

• Additional information about enabling and disabling JavaScript in your browser can be found on document CH000891.

• Additional examples of useful JavaScripts can be found by clicking here.

JCL

Short for Job Control Language, JCL is a script language that is used to communicate with the IBM 3090 MVS operating system. Using JCL a user has the ability of submitting a job to the operating system, view resources needed to run the job, and control the jobs.

JDK

Short for Java Development Kit, the JDK includes the software and tools required to compile, debug, and run applications written in Java.

JRE

Short for Java Runtime Environment, JRE is a subset of the files that are included in the JDK. Unlike the JDK, JRE does not include a compiler, debugger, or any related tools and can be distributed freely.

JScript

JScript is Microsoft's implementation of JavaScript. JScript is an interpreted programming language and complies with the ECMA 262 language specification. Below is an example of a JScript that prints "Hello World!".

// Print Hello World!

print ("Hello World!");

JVM

Short for Java Virtual Machine, JVM is software that interprets Java bytecode and converts it into machine language to execute it on the computer.

Kit

1. When referring to a software program, a kit is a collection of similar programs and/or utilities that help a user fully use a program. For example, the JDK helps Java programmers by packaging all the important tools for creating Java Programs.

2. Shorthand for Keep In Touch, KIT is commonly used in chat rooms and other text based communications. Below is an example of how this could be used in chat.

User1: Ok I've G2G

User2: Ok CYA, KIT

Kludge

Sometimes written as kluge, Kludge is pronounced as Klooj and is a poorly designed solution to a problem, usually dealing with computer programming.

Label

1. Word or group of words that identifies something such as hard drive, CD-ROM... Label is also a MS-DOS command used to change the label of the hard disk drive or floppy disk drive.

Additional information about the label command can be found here.

2. Term used to describe a sticker placed on a computer floppy diskette, CD-ROM or other computer equipment to help identify that object.

3. In programming, a label is a reference point and/or command used to move easily throughout a program. See our goto definition for an example of how this may be used.

Language

1. When referring to computer programming, a language refers to the text, numbers, and symbols written to create a software program. See our programming language definition for additional information about this term.

2. When referring to a selection in a program, a language commonly refers to what language the user of the computer speaks or prefers. For example, English may be an option.

Language processor

A hardware device designed or used to perform tasks, such as processing program code to machine code. Language processors are found in languages such as Fortran and COBOL.

Lexicon

1. In general a lexicon is a group of words that makes up a language. For example, each of the words in this sentence are just a few of the words that make up the English lexicon.

2. When referring to computers and/or programming, lexicon is the group of words that are used to create a programming language. For example, for, foreach, do, if, and while are just a few examples of words found in many programming languages.

LISP

Short for LISt Processing, LISP is a type of high-level programming used in artificial intelligence research.

LiveScript

The beginning language for what we now know as JavaScript, renamed in 1995 after Sun endorsed the language.

Literal

Programming instructions or numbers that are unchanged when translated into machine language.

Logical operation

A logical operation or logical operators is another way of defining the Boolean operators: AND, OR, and NOT. See our Boolean definition for additional information and examples.

LOGO

Also known as turtle graphics, LOGO that is pronounced as Low-go is a high-level programming language known for its graphics capabilities, created by Seymour Paper in 1967. LOGO is often used for young school children as a basic method of programming instructions into a computer to create a graphic.

A Microsoft windows version of Logo can be found at http://www.softronix.com/logo.html

Loony bin

Slang used to describe someone who spends a lot of time in the CGI-BIN directory.

Loophole

Term used to describe an error in a program code or an opening in the code that allows for errors to occur or for an individual to get past security or other locations protected by the program with the loophole.

Loosely typed language

A programming language that does not require a variable to be defined. For example, Perl is a loosely typed language, you can declare a variable but do not need to specify the type of variable. In the below example the first line declares the $test variable that can be used as an integer or string.

my $test;

$test = 1; #Test variable is a integer.

$test = "hello"; #Test variable used as a string.

The opposite of a loosely typed languages is a strongly typed language, such as C.

Low-level language

Programming language that is more arcane and difficult to understand. Some good examples of low-level languages are assembly and machine languages.

Library

1. In computer programming, a library refers to a collection of files, programs, routines, scripts or functions that can be referenced within the programming code.

2. When referring to data-storage, a library refers to any managed collection of storage devices, often a collection of removable storage.

Short for Less Than, LT is an operator represented as "<" that is used in programming, some commands, and in mathematics.

For example:

if ($value1 < $value2) {

do this

}

In the above example, if value1 is less than value2, it would perform the operation "do this". Otherwise, it would continue through the program.

Machine language

Sometimes referred to as machine code or object code, machine language is a collection of binary digits or bits that the computer reads and interprets. Machine language is the only language a computer is capable of understanding.

Map

1. When referring to programming or the layout of a software program or hardware device, a map refers to documentation that presents the overall structure of a program or hardware device.

2. When referring to networks, a map refers to a link to another computer, share, or printer. Additional information about how to map on a computer network can be found on document CH000472.

