<programming> A computer system or process that requests a
	service of another computer system or process (a "{server}")
	using some kind of {protocol} and accepts the server's
	responses.  A client is part of a {client-server} software
	architecture.

	For example, a {workstation} requesting the contents of a file
	from a {file server} is a client of the file server.

	(1997-10-27)

1. <hardware> {monitor}.

	2. <language> A vector of pointers to {activation records}.
	The Nth element points to the activation record containing
	variables declared at {lexical depth} N.  This allows faster
	access to variables from outer {scopes} than the alternative
	of linked activation records (but most variable accesses are
	either local or global or occasionally to the immediately
	enclosing scope).  Displays were used in some {ALGOL}
	implementations.

	(1996-02-22)

<language, programming> (J2ME) {Sun}'s {Java} platform for
	consumer devices.

	J2ME defines Configurations and Profiles for different classes
	of small memory device, from {smart cards} to {pagers} to
	{set-top boxes}.  It can run on various {Java virtual
	machines} including {KVM}.

	Related products include {PersonalJava} and {EmbeddedJava}.

	See also the Standard edition {J2SE} and the Enterprise
	edition {J2EE}.

	(Home (http://www.javasoft.com/j2me/)}.

	(2000-04-20)

<games> "The time you enjoy wasting is not time wasted." --
	{Bertrand Russell}.

	Here are some games-related pages on the {Web}: {Imperial
	Nomic (http://www.mit.edu:8001/people/achmed/fascist/)},
	{Thoth's games and recreations page
	(http://www.cis.ufl.edu/~thoth/library/recreation.html)},
	{Games Domain (http://wcl-rs.bham.ac.uk/GamesDomain)},
	{Zarf's	List of Games on the Web
	(http://www.leftfoot.com/games.html)},
	{Dave's list of pointers to games resources
	(http://wcl-rs.bham.ac.uk/~djh/index.html)},
	{Collaborative Fiction
	(http://asylum.cid.com/fiction/fiction.html)}.

	See also {3DO}, {ADL}, {ADVENT}, {ADVSYS}, {alpha/beta
	pruning}, {Amiga}, {CHIP-8}, {Core Wars}, {DROOL}, {empire},
	{I see no X here.}, {Infocom}, {Inglish}, {initgame}, {life},
	{minimax}, {moria}, {mudhead}, {multi-user Dimension},
	{nethack}, {ogg}, {plugh}, {rogue}, {SPACEWAR}, {virtual
	reality}, {wizard mode}, {wumpus}, {xyzzy}, {ZIL}, {zorkmid}.

	See also {game theory}.

	(1996-03-03)

<hypertext> A program which allows a person to read
	{hypertext}.  The browser gives some means of viewing the
	contents of {nodes} (or "pages") and of {navigating} from one
	node to another.

	{Netscape Navigator}, {NCSA} {Mosaic}, {Lynx}, and {W3} are
	examples for browsers for the {World-Wide Web}.  They act as
	{clients} to remote {web servers}.

	(1996-05-31)

<language, programming> (Or "source", or rarely "source
	language") The form in which a computer program is written by
	the programmer.  Source code is written in some formal
	programming language which can be compiled automatically into
	{object code} or {machine code} or executed by an
	{interpreter}.

	(1995-01-05)

<character> (Or "ctrl", "^") One (or a pair) of {modifier
	keys} found on all modern {keyboards}.  If the control key is
	held down while pressing and releasing certain other keys then
	a "{control character}" is generated, e.g. holding control and
	hitting "A" generates control-A ({ASCII} code 1).  The ASCII
	code for the control character is generally 64 less than that
	for the unmodified character.

	The control key does not generate any character on its own but
	most modern keyboards and {operating systems} allow a program
	to tell whether each of the individual keys on the keyboard
	(including modifier keys) is pressed at any time.

	Control characters mostly have some kind of "non-printing"
	effect on the output such as ringing the bell (Control-G) or
	advancing to the next line (Control-J).  Most have alternative
	names suggesting these functions (Bell, Line Feed, etc.).

	See {ASCII character table}.

	(1997-07-10)

<programming, operating system> (Or "application", "app") A
	complete, self-contained program that performs a specific
	function directly for the user.  This is in contrast to system
	software such as the {operating system} {kernel}, {server}
	processes and libraries which exists to support application
	programs.

