1. <chat> {Unix}'s simple {talk} command and {protocol}.
	write has been largely superseded by {talk} and then {irc}.

	An enhancement, {RWP}, has been proposed.

	2. <tool> A simple {text editor} for {Windows}.

	(1998-04-28)

1. <programming> An independent piece of {software} which
	forms part of one or more larger {programs}.  Different
	languages have different concepts of a module but there are
	several common ideas.

	Modules are usually compiled seperately (in compiled
	languages) and provide an {abstraction} or information hiding
	mechanism so that a module's implementation can be changed
	without requiring any change to other modules.  In this
	respect they are similar to {objects} in an {object-oriented
	language}, though a module may contain many {procedures}
	and/or {functions} which would correspond to many objects.

	A module often has its own {name space} for {identifiers} so
	the same identifier may be used to mean different things in
	different modules.

	[Difference from {package}?].

	2. <hardware> An independent assembly of electronic components
	with some distinct function, e.g. a RAM module consisting of
	several RAM chips mounted on a small circuit board.

	(1997-10-27)

1. <software> An occurrence or happening of significance to a
	task or program, such as the completion of an asynchronous
	input/output operation.  A task may wait for an event or any
	of a set of events or it may (request to) receive asynchronous
	notification (a {signal} or {interrupt}) that the event has
	occurred.

	See also {event-driven}.

	2. <data> A transaction or other activity that affects the
	records in a file.

	(2000-02-09)

<data> A data structure holding many values, possibly of
	different types, which is usually accessed sequentially,
	working from the head to the end of the tail - an "ordered
	list".  This contrasts with a (one-dimensional) {array}, any
	element of which can be accessed equally quickly.

	Lists are often stored using a cell and pointer arrangement
	where each value is stored in a cell along with an associated
	pointer to the next cell.  A special pointer, e.g. zero, marks
	the end of the list.  This is known as a (singly) "linked
	list".  A doubly linked list has pointers from each cell to
	both next and previous cells.

	An unordered list is a {set}.

	(1998-11-12)

In {object-oriented programming} sending a message to an
	{object} (to invoke a {method}) is equivalent to calling a
	{procedure} in traditional programming languages, except that
	the actual code executed may only be selected at run time
	depending on the {class} of the object.  Thus, in response to
	the message "drawSelf", the method code invoked would be
	different if the target object were a circle or a square.

	(1995-02-16)

1. <file format> A single file containing one or (usually)
	more separate files plus information to allow them to be
	extracted (separated) by a suitable program.

	Archives are usually created for software distribution or
	{backup}.  {tar} is a common format for {Unix} archives, and
	{arc} or {PKZIP} for {MS-DOS} and {Microsoft Windows}.

	2. <operating system> To transfer files to slower, cheaper
	media (usually {magnetic tape}) to free the {hard disk} space
	they occupied.  This is now normally done for long-term
	storage but in the 1960s, when disk was much more expensive,
	files were often shuffled regularly between disk and tape.

	3. <networking> {archive site}.

	(1996-12-08)