3. A map is also used to describe a HTML image map.

4. In general, a map is a term used to describe instructions, commonly on a piece of paper, that are used to locate a destination in the world. Below is a listing of some popular places on the Internet that help you create driving maps to a destination of your choice.

Markup language

A language that consists of easily understood "names", "keywords", or "tags" that help format the overall view of a page and the data it contains. Some examples of a markup language are HTML and XML.

Meta-character

Term used to describe a character or characters that perform a function; for example, "\n" is often used as a meta-character for a new line and "\t" is often used to represent a tab. Meta-characters are often used in computer programming to match the meta-characters. For example, in the below example, the below Perl regular expression would locate any new lines and delete them to combine all the data.

$data =~ s/\n//;

Metalanguage

Term used to describe a programming language that is a markup language, similar to a standard language, utilizing various rules, statements and expressions. A good example of a metalanguage is XML.

Middleware

Sometimes referred to as glue, middleware is a term used to describe a software program, service, or a portion of programming code that allows two or more software programs to communicate and work with each other.

Module

1. Relating to computer programming, a module is a linked section of code that contains instructions on operating or performing a certain task. For example, a programmer may link to a module that contains instructions on getting a computer sound card to work.

2. Relating to computer hardware, a module is a component that does not require any additional hardware or software to operate. For example, a memory module contains everything required for it to function properly.

MSDN

Short for Microsoft Developer Network, MSDN is a section of Microsoft devoted to help educate and inform developers about Microsoft products and how to develop for or with them.

The official MSDN site is found at: http://msdn.microsoft.com/

Multi-pass compiler

Type of software compiler that may pass through source code multiple times. Multi-pass compilers are slower but much more efficient when compiling.

Short for not equal, ne is an operator used in programming languages and in command line commands as an abbreviation for not equal to. For example, in programming languages such as Perl, you could type something similar to the below example.

if ($variable1 ne $variable2) { print "They are not the same"; }

In the above example, if contents in $variable1 are not the same as $variable2 then the program would print "They are not the same".

Native compiler

Application that converts one language, commonly a high-level language, into the binary or the computer's native language.

Native language

Sometimes also referred to as the host language, the native language is the language understood by the computer. For example, binary is the language understood by the computer.

Natural language

The idea of creating a programming language that uses the grammar, vocabulary and syntax of the human language.

NBSP

Also known as a fixed space or hard space, NBSP is short for Non-Breaking SPace and is used in programming, HTML, and word processing to create a space in a line that cannot be broken by word wrap on in the case of HTML create multiple spaces.

Creating a fixed space in a word processor

To create a fixed or hard space in a word process such as Microsoft Office or Open office use one of the below keyboard shortcuts.

Windows users: CTRL + ALT + SPACE, CTRL + SPACE, and/or hold down ALT and press 0160 on the num pad.

Apple users: OPTION + SPACE

Creating a NBSP in HTML

An example of how a user may insert a NBSP in HTML would be by adding the below HTML tag.

In the above examples using this tag would allow you to create multiple spaces in a row, something that cannot be done with only pressing the space bar. To do this you would have to type one of the above tags multiple times for the amount of spaces you needed.

NDA

Short for Non-Disclosure Agreement, NDA is the contract agreement a tester or developer makes to a company to not disclose any of the company's intellectual property or secrets.

Null pointer

When referring to computer memory, a null pointer is a command used to direct a software program or operating system to an empty location in the computer memory. Commonly, the null pointer is used to denote the end of a memory search or processing event. In computer programming, a null pointer is a pointer that does not point to any object or function.

A nil pointer is a false value. For example: 1 > 2 is a nil statement.

In the programming language C, NULL is an available command that can be used, where nil is an available command used in the Pascal programming language.

Noncontiguous data structure

Method of storing data in a non contiguous, or adjoining, sectors of memory.

NDA

Short for Non-Disclosure Agreement, NDA is the contract agreement a tester or developer makes to a company to not disclose any of the company's intellectual property or secrets.

Nonexecutable statement

Programming command that is not run or executed when being read by the computer. A commonly used nonexecutable statement is a remark (REM) used in batch files and and other types of Microsoft Windows and DOS programs.

Below is a listing of other types of text used to remark, comment, or cause the line to be skipped.

# The pound symbol is a commonly used symbol to comment a line in several different programming languages. This symbol is only required once at the beginning of the line or comment on the line.

; The semicolon is commonly used to remark a line in an INI file. This symbol is only required once at the beginning of the line. Note that it must be at the beginning of the line in an INI file.

! The exclamation mark is used in various types of scripting programs to comment a line. This symbol is commonly required at the beginning of the line.

/* */ Used to add a comment to a line in the C programming language. The comment must begin with /* and end with */. Below is an example of how this may look:

/* Computer Hope comment */

Used in HTML and some other scripting languages; beginning a comment with will allow you to comment your HTML source without it being displayed in the normal view. Below is an example of how this would look:

NO-OPeration instructions

Also known as a do-nothing instruction, the NO-OPeration, NO-OP or NOP instruction is used in computer programming to instruct the software program to do nothing if a conditional statement is met.

Null character

A programming code representing a character with no value or a value that is missing. For example, a software developer may create a null value by declaring a variable without specifying a value or may make it equal to nothing.