	Editors for various kinds of documents, {spreadsheets}, and
	text formatters are common examples of applications.  Network
	applications include clients such as those for {FTP},
	{electronic mail}, {telnet} and {WWW}.

	The term is used fairly loosely, for instance, some might say
	that a client and server together form a distributed
	application, others might argue that editors and compilers
	were not applications but tools for building applications.

	One distinction between an application program and the
	operating system is that applications always run in "user
	mode" (or "non-privileged mode"), while operating systems and
	related utilities may run in "supervisor mode" (or "privileged
	mode").

	The term may also be used to distinguish programs which
	communicate via a {graphical user interface} from those which
	are executed from the {command line}.

	(1994-11-28)

<language, text> An {SGML}, {HTML}, or {XML} {token}
	representing the beginning (start tag: "<p ...>") or end (end
	tag: "</p>") of an {element}.  In normal SGML {syntax} (and
	always in {XML}), a tag starts with a "<" and ends with an
	">".

	In {HTML} jargon, the term "tag" is often used for an
	"{element}".

	(2001-01-31)

1. <unit, text> (Sometimes abbreviated "pt") The unit of
	length used in {typography} to specify text character height,
	{rule} width, and other small measurements.

	There are six slightly different definitions: {Truchet point},
	{Didot point}, {ATA point}, {TeX point}, {Postscript point},
	and {IN point}.

	In Europe, the most commonly used is Didot and in the US, the
	formerly standard ATA point has essentially been replaced by
	the PostScript point due to the demise of traditional
	typesetting systems and rise of desktop computer based systems
	running software such as {QuarkXPress}, {Adobe InDesign} and
	{Adobe Pagemaker}.

	There are 20 {twips} in a point and 12 points in a {pica}
	(known as a "Cicero" in the Didot system).

	{Different point systems
	(http://www.vakcer.com/oberon/dtp/fonts/point.htm)}.

	(2004-12-23)

	2. <hardware> To move a {pointing device} so that the
	on-screen pointer is positioned over a certain object on the
	screen such as a {button} in a {graphical user interface}.  In
	most {window systems} it is then necessary to {click} a
	(physical) button on the pointing device to activate or select
	the object.  In some systems, just pointing to an object is
	known as "mouse-over" {event} which may cause some help text
	(called a "tool tip" in {Windows}) to be displayed.

	(2001-05-21)

{Hardware} or {software} that performs {emulation}.

	(1995-05-12)

<World-Wide Web> The {World-Wide Web} {search engine} that
	indexes the greatest number of web pages - over two billion by
	December 2001 and provides a free service that searches this
	index in less than a second.

	The site's name is apparently derived from "{googol}", but
	note the difference in spelling.

	The "Google" spelling is also used in "The Hitchhikers Guide
	to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams, in which one of Deep
	Thought's designers asks, "And are you not," said Fook,
	leaning anxiously foward, "a greater analyst than the
	Googleplex Star Thinker in the Seventh Galaxy of Light and
	Ingenuity which can calculate the trajectory of every single
	dust particle throughout a five-week Dangrabad Beta sand
	blizzard?"

	{Home (http://www.google.com/)}.

	(2001-12-28)

<programming> An {application programming interface} that is
	common to all {Microsoft}'s 32-bit Windows {operating
	systems}.  These currently include: {Windows 95}, {Windows
	98}, {Windows NT} and {Windows CE}.

	[Relationship with {Win32s}?]

	(1997-12-20)

<jargon> A {marketroid} term for something he wants to sell
	you without bothering you with the often dizzying distinctions
	between {hardware}, {software}, {services}, {applications},
	{file formats}, companies, brand names and {operating
	systems}.

	"{Flash} is a perfect image-streaming solution."  "What is
	it?"  "Um...  about a thousand dollars."

	See also: {technology}.

	(1998-07-07)

<storage> 1. {magnetic disk}.

	2. {compact disc}.

	3. {optical disk}.

	Note: the american spelling, "disk", is normal for most
	computer disks whereas "compact disc", having come to
	computers via the audio world, is correctly spelled with a
	"c", indeed, this spelling is part of the CD standard.

	(1995-07-30)

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)

<operating system, programming> The process of carrying out
	the {instructions} in a computer program by a computer.

	See also {dry run}.

	(1996-05-13)