A language proposed by Softech to meet the {DoD} {Ironman}
	requirements which led to {Ada}.  ["On the BLUE Language
	Submitted to the DoD", E.W. Dijkstra, SIGPLAN Notices
	13(10):10-15 (Oct 1978)].

<jargon> A boundary across which two systems communicate.  An
	interface might be a hardware connector used to link to other
	devices, or it might be a convention used to allow
	communication between two software systems.  Often there is
	some intermediate component between the two systems which
	connects their interfaces together.  For example, two {EIA-232}
	interfaces connected via a serial cable.

	See also {graphical user interface}, {Application Program
	Interface}.

	(1996-05-22)

<programming> (Or "computer program", "program", "code") The
	instructions executed by a computer, as opposed to the
	physical device on which they run (the "{hardware}").

	The term was coined by the eminent statistician, {John Tukey}.

	Programs stored on {non-volatile storage} built from
	{integrated circuits} (e.g. {ROM} or {PROM}) are usually
	called {firmware}.

	Software can be split into two main types - {system software}
	and application software or {application programs}.  System
	software is any software required to support the production or
	execution of application programs but which is not specific to
	any particular application.  Examples of system software would
	include the {operating system}, {compilers}, editors and
	sorting programs.

	Examples of application programs would include an accounts
	package or a {CAD} program.  Other broad classes of
	application software include {real-time} software, {business
	software}, scientific and engineering software, {embedded
	software}, personal computer software and {artificial
	intelligence} software.

	Software includes both {source code} written by humans and
	executable {machine code} produced by {assemblers} or
	{compilers}.  It does not usually include the data processed
	by programs unless this is in a format such as {multimedia}
	which depends on the use of computers for its presentation.
	This distinction becomes unclear in cases such as {spread
	sheets} which can contain both instructions (formulae and
	{macros}) and data.  There are also various intermediate
	compiled or {semi-compiled}, forms of software such as
	{library} files and {byte-code}.

	Some claim that {documentation} (both paper and electronic) is
	also software.  Others go further and define software to be
	programs plus documentation though this does not correspond
	with common usage.

	The noun "program" describes a single, complete and
	more-or-less self-contained list of instructions, often stored
	in a single {file}, whereas "code" and "software" are
	uncountable nouns describing some number of instructions which
	may constitute one or more programs or part thereof.  Most
	programs, however, rely heavily on various kinds of {operating
	system} software for their execution.  The nounds "code" and
	"software" both refer to the same thing but "code" tends to
	suggest an interest in the implementation details whereas
	"software" is more of a user's term.

	(2002-07-21)

1. <hardware> A generic term for a {display device} that shows
	text and/or images on a roughly flat rectangular surface.  The
	most common type is usually refered to as a "{monitor}" and is
	based on a {cathode-ray tube}, though {flat panel} displays
	have, since around 2000, become increasingly competitive in
	price and performance.

	(2005-07-28)

	2. A {screen multiplexer} utility which lets you run multiple
	{interactive} {terminal sessions} (and {curses} programs)
	through a single terminal connection (on one {virtual
	console}, one terminal, through one {modem} link, {telnet}
	session or {xterm}).

	Screen can detach processes from one terminal and attach them
	to another.  "Auto-detach" lets you continue working after
	being disconnected and reconnected.  It supports keyboard
	driven cut and paste from any text and/or curses application
	(like {Lynx}) to any other (like {xemacs}).

	Screen comes with many {Linux} distributions and is available
	(free) on many other {Unix} {platforms}.

	(2005-07-29)

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

	See also {dry run}.

	(1996-05-13)

1. To prepare to read or write a file.  This usually involves
	checking whether the file already exists and that the user has
	the necessary authorisation to read or write it.  The result
	of a successful open is usually some kind of {capability}
	(e.g. a {Unix} {file descriptor}) - a token that the user
	passes back to the system in order to access the file without
	further checks and finally to close the file.

	2. Abbreviation for "open (or left) parenthesis" - used when
	necessary to eliminate oral ambiguity.  To read aloud the LISP
	form (DEFUN FOO (X) (PLUS X 1)) one might say: "Open defun
	foo, open eks close, open, plus eks one, close close."

	3. Non-proprietary.  An open {standard} is one which can be
	used without payment.

	[{Jargon File}]

	(1995-01-31)

<networking> (Note: not capitalised) Any set of networks
	interconnected with {routers}.  The {Internet} is the biggest
	example of an internet.

	(1996-09-17)

<storage> These days, usually used synonymously with {Random
	Access Memory} or {Read-Only Memory}, but in the general sense
	it can be any device that can hold {data} in
	{machine-readable} format.

	(1996-05-25)

After-sale handholding; something many software vendors
	promise but few deliver.  To hackers, most support people are
	useless - because by the time a hacker calls support he or she
	will usually know the software and the relevant manuals better
	than the support people (sadly, this is *not* a joke or
	exaggeration).  A hacker's idea of "support" is a tte--tte
	or exchange of {electronic mail} with the software's designer.

	[{Jargon File}]

	(1995-02-15)

(uML) An {interpreter} for a subset of {SML}.  Runs on
	{MS-DOS}.  Written at the University of Umea, Sweden.

	{(ftp://ftp.cs.umu.se/pub/umlexe01.zoo)}.

<file format, filename extension> (jar) A compressed {archive}
	file containing {Java} {class} files, filename extension:
	".jar".  The {Java Development Kit} contains a tool called
	"jar" for creating .jar files, similar to the standard {Unix}
	{tar} command.  As well as archiving and compressing the Java
	class files, it also inserts a "manifest" file which can
	contain information about the class files, such as a {digital
	signature}.  Combining class files into a single archive file
	makes it possible to download them in a single {HTTP}
	transaction.  This, and the {compression}, speeds up execution
	of Java programs delivered via the {Internet}.

	(2001}-02-03)

1. <operating system> A record of previous user inputs (e.g. to
	a {command interpreter}) which can be re-entered without
	re-typing them.  The major improvement of the {C shell} (csh)
	over the {Bourne shell} (sh) was the addition of a command
	history.  This was still inferior to the history mechanism on
	{VMS} which allowed you to recall previous commands as the
	current input line.  You could then edit the command using
	cursor motion, insert and delete.  These sort of history
	editing facilities are available under {tcsh} and {GNU Emacs}.

	2. <history> {The history of computing
	(http://ei.cs.vt.edu/~history/index.html)}.

	3. See {Usenet} newsgroups {news:soc.history} and
	{news:alt.history} for discussion of the history of the world.

	(1995-04-05)