Object file

A data file containing object code that is generated when a compiler processes a source code.

Symbols and other objects can be stripped from an object file using the Linux / Unix strip command.

Object module

Also known as an object file, an object module is a section of code used in object-oriented programming that can be used by other object modules or the program being created. The object modules generally contain a specific function such as enabling a device on a computer.

ODBC

Short for Open DataBase Connectivity, ODBC was originally developed by SQL Access Group and released in 1992. ODBC is a widely accepted API used for database access and is commonly used in various programs developed by Microsoft, such as Microsoft SQL, Microsoft Access and Microsoft Excel.

OOP

Coined by Alan Kay, Object-Oriented Programming, also known as OOP or o-o programming, is a type of programming that incorporates other segments of external code.

One-pass compiler

Type of software compiler that passes through the source code only once. One-pass compilers are faster, but may not generate an as efficient program. In addition, one-pass compilers cannot compile all types of source codes.

Operand

In computer programming, an operand is a term used to describe any object that is capable of being manipulated. For example, in "1 + 2" the "1" and "2" are the operands and the plus symbol is the operator.

Operator

1. In computer programming, an operator is an object that is capable of manipulating a value or operator. For example, in "1 + 2", the "1" and "2" are the operands and the plus symbol is the operator. The basic operators available in all programming languages are plus (+), minus (-), divide (/), times (*), greater than (>), less than (<), greater than or equal to (>=), and less than or equal to (<=).

Booleans are also considered operators where AND, OR and NOT can also be used in most programming languages.

2. A person who controls an IRC channel. See our op dictionary definition for additional information about this term.

Operator associatively

The order that operators execute, commonly executing left to right. For example, if you had 5-4+3, the operator associatively would execute 5-4 before adding 3.

Operator precedence

The order that an operator is executed. For example, many times a multiplication operator will execute before the addition operator.

OR operator

Boolean operator that executes an operation or task if one or more values or operands are met. For example, if 1 + 1 = 3 or 1 + 1 = 2 will be true because 1 + 1 does equal 2 even though 1 + 1 does not equal 3.

Overflow error

An error caused when the capacity of a device is exceeded.

P-code

Parenthesis

Parse

Pascal

Pastebin

PDL

Perl

PHP

Pick

Pipe

POD

Pointer

Procedural language

Procedure

Process

Program

Program generator

Program listing

Programmable

Programmer

Programming

Programming in logic

Programming language

Programming tools

Prolog

Pseudocode

Pseudolanguage

Pseudo-operation

Python

Pseudocode

Also known as p-code, pseudocode is a type of computer programming language that resembles plain English that cannot be compiled or executed but explains a resolution to a problem.

Parenthesis

Also known as the open and close parentheses, the parenthesis is an outward "(" and/or inward ")" curved line that enable writers to express remarks, used for mathematical order of operation and in programming for grouping, capturing, and other tasks depending on the programming language. Below is an example of how parentheses may be used in an if statement, using Perl.

if ($test =~ /[a-zA-z]/) {

print "It works!\n";

}

Parse

Also known as parsing or parsed, parse generally refers to taking a collection of data or information and converting or translating that data into another form of data and/or into smaller segments of data.

Pascal

High-level programming language developed by Niklaus Wirth in 1971 that is named after the Mathematician Blaise Pascal.

Pastebin

Also known as nopaste, a pastebin is a web site where users are allowed to paste several lines of text or code so that they may link to this information in a chat room instead of having to paste all those lines directly into the chat. Users in the chat room simply go to the link if they wish to see this information. Pasting the information directly into a chat room has disadvantages, such as the possibility of being kicked off the chat, or disrupting other users' conversations. Such paste sites also have other benefits, such as for users who are unable to send or receive files directly due to a firewall or other connection issues.

Popular pasting sites include: http://rafb.net/paste/ and http://pastebin.com/

PDL

Short for Page-Description Language, PDL is the computer language used with computer printers that instructs the computer printer how to properly print a page being sent from the computer. Each printer manufacturer has its own type of PDL.

Perl

Short for Practical Extraction and Reporting Language, Perl is an interpreted programming language first developed by Larry Wall in 1987 that is similar to the C language. Perl is one of the more commonly used languages in writing CGI scripts and programming for Internet and web page applications. Below is an example of a Perl script that prints "Hello World!".

#!/usr/bin/perl

print "Hello World!\n";

Files that include Perl code on a web server may have any type of file extension; however, they commonly end in .CGI, .PL, or .PLX.

Perl is a free and open source programming language available for numerous different operating systems. If you're running a Linux distro, often Perl will already be installed on the computer. However, users running MacOS or Windows will need to download and install. We recommend users try the free download for ActiveState Perl found on the below link.

http://www.activestate.com/

PHP

Created by Rasmus Lerdorf in 1994, PHP, which is short for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor, is a server-side interpreted scripting language designed for creating dynamic web pages and web pages that effectively work with databases.

Files that include PHP code on a web server may have any type of file extension; however, they will commonly end in .PHP, .PHP3, or .PHTML.

