<World-Wide Web> A {Java} program which can be distributed as
	an attachment in a {World-Wide Web} document and executed by a
	Java-enabled {web browser} such as Sun's {HotJava},
	{Netscape Navigator} version 2.0, or {Internet Explorer}.

	Navigator severely restricts the applet's file system and
	network access in order to prevent accidental or deliberate
	security violations.  Full Java applications, which run
	outside of the browser, do not have these restrictions.

	Web browsers can also be extended with {plug-ins} though these
	differ from applets in that they usually require manual
	installation and are {platform}-specific.  Various other
	languages can now be embedded within {HTML} documents, the
	most common being {JavaScript}.

	Despite Java's aim to be a "write once, run anywhere"
	language, the difficulty of accomodating the variety of
	browsers in use on the Internet has led many to abandon
	client-side processing in favour of {server}-side Java
	programs for which the term {servlet} was coined.

	Merriam Webster "Collegiate Edition" gives a 1990 definition:
	a short application program especially for performing a simple
	specific task.

	(2002-07-12)

<programming> One of a sequence of copies of a program, each
	incorporating new modifications.  Each version is usually
	identified by a number, commonly of the form X.Y where X is
	the major version number and Y is the release number.
	Typically an increment in X (with Y reset to zero) signifies a
	substantial increase in the function of the program or a
	partial or total re-implementation, whereas Y increases each
	time the progam is changed in any way and re-released.

	Version numbers are useful so that the user can know if the
	program has changed ({bugs} have been fixed or new functions
	added) since he obtained his copy and the programmer can tell
	if a bug report relates to the current version.  It is thus
	always important to state the version when reporting bugs.
	Statements about compatibility between different software
	components should always say which versions they apply to.

	See {change management}.

	(1997-12-07)

<tool> A dyslexic acronym for "A Yacc-like Haskell Parser
	generator".

	An {LALR1 grammar} {parser generator} for {Haskell}.  Happy is
	written in Haskell, uses a parser generated by itself, and can
	be compiled using {ghc}, {hbc} or {gofer}.  Happy uses an
	implementation of {monadic IO} built on top of stream IO, but
	this should change when the {Haskell 1.3} {standard} has been
	implemented.

	Version: 0.9 (1996-02-28).

	Happy is covered by the {General Public License}.

	{Home (http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/fp/software/happy.html)}.

	{(ftp://ftp.dcs.gla.ac.uk/pub/haskell/happy/)}.

	E-mail: <andy@dcs.gla.ac.uk>, <simonm@dcs.gla.ac.uk>.

	(1996-03-21)

<chat, games> To flood a {chat room} or {Internet game} with
	text or {macros} in an attempt to annoy the occupants.  This
	can often cause the chat room to be "uninhabitable" due to the
	"noise" created by the scroller.  Compare {spam}.

	(2001-03-27)

<jargon> 1. A good property or behaviour (as of a program).
	Whether it was intended or not is immaterial.

	2. An intended property or behaviour (as of a program).
	Whether it is good or not is immaterial (but if bad, it is
	also a {misfeature}).

	3. A surprising property or behaviour; in particular, one that
	is purposely inconsistent because it works better that way -
	such an inconsistency is therefore a {feature} and not a
	{bug}.  This kind of feature is sometimes called a {miswart}.

	4. A property or behaviour that is gratuitous or unnecessary,
	though perhaps also impressive or cute.  For example, one
	feature of {Common LISP}'s "format" function is the ability to
	print numbers in two different Roman-numeral formats (see
	{bells, whistles, and gongs}).

	5. A property or behaviour that was put in to help someone
	else but that happens to be in your way.

	6. A bug that has been documented.  To call something a
	feature sometimes means the author of the program did not
	consider the particular case, and that the program responded
	in a way that was unexpected but not strictly incorrect.  A
	standard joke is that a bug can be turned into a {feature}
	simply by documenting it (then theoretically no one can
	complain about it because it's in the manual), or even by
	simply declaring it to be good.  "That's not a bug, that's a
	feature!" is a common catch-phrase.  Apparently there is a
	Volkswagen Beetle in San Francisco whose license plate reads
	"FEATURE".

	See also {feetch feetch}, {creeping featurism}, {wart}, {green
	lightning}.

	The relationship among bugs, features, misfeatures, warts and
	miswarts might be clarified by the following hypothetical
	exchange between two hackers on an airliner:

	A: "This seat doesn't recline."

	B: "That's not a bug, that's a feature.  There is an emergency
	exit door built around the window behind you, and the route
	has to be kept clear."

	A: "Oh.  Then it's a misfeature; they should have increased
	the spacing between rows here."

	B: "Yes.  But if they'd increased spacing in only one section
	it would have been a wart - they would've had to make
	nonstandard-length ceiling panels to fit over the displaced
	seats."

	A: "A miswart, actually.  If they increased spacing throughout
	they'd lose several rows and a chunk out of the profit margin.
	So unequal spacing would actually be the Right Thing."

	B: "Indeed."

	"Undocumented feature" is a common euphemism for a {bug}.

	7. An attribute or function of a {class} in {Eiffel}.

	[{Jargon File}]

	(1995-10-22)

1. Executable code, especially a "pure code" portion shared
	between multiple instances of a program running in a
	{multitasking} {operating system}.

	Compare {English}.

	2. Textual material in the mainstream sense; data in ordinary
	{ASCII} or {EBCDIC} representation (see {flat ASCII}).  "Those
	are text files; you can review them using the editor."

	These two contradictory senses confuse hackers too.

	[{Jargon File}]

	(1995-03-16)

<hardware> To press and release a {button} on a {mouse} or
	other {pointing device}.  This generates an {event}, also
	specifying the screen position, which is processed by the
	{window manager} or {application program}.  On a mouse with
	more than one button, the unqualified term usually implies
	pressing the left-most button (with the right index finger),
	other buttons would be qualified, e.g. "{right-click}".
	{Keyboard} modifiers may also be used, e.g. "shift-click",
	meaning to hold down the shift key on the keyboard while
	clicking the mouse button.

	If the mouse moves while the button is pressed then this is a
	{drag}.

	(1995-03-14)

Variant of {spooge}, sense 1.

	[{Jargon File}]

1. <networking> {e-mail address}.

	2. <networking> {Internet address}.

	3. <networking> {MAC address}.

	4. <storage, programming> An unsigned integer used to select
	one fundamental element of storage, usually known as a {word}
	from a computer's {main memory} or other storage device.  The
	{CPU} outputs addresses on its {address bus} which may be
	connected to an {address decoder}, {cache controller}, {memory
	management unit}, and other devices.

	While from a hardware point of view an address is indeed an
	integer most {strongly typed} programming languages disallow
	mixing integers and addresses, and indeed addresses of
	different data types.  This is a fine example for {syntactic
	salt}: the compiler could work without it but makes writing
	bad programs more difficult.

	(1997-07-01)

1. Not operating.  "The up escalator is down" is considered a
	humorous thing to say, and "The elevator is down" always
	means "The elevator isn't working" and never refers to what
	floor the elevator is on.  With respect to computers, this
	term has passed into the mainstream; the extension to other
	kinds of machine is still hackish.

	2. "go down" To stop functioning; usually said of the
	{system}.  The message from the {console} that every hacker
	hates to hear from the operator is "System going down in 5
	minutes".

	3. "take down", "bring down" To deactivate purposely, usually
	for repair work or {PM}.  "I'm taking the system down to work
	on that bug in the tape drive."  Occasionally one hears the
	word "down" by itself used as a verb in this sense.

	See {crash}; opposite: {up}.

	[{Jargon File}]

	(1994-12-07)