1. {application program}.

	2. {function application}.

<algorithm, cryptography> Any procedure used in {cryptography}
	to convert {plaintext} into {ciphertext} (encrypted message)
	in order to prevent any but the intended recipient from
	reading that data.

	Schematically, there are two classes of encryption primitives:
	{public-key cryptography} and {private-key cryptography}; they
	are generally used complementarily.
	Public-key encryption algorithms include {RSA};
	private-key algorithms include the obsolescent {Data Encryption
	Standard}, the {Advanced Encryption Standard}, as well as
	{RC4}.

	The {Unix} command {crypt} performs a weak form of encryption.
	Stronger encryption programs include {Pretty Good Privacy} and
	the {GNU Privacy Guard}.

	Other closely related aspects of {cryptograph} include
	{message digests}.

	(2003-04-12)

<cryptography> Any procedure used in {cryptography} to convert
	{ciphertext} (encrypted data) into {plaintext}.

	(1995-05-10)

<algorithm, programming> A detailed sequence of actions to
	perform to accomplish some task.  Named after an Iranian
	mathematician, Al-Khawarizmi.

	Technically, an algorithm must reach a result after a {finite}
	number of steps, thus ruling out {brute force} search methods
	for certain problems, though some might claim that brute force
	search was also a valid (generic) algorithm.  The term is also
	used loosely for any sequence of actions (which may or may not
	terminate).

	{Paul E. Black's Dictionary of Algorithms, Data Structures,
	and Problems (http://www.nist.gov/dads/)}.

	(2002-02-05)

1. <language> {Synthesizer Specification Language}.

	2. <language> {Syntax/Semantic Language} (S/SL).

	3. <networking, World-Wide Web> {Secure Sockets Layer}.

	(1996-09-08)

<data, data processing, jargon> /day't*/ (Or "raw data")
	Numbers, {characters}, {images}, or other method of recording,
	in a form which can be assessed by a human or (especially)
	input into a {computer}, stored and {processed} there, or
	transmitted on some {digital channel}.  Computers nearly
	always represent data in {binary}.

	Data on its own has no meaning, only when interpreted by some
	kind of {data processing system} does it take on meaning and
	become {information}.

	People or computers can find patterns in data to perceive
	information, and information can be used to enhance
	{knowledge}.  Since knowledge is prerequisite to wisdom, we
	always want more data and information.  But, as modern
	societies verge on {information overload}, we especially need
	better ways to find patterns.

	1234567.89 is data.

	"Your bank balance has jumped 8087% to $1234567.89" is
	information.

	"Nobody owes me that much money" is knowledge.

	"I'd better talk to the bank before I spend it, because of
	what has happened to other people" is wisdom.

	(1999-04-30)

<World-Wide Web> (By analogy with "{applet}") A {Java} program
	that runs as part of a {network} service, typically an {HTTP
	server} and responds to requests from {clients}.

	The most common use for a servlet is to extend a {web server}
	by generating {web content} dynamically.  For example, a
	{client} may need {information} from a {database}; a servlet
	can be written that receives the request, gets and processes
	the data as needed by the {client} and then returns the result
	to the {client}.

	{Applets} are also written in {Java} but run inside the {JVM}
	of a {HTML} {browser} on the {client}.  Servlets and applets
	allow the server and client to be extended in a modular way by
	dynamically loading code which communicates with the main
	program via a standard programming interface.

	Servlets are more flexible than {CGI scripts} and, being
	written in {Java}, more portable.

	The spelling "servelet" is occasionally seen but {JavaSoft}
	spell it "servlet".  There is no such thing as a "serverlet".

	{(http://java.sun.com/products/servlet/)}.

	(2002-10-06)

<networking> The {Berkeley Unix} mechansim for creating a
	virtual connection between processes.  Sockets interface
	{Unix}'s {standard I/O} with its {network} communication
	facilities.  They can be of two types, stream (bi-directional)
	or {datagram} (fixed length destination-addressed messages).
	The socket library function socket() creates a communications
	end-point or socket and returns a {file descriptor} with which
	to access that socket.  The socket has associated with it a
	socket address, consisting of a {port} number and the local
	host's network address.

	{Unix manual page}: socket(2).

	(1995-01-31)

1. <database> A value used to identify a {record} in a
	database, derived by applying some fixed function to the
	record.  The key is often simply one of the {fields} (a
	{column} if the database is considered as a table with records
	being rows, see "{key field}").  Alternatively the key may be
	obtained by applying some function, e.g. a {hash function}, to
	one or more of the fields.  The set of keys for all records
	forms an {index}.  Multiple indexes may be built for one
	database depending on how it is to be searched.

	2. <cryptography> A value which must be fed into the
	{algorithm} used to decode an encrypted message in order to
	reproduce the original {plain text}.  Some encryption schemes
	use the same (secret) key to encrypt and decrypt a message,
	but {public key encryption} uses a "private" (secret) key and
	a "public" key which is known by all parties.

	3. <hardware> An electromechanical {keyboard} button.

	(2003-07-04)

<chat> (Or "chat room", "room", depending on the system in
	question) The basic unit of group discussion in {chat} systems
	like {IRC}.  Once one joins a channel, everything one types is
	read by others on that channel.  Channels can either be named
	with numbers or with strings that begin with a "#" sign and
	can have topic descriptions (which are generally irrelevant to
	the actual subject of discussion).

	Some notable channels are "#initgame", "#hottub" and
	"#report".  At times of international crisis, "#report" has
	hundreds of members, some of whom take turns listening to
	various news services and typing in summaries of the news, or
	in some cases, giving first-hand accounts of the action
	(e.g. Scud missile attacks in Tel Aviv during the Gulf War in
	1991).

	[{Jargon File}]

	(1998-01-25)