Pick

Originally known as GIRLS (Generalized Information Retrieval Language and System), Pick is a commonly used database management system used on Unix and Windows systems developed in 1965 at the TRW Corporation for the U.S. Army engineers.

Pipe

1. When referring to computer memory, a pipe is a temporary section of computer memory capable of linking two or more computer processors, increasing the overall efficiency of the computer.

2. Also known as a vertical bar, the pipe is a computer keyboard key ( | ) that is two vertical lines above one another and commonly looks like a full vertical line. This symbol is commonly found on the same United States qwerty keyboard key as the back slash key.

3. In programming, the double pipe "||" is used to represent an OR Boolean statement.

• An additional listing of computer keyboard keys can be found by clicking here.

POD

1. When referring to Perl, POD is short for Plain Old Documentation and is a simple markup language that allows programmers to add documentation and modules to their Perl programs.

2. PC computer racing game, POD was one of the first games released which supported Intel's MMX technology and was included with many computers that first shipped with MMX as a demonstration.

Pointer

1. In general, pointer is a term used used to describe a tip or a hint about a particular product or subject.

2. When referring to a mouse, see mouse pointer.

3. When referring to programming, a pointer commonly refers to a reference made to an address in memory of another variable.

Procedural language

A computer programming language that follows, in order, a set of commands. Examples of computer procedural languages are BASIC, C, FORTRAN, and Pascal.

Routine / Subroutine

A routine or subroutine also referred to as a function, procedure, and subprogram is a portion of code that may be called and executed anywhere in a program. For example, a routine may be used to save a file or display the time. Instead of writing the code for these commonly performed tasks, routines are made and called when these tasks need to be performed. Below is a basic example of a Perl subroutine.

&hello;

sub hello {

print "Hello World!\n";

}

In the above example, a user could call the "hello" subroutine (in this example, by typing "&hello;") anywhere within the program and have the program print "Hello World!".

Process

1. Commonly refers to a set of instructions currently being processed by the computer processor.

2. The act of manipulating, altering, or viewing data.

3. Refers to a set of predetermined rules in place that must be followed.

Program

1. A software application, or software program, is the most commonly found and run files on a computer. An example of a software application is Microsoft Word, which is a word processor allowing users to create and write documents. Without programs, a user may have an operating computer, but would not be able to do much with it.

Many program files on IBM compatible computers commonly end with a file extension of .BAT, .EXE, .COM, or .PIF. Executing these files will commonly open the program.

A complete listing of software programs and applications currently listed in the Computer Hope database can be found on our program listing section.

2. Program or programming is a term used to describe the process of a programmer developing a program.

Program generator

Software program that enables an individual to easily create a program of their own with less effort and programming knowledge. With a program generator a user may only be required to specify the steps required for his or her program and not need to write any code or very little code.

Program listing

1. In general, may refer to a listing of computer software programs or applications.

2. The complete listing of a computer program, source code, and all files that make up the software program.

Programmable

Term used to describe the ability of a software program or hardware device to be programmed and properly follow the instructions that were programmed into the device or program. All computers are programmable.

Programmer

An individual who enjoys or writes code, or develops software for a living. Many programmers who program for a profession have a college degree in computer science. While each job differs, most programmers are responsible for creating the software program or parts of a program, debugging problems, and/or adding onto a program.

• See document CH000764 for additional information about the different types of computer jobs and their requirements.

Programming

The act of a programmer writing code or instructions in a programming language that instructs a computer or other electronic device how to operate or function.

Prolog

Short for Programming in Logic or Programation et Logique, prolog is a programming language that was originally developed by Alain Colmeraur and his colleagues at the University of Marseilles. Prolog is commonly used for AI, and unlike other programming languages, Prolog is based off a set of rules instead of instructions.

Programming language

A programming language is a computer language programmers use to develop applications, scripts, or other set of instructions for a computer to execute. Below is a listing of several different programming languages and scripting languages currently listed in our database.

ALGOL

Ada

AIML

Assembly

BASIC

Batchfile

BCPL

C++

COBOL

CPL

DarkBASIC

dBASE

FORTRAN

FoxPro

HDML

HTML

Java

JavaScript

JCL

LISP

Live Script

LOGO

Pascal

Perl

PHP

Pick

Prolog

SGML

Smalltalk

SQL

Tcl

True BASIC

VHDL

Visual Basic

Visual FoxPro

WML

WHTML

XML

Users who are new to computer programming may find the above list confusing and may not be sure where to start. Where to start really depends on the type of computer programming you wish to do. Below is a listing of some of the different fields of programming as well as what language you should consider for each of these fields.

Note: There are several programming languages listed above that may not be listed in a category below that they are capable of doing. Instead of listing every language under every category below, we have just listed some of the more popular choices for each category.

Application / Program development

Artificial Intelligence development

Database development

Game development

Computer drivers or other hardware interface development

Internet and web page development

Script development

Applications / Program development

Application and program development involves programs you work on a daily bases. For example, the Internet browser you are using to view this web page is considered a program. If you are interested in writing your own programs you should consider the below languages.

