<messaging> (Plural "fora" or "forums") Any discussion group
	accessible through a dial-in {BBS} (e.g. {GEnie}, {CI$}), a
	{mailing list}, or a {Usenet} {newsgroup} (see {network,
	the}).  A forum functions much like a {bulletin board}; users
	submit {postings} for all to read and discussion ensues.

	Contrast real-time {chat} or point-to-point personal {e-mail}.

	[{Jargon File}]

	(1998-01-18)

<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)

<World-Wide Web> (URL, previously "Universal") A {standard}
	way of specifying the location of an object, typically a {web
	page}, on the {Internet}.  Other types of object are described
	below.  URLs are the form of address used on the {World-Wide
	Web}.  They are used in {HTML} documents to specify the target
	of a {hyperlink} which is often another HTML document
	(possibly stored on another computer).

	Here are some example URLs:

	 http://www.w3.org/default.html
	 http://www.acme.co.uk:8080/images/map.gif
	 http://www.foldoc.org/?Uniform+Resource+Locator
	 http://www.w3.org/default.html#Introduction
	 ftp://wuarchive.wustl.edu/mirrors/msdos/graphics/gifkit.zip
	 ftp://spy:secret@ftp.acme.com/pub/topsecret/weapon.tgz
	 mailto:fred@doc.ic.ac.uk
	 news:alt.hypertext
	 telnet://dra.com

	The part before the first colon specifies the access scheme or
	{protocol}.  Commonly implemented schemes include: {ftp},
	{http} (World-Wide Web), {gopher} or {WAIS}.  The "file"
	scheme should only be used to refer to a file on the same
	host.  Other less commonly used schemes include {news},
	{telnet} or mailto ({e-mail}).

	The part after the colon is interpreted according to the
	access scheme.  In general, two slashes after the colon
	introduce a {hostname} (host:port is also valid, or for {FTP}
	user:passwd@host or user@host).  The {port} number is usually
	omitted and defaults to the standard port for the scheme,
	e.g. port 80 for HTTP.

	For an HTTP or FTP URL the next part is a {pathname} which is
	usually related to the pathname of a file on the server.  The
	file can contain any type of data but only certain types are
	interpreted directly by most {browsers}.  These include {HTML}
	and images in {gif} or {jpeg} format.  The file's type is
	given by a {MIME} type in the HTTP headers returned by the
	server, e.g. "text/html", "image/gif", and is usually also
	indicated by its {filename extension}.  A file whose type is
	not recognised directly by the browser may be passed to an
	external "viewer" {application}, e.g. a sound player.

	The last (optional) part of the URL may be a query string
	preceded by "?" or a "fragment identifier" preceded by "#".
	The later indicates a particular position within the specified
	document.

	Only alphanumerics, reserved characters (:/?#"<>%+) used for
	their reserved purposes and "$", "-", "_", ".", "&", "+" are
	safe and may be transmitted unencoded.  Other characters are
	encoded as a "%" followed by two {hexadecimal} digits.  Space
	may also be encoded as "+".  Standard {SGML} "&<name>;"
	character entity encodings (e.g. "&eacute;") are also accepted
	when URLs are embedded in HTML.  The terminating semicolon may
	be omitted if &<name> is followed by a non-letter character.

	{The authoritative W3C URL specification
	(http://www.w3.org/hypertext/WWW/Addressing/Addressing.html)}.

	(2000-02-17)

<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)

<file system> An element of data storage in a {file system}.

	The history of computing is rich in varied kinds of files and
	{file systems}, whether ornate (e.g., {Macintosh file system}
	for a well-known case) or deficient (e.g., many simple
	pre-1980s file systems don't allow {directories}).

	However, the prototypical file has these characteristics:

	* It is a single sequence of bytes (but consider {Macintosh}
	{resource forks}).

	* It has a finite length, unlike, e.g. a {Unix} {device}.

	* It is stored in a {non-volatile storage} medium (but see
	{ramdrive}).

	* It exists (nominally) in a {directory}.

	* It has a name that it can be referred to by in file
	operations, possibly in combination with its {path}.

	Additionally, a file system may associate other information
	with a file, such as {permission} bits or other {file
	attributes}; timestamps for file creation, last revision, and
	last access; revision numbers (a` la VMS), and other kinds of
	{magic}.

	Compare: {document}.

	(1997-04-08)

<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)

A language proposed by Cii {Honeywell-Bull} to meet the DoD
	{Ironman} requirements which led to {Ada}.  This language won
	in 1979.

	["On the GREEN Language Submitted to the DoD", E.W. Dijkstra,
	SIGPLAN Notices 13(10):16-21 (Oct 1978)].

	(1994-12-02)