Glossary of Computer and Network Terms

Compiled and Made Available by

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A
Advanced Micro Devices	Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is Intel's primary competitor. They make several lines of microprocessors that achieve performance through intelligent design rather than sheer clock speed.
AMD	See Advanced Micro Devices.
Amiga	The Amiga was a cutting-edge, high-performance personal computer (not a PC) manufactured by Commodore in the late 1980's. The Amiga multitasked by using dedicated processors to display graphics, access disk drives, play sound and perform other system functions. The processors used to multitask were multitasking themselves. The Raptor rendering engines used to generate Hollywood special effects (e.g., "Terminator 2", "Babylon 5") are based on Amiga technology.
top
B
Bit	A bit (Binary digit) is the smallest item of data a computer can hold. It represents a small switch whose "on" state is interpretted as the numeral 1, and whose "off" state is the numeral 0. Combining bits into more lengthy columns (see Nibble, Byte), we can define larger storage entities.
Byte	A byte is eight bits.
top
C
Clock Speed	The rate at which a microprocessor generates an electric pulse. Every time a pulse is generated, the microprocessor performs an instruction.
top
D
Directory	Also called a folder a directory can be thought of as a container for files and other directories. A directory is a tree structure whose descending levels can be traversed by means of operating system functions. Directories provide a means of organization that is functional and customizable.
Disk Operating System	An Operating System whose control program and commands are stored on disk (usually, but not necessarily, a hard disk).
DOS	See Disk Operating System.
top
E
EDI	See Electronic Data Interchange.
Electronic Data Interchange	A standardized means for entities (i.e., units of government, businesses, etc.) to exchange electronic documents with one another.
top
F
Folder	Also called a directory, a folder contains files and other folders.
File Transfer Protocol	FTP is a protocol that allows a user to copy one or more files from one computer to another.
FTP	See File Transfer Protocol.
top
G
top
H
top
I
International Business Machines	IBM is a large, multinational company that manufactures office machines for businesses of all sizes. It's the company that invented the PC, but failed to capitolize on its popularity and utility.
top
J
top
K
top
L
top
M
top
N
Nibble	A nibble consists of four bits. A four-bit data field is capable of holding any one of sixteen values.
top
O
top
P
PC	The PC (which stands for Personal Computer) is the ubiquitous desktop computing device invented at IBM in the early 1980's.
Perl	See Practical Extraction and Report Language
PHP	A scripting language that works in conjuction with Apache Server to make possible dynamic content on web pages.
Practical Extraction and Report Language	A programming language that makes it easy to manipulate and search through character strings, thus simplifying the extraction of information from report files. The inventor of the language actually called it Pathologically Eclectic Rubbish Lister.
Protocol	A definition of message formats and the rules computers must follow to exchange those messages.
top
Q
top
R
top
S
Scripting Language	A programming language that is implemented by an interpreter, a program designed to translate the script into machine code one command at a time. Scripting languages are often incorporated into other programs to allow those programs to perform special tasks or a series of tasks, sometimes without user interaction. DOS can be construed (and used) as a scripting language.
Spyware	A program that may or may not be malicious containing modules that report to some entity (commercial or government) information about the user and his or her online activities (web sites visited, advertisements browsed, and so forth).
top
T
top
U
top
V
top
W
top
X
top
Y
top
Z
top