• C

• C#

• C++

• D

• Java

• Tcl

• Visual Basic

Artificial Intelligence development

Artificial Intelligence or related fields could involve anything from creating the character interactions in computer games, portions of programs that make the decisions in programs, chatbots, or any other related programs. If you're interested in writing your own AI you should consider the below languages.

• AIML

• C

• C#

• C++

• Prolog

Database development

Database developers create and maintain databases. If you're interested in creating your own database or maintaining other databases you should consider any of the below languages.

• DBASE

• FoxPro

• MySQL

• SQL

• Visual FoxPro

Game development

Game development involves the development of computer games or other entertainment software. If you're interested in writing your own games you should consider the below languages.

• C

• C#

• C++

• DarkBASIC

• Java

Computer drivers or other hardware interface development

Computer drivers and programming hardware interface support is a necessity for computers to operate with the hardware; without it your computer wouldn't work. If you're interested in writing your own drivers or software interfaces for hardware devices you should consider the below languages.

• Assembly

• C

Internet and web page development

The Internet and web page development is the essence of the Internet, without developers we would have no Internet. If you're interested in creating your own web pages, developing Internet applications, or Internet related tasks, you should consider the below languages.

• HDML

• HTML

• Java

• JavaScript

• Perl

• PHP

• XML

Script development

Although not likely to be a career, knowing how to create and develop scripts to increase your productivity and/or your company's can save you countless hours. If you're interested in developing your own scripts you should consider the below languages.

• awk

• bash

• Batchfile

• Perl

• Tcl

• Additional information about different types of computer jobs, including computer programmers, can be found on document CH000764.

Programming tools

Software tools or scripts that are designed to assist a programmer with developing software. For example, a compiler is an example of a programming tool.

Pseudolanguage

A programming language that must be compiled into Machine language before being able to be understood by the computer.

Pseudo-operation

Term used to describe the act of a software program sending instructions or code to a hardware device that has not been compiled and having the hardware device translate the instructions into machine language.

Python

1. An interpreted, interactive, object-oriented programming language.

The official Python programming page is found at http://www.python.org.

2. Short name of describing the UsRobotics Sportster Python 56k modem. This modem is generally compared to the UsRobotics Rex. What makes these two modems different is the Python Modem has jumpers.

1. A GUI software toolkit developed by Trolltech, formerly known as Quasar Technologies. It includes a C++ class library and tools for cross-platform development and internationalization.

The official Qt website can be found here: http://trolltech.com/products/qt

2. Abbreviation for Quick Time.

3. Shorthand for quit talking, QT is used in chat and other text-based communication to tell another user to stop talking.

4. Chat slang for cute or cutie, QT is also used in chat and other text-based communication as a way of telling another user they're cute.

Quick-and-dirty

Quick-and-dirty or quick-n-dirty, is a technique in which something is done fast and sloppily, usually due to time constraints and pressure, or because the task was not considered important. This generally refers to software programming, where a feature or program is designed and written in a short amount of time and may contain errors and is usually hard to maintain or build on.

RAD

Short for Rapid Application Development, RAD describes a method of developing software programs through the use of pre-programmed tools or wizards. Although RAD will often greatly decrease the time it takes to develop a program and also is often easier, it may reduce the efficiency of the program.

Seed

1. When referring to computer programming, security, or software a random seed is a number or other value that has been generated by software using one or more values. For example, hardware information, time, and/or date are different examples of values that can be used as a seed to generate a random value that can be used by a program or in security data with encryption.

2. With BitTorrent a seed is client on BitTorrent that is only sharing a complete file.

RCS

Short for Revision Control System, RCS is a software solution that helps manage multiple revisions of a file. Although still used today, RCS has been greatly replaced by CVS.

The official RCS web page can be found at: http://www.cs.purdue.edu/homes/trinkle/RCS/

Recursion

1. When referring to computer programming, recursion refers to a function or subroutine that calls itself purposely or by mistake. Recursion is commonly performed to solve problems capable of being resolved by deduction; many numeric problems can often be resolved by recursion.

2. When referring to a network or domain name servers, recursion refers to an available option that will enable or disable the ability of name servers sending requests from other name servers.

Microsoft's DNS server recursion can be disabled by setting the below registry key to a value of 1.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentContolSet\Services

+ \DNS\Parameters.

Regex

Short for regular expression, a regex is a string of text that enables a user to quickly create pattern matching and quickly and easily locate and manage text. Perl is a great example of a programming language that utilizes regular expressions. Below are a few examples of regular expressions and pattern matching in Perl.

$data =~ s/bad data/good data/i;

The above example replaces any "bad data" with "good data" using an insensitive case match.

$data =~ s/a/A/i;

The above example replaces any lowercase "a" with an uppercase "A".

$data =~ s/[a-z]/*/;

The above replaces any lowercase letter, a through z, with an asterisk.

Users who are interested in regular expressions in software programs, such as grep, or in their programming language of choice, should definitely check out the O'Reilly book "Mastering Regular Expressions".

Regex

$data =~ s/bad data/good data/i;

The above example replaces any "bad data" with "good data" using an insensitive case match.

$data =~ s/a/A/i;

The above example replaces any lowercase "a" with an uppercase "A".

$data =~ s/[a-z]/*/;

The above replaces any lowercase letter, a through z, with an asterisk.

REM

Remark statement that can be placed in system files such as the autoexec.bat or config.sys by placing "REM" in front of a line. Doing this would remark the line and prevent it from loading up the next time your computer was to boot up.

See our nonexecutable statement definition page for additional information and examples used in programming and other types of files.

Repeat counter

A hardware device or portion of a software program that helps keep track of the amount of times a repeated task has been performed. In programming, this helps prevent a continuous loop.

Reserved character

A character or set of characters that cannot be used because of their use in other locations or by the operating system. For example, many operating systems reserve the following characters: "\, /, :, *, ?, ", <, >, and |" and will not allow these characters to be used when saving and/or renaming a file.

Reserved word

1. A word within a program or programming language that is reserved for special use that cannot be used. Reserved words are often found in programming languages and macros.

2. Reserved words are also used in operating systems as a method of identifying a device or other service. For example, below is a listing of Microsoft reserved words for their MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows operating systems. When attempting to use any of the below reserved words as a name of a file, and/or in a command you may encounter and unusual response. For example, attempting to save a file as CON or CON.txt may generate a reserved file name error, may say the file already exists, or may cause an access denied error. Because these are reserved words you cannot create a file using any of the below examples.

Reserved Word What it is

AUX Auxiliary port aka Serial Port COM1

CON Short for console, which Microsoft describes as the display monitor.

COM1 COM port.

COM2 COM port.

COM3 COM port.

COM4 COM port.

LPT1 LPT port.

LPT2 LPT port.

LPT3 LPT port.

NUL NULL

PRN Printer aka LPT1

ROM BASIC

With early computers, the ROM BASIC was a ROM interpreter that allowed users to run and create BASIC programs. Today's computers no longer include a BASIC ROM; however, users using IBM compatible computers still may encounter error messages related to the ROM BASIC.

• Additional information about the "No ROM basic system halted" error message can be found on document CH000185.

RPG

1. Short for Role Playing Game, RPG is a type of game where players act out of a different reality. A listing of RPG games in the Computer Hope database can be found here.

2. Short for Report Program Generator, RPG programming is a programming language developed by IBM in the 1960s to simplify programming for business applications.

3. Short for Raster Pattern Generator, RPG is the set of electronic circuits that converts raster patterns into bit patterns.

Run time

The run time or runtime is the total time of how long it takes a program to run.

Sandbox

When referring to computer security, a sandbox is a location in memory designated by a program or user where a program can run without affecting the system. This enables a developer to test a program or script without affecting the system if anything goes wrong with the program or script.

SDK

Short for Software Development Kit, SDK is a collection of software utilities and tools that help a programmer develop applications for a specific platform. SDK is commonly used to describe the Sun Java software development kit.

Separator

1. A line that helps divide and break up icons from other icons or text. For example, a menu separator helps break up sections of a menu. See our menu definition for a visual representation.

2. Another word used to describe a delimiter.

SGML

Short for Standard Generalized Markup Language, SGML is an ISO standard that makes up a markup language.

Shebang

Slang often used in computer Perl programming and other script files. The term shebang refers to the "#!" located at the top of many script files that points to the path of the associated program. For example, in a Perl script, the complete line may look similar to the below line.

#!/usr/local/bin/perl

This line instructs the operating system the Perl script is being run in where the executable for Perl and all of its associated files are located. This line is commonly only required in Linux and Unix variants, users running Perl in Microsoft Windows do not need this line.

Shell

1. A software interface that enables the user to interact with the computer. Some examples of shells are MS-DOS Shell, command.com, csh, ksh, and sh.

2. When referring to a script, a shell script is a type of script designed for a particular type of shell.

Smalltalk

Developed by Alan Kay and other researchers at Xerox PARC, smalltalk is recognized as the second Object Programming Language and the first true Integrated Development Environment (IDE). Below is a basic example of how a programmer could print Hello World! in smalltalk.

Transcript show:'Hello World!';cr

The official smalltalk web page can be found at: http://www.smalltalk.org

SOAP

Originally short for Simple Object Access Protocol, SOAP is a protocol for exchanging XML messages over a network.

Socket

1. When referring to a processor, a socket is a type of connection commonly used for computer processors and other types of chips. There are various types of sockets available that are used for specific speeds and types of processors. Illustrations of processor sockets as well as additional information and help with computer processors can be found on our CPU help page.

2. When referring to a programming language, a socket is a communication used between processes or communication between a client and server. One of the most widely used socket API or library is the Berkley Unix C library.

Soft

Term used to describe something that is capable of being changed or modified easily. For example, the term 'software' is a term used to describe programming code that can be modified or changed easily. In comparison to hardware, which cannot be changed as easily.

Software engineering

The programming and production that goes into the software development process. This commonly involves the planning, design, and continued development of a software application.

Source

1. In general a source is the location where information is obtained from. For example, if you were copying information from a CD to a computer the CD is considered the source and the computer is the destination.

2. When referring to computer programming or a software program, source refers to the code used to create the program. Commonly, the source code is not released to others outside of the company that developed the software.

3. When referring to a website, the source is the HTML code or other code used to generate a web page on a browser. Any code that is not server side can be viewed by any of your visitors with their browser. For example, users using Microsoft Internet Explorer can view the source of a web page by clicking on "View" and then "Source".

Source computer

Spaghetti code

Slang used to describe a program's source code that is difficult to read and/or follow by a human because of how the original programmer wrote the code. Spaghetti code is often not organized and has portions of code that may belong at the bottom of the code at the top of the code or vice versa. Spaghetti code may also skip to other portions of the code numerous times making it hard to track down issues within the code. Finally, some users consider programs that contain several goto statements spaghetti code because they have to try to follow each of the goto statements throughout the whole program.

Spaghetti code is considered bad practice because a program may be more prone to experience errors, and if errors are experienced, it is more difficult to locate what is causing the error to occur. Spaghetti code can be reduced by keeping your program organized, always commenting your code, and if possible, breaking your code into sections.

Special purpose language

A program language that was designed for a specific function. For example, LISP is an example of a special purpose programming language designed to create artificial intelligence.

SPL

Short for Systems Programming Language, SPL was used on the HP 3000 computer system instead of an assembler.

Spooling

1. See our print spooler dictionary definition for additional information about printer spooling.

2. When referring to computer programming or software programs, spooling refers to the process of putting instructions or something that needs to be done into memory or on storage until the program or computer is ready to execute those instructions.

3. See spool dictionary definition for additional related definitions.

Stack

1. In computer networking, a stack is a frequently used method of describing TCP/IP.

2. In computer programming, a stack is a special type of data structure that removes items in the reverse order from that they are added.

3. A stack may also refer to a collection of computers that are stacked upon each other. This may also refer to a stack of computer motherboards and required components for a functional computer with no case that are used for a computer farm.

Statement

In computer programming, a statement is a single line of code that is used to perform a specific task.

Strong typed language

A programming language that requires a variable to be defined as well as the type of variable it is. For example, C is a strong typed language, when declaring the variable you must also specify what type of variable it is. In the below example the test variable is declares as an integer in the first line, the second line as a floating point, and the third line or character.

int test = 25;

float test = 2.3;

char test = 'e';

The opposite of a strong typed languages is a loosely typed language, such as Perl.

Stubroutine

A small or blank placeholder for a subroutine that is meant to be written at a later time.

Stylesheet

A stylesheet is a computer language that defines the overall look and feel of the markup language file. For example, a CSS file is a stylesheet that could define the page's font type, colors, etc.

Routine / Subroutine

&hello;

sub hello {

print "Hello World!\n";

}

In the above example, a user could call the "hello" subroutine (in this example, by typing "&hello;") anywhere within the program and have the program print "Hello World!".

Substring

A prefix or suffix of any string. For example, a substring of the word computer could be: "puter" or "comp".

Subversion

An open-source and free CVS software solution that manages files and directories over time.

The official Subversion web site can be found at: http://subversion.tigris.org/

SPL

Short for Systems Programming Language, SPL was used on the HP 3000 computer system instead of an assembler.

Syntax

1. When referring to a programming language or command, syntax is a set of rules that are associated with the language or command.

2. When referring to an error, a syntax error is an error that is encountered when the programmer or individual who wrote the code has not followed the rules of the language, causing the program to fail.

System development

The overall process of designing, building and/or programming, and completing a product. This process applies to the development of a computer, hardware device, and/or software program.

Tcl

Originally short for Tool Command language, Tcl is no longer an acronym and is an open-source scripting language that was developed by John Ousterhout. Tcl is available for different platforms and used to create useful software programs for almost any need. Below is an example of printing "Hello World!" in Tcl.

puts "Hello World!"

Complete information about Tcl/Tk can be found at: http://www.tcl.tk/

Thread

1. When talking about computer programming or software, a thread is a portion of a program that is executed in conjunction with the main program that performs another task. For example, a program may have an open thread waiting for a specific event to occur or may have a thread running a separate job, allowing for the main program to perform other tasks. A program is capable of having multiple threads open at once and will either terminate or suspend the thread when the thread's task is complete or the program is closed.

2. A message and each of its corresponding Reponses. For example, in a newsgroup or message board, a user may post a question relating to computers; each of the replies and discussions relating to the original message and/or replies are posted within a single thread. Below is an illustration to help give you a better idea.

Original Post:

user - user@nodomain.com

Hello, I was wondering if anyone knows how to turn on a computer.

Joe - joe@nodomain.com

User have you tried pressing the power button?

User - user@nodmain.com

Joe what is the power button?

Joe - joe@nodomain.com

The power button is usually a small power button located on the front of your computer, pressing this round button should make the computer turn on.

As can be seen by the above example thread, a user can view the complete message and make any additional feedback or comments as well. A thread can refer to any type of ongoing communication, including e-mail.

Thunk

1. When referring to ALGOL, a thunk was developed by Peter Ingerman in 1961 and is a function with no parameters that returns an address for the parameter for which it is written.

2. A stubroutine in an overlay programming environment that loads and jumps to the correct overlay.

3. Term sometimes used by users to describe a loud noise. For example the computer hard drive made a loud thunk and stopped working.

1. Short for toolkit, Tk is a library of GUI elements that was first included with Tcl to help promote and allow for the development of a GUI interface. Today, many other languages such as Perl include their own Tk, which is in part or all of the Tcl/Tk libraries.

Complete information about Tcl/Tk can be found at: http://www.tcl.tk/

2. .tk is also a domain suffix for Tokelau.

True BASIC

A version of the programming language BASIC that the original authors, John Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz, wrote in 1983 to update the language in response to criticisms of the original language. True BASIC is a compiled, structured language, does not require line numbers, and includes the advanced control structures necessary for structured programming.

Underflow

A condition or exception that is generated when a calculation or computer operation results in a number that is smaller than what is able to be displayed.

Unit test

Type of testing performed on computer programs that tests sections of the code.

Variable

1. A value that varies.

2. When referring to programming, a variable is a location capable of storing temporary data within a program. This data can then be modified, stored, and/or displayed whenever needed. For example, a program may have a variable named "myvariable" with a default value of 0 or null, and when a user enters data, the variable changes to the data the user entered, or maybe changes the variable to a value letting the program know data has been entered. Below is an example of a variable in the Perl programming language.

$myvariable = "Computer Hope";

print "There is hope, $myvariable";

In the above example the $myvariable has an expression of "Computer Hope" this variable is then used in the next print line to print: "There is hope, Computer Hope".

VHDL

Short for VHSIC (Very High Speed Integrated Circuit) Hardware Description Language, VHDL was first proposed in 1981 and developed throughout the 1980s by IBM, Texas Instruments and Intermetrics. VHDL is used for the development and verification of hardware designs and was adopted as IEEE 1076 standard in 1987.

Open Verilog International and VHDL International combined to form Accellera. Their website can be located at http://www.accellera.org.

VIM

1. Short for Vendor Independent Messaging, VIM was an effort sponsored by Novell, WordPerfect, IBM, Lotus, Apple and Borland that allows computing platforms to send and receive messages between application programs. Today, Microsoft's MAPI is more commonly found and used. However, VIM is still used in such programs as Lotus 1-2-3, and cc:Mail.

2. An advanced text editor designed to improve on the Unix vi editor. VIM is often used by computer programmers and is available for multiple platforms.

The official VIM the editor page can be found at http://www.vim.org.

While

A type of loop statement in programming that performs pre-defined tasks while in the process of doing something else. For example, in Perl, you may use code similar to the below, which is opening the file "file.txt" and while going through each of the lines in the file, printing them if they contain any letters.

open (INPUT, "

while () {

if ($_ =~ /[a-zA-Z]/) {

print "$_";

}

close (INPUT);

WML

1. Short for Wireless Markup Language, WML is part of the WAP standard and is an XML-compliant version of HDML.

2. Short for Website META Language, WML is a free and extensible webdesigner's off-line HTML generation toolkit for Unix, distributed under the GNU.

XHTML

Short for eXtensible HyperText Markup Language, XHTML is a hybrid between HTML and XML designed for network devices and is a method of displaying web pages on network and portable devices.

XML

Short for eXtensible Markup Language, XML is a specification developed by W3C and is similar to HTML in that XML uses Tags to markup a document, allowing a browser to interpret the tags and display them on a page. However, unlike HTML, XML language is unlimited and allows self-defining tags.

XOR operator

Short for eXclusive OR, the XOR operator is a Boolean operation commonly used in database searches and various other type of searches that returns a TRUE value only if a document contains only one of the XOR operators.

For example:

Computer XOR Help

Would return results of documents or a value that contain either "Computer" or "Help", but would not return the results if the documents or value contains both of these words.

XOXO

1. Short for eXtensible Open XHTML Outlines, XOXO is an XHTML-friendly outline format for processing by XML engines, where an outline is a hierarchical, ordered list of elements.

The XOXO specification can be found at http://microformats.org/wiki/xoxo

2. Short for hugs and kisses, XOXO is a way of letting another you care and are sending them lots of hugs and kisses. Many people will also extend this beyond XOXO by adding additional X's and O's and/or use both upper and lowercase. Both the X and the O can be thought of as a hug and kiss therefore it is acceptable to say the X is a hug and the O is a kiss or vice verca.

XSL

Short for eXtensible Stylesheet Language, XSL is a stylesheet for XML documents.

XSLT

Short for eXtensible Stylesheet Language Transformations, XSLT is a language for transforming XML documents into other XML documents.

The official XSLT web page can be found at: http://www.w3.org/TR/xslt

Zombie

1. Term used to describe a process that is doing nothing but utilizing system resources.

2. A computer that has been maliciously setup to do work of another program or users. A zombie computer is often a computer or server that has been compromised to help a malicious user perform a Denial Of Service attack (DoS) or DDoS attack.

3. When referring to chat or IRC, a zombie or ghost refers to a user who has lost connection but their user is still logged into the chat server.

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Programming Definitions

Programming Definitions

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Thursday, July 3, 2008

Programming Definitions

Programming Definitions

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studyhelp

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education

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