<language> One of the most used {object-oriented} languages, a
	superset of {C} developed primarily by {Bjarne Stroustrup}
	<bs@alice.att.com> at {AT&T} {Bell Laboratories} in 1986.

	In C++ a {class} is a user-defined {type}, syntactically a
	{struct} with {member functions}.  {Constructors} and
	{destructors} are member functions called to create or destroy
	{instances}.  A {friend} is a nonmember function that is
	allowed to access the private portion of a class.  C++ allows
	{implicit type conversion}, {function inlining}, {overloading}
	of operators and function names, and {default function
	arguments}.  It has {streams} for I/O and {references}.

	C++ 2.0 (May 1989) introduced {multiple inheritance},
	{type-safe linkage}, pointers to members, and {abstract
	classes}.

	C++ 2.1 was introduced in ["Annotated C++ Reference Manual",
	B. Stroustrup et al, A-W 1990].

	{MS-DOS
	(ftp://grape.ecs.clarkson.edu/pub/msdos/djgpp/djgpp.zip)},
	{Unix ANSI C++
	(ftp://gnu.org/pub/gnu/g++-1.39.0.tar.Z)} - X3J16
	committee. (They're workin' on it).

	See also {cfront}, {LEDA}, {uC++}.

	{Usenet} newsgroup: {news:comp.lang.c++}.

	["The C++ Programming Language", Bjarne Stroustrup, A-W,
	1986].

	(1996-06-06)

1. <chat> {Unix}'s simple {talk} command and {protocol}.
	write has been largely superseded by {talk} and then {irc}.

	An enhancement, {RWP}, has been proposed.

	2. <tool> A simple {text editor} for {Windows}.

	(1998-04-28)

<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. <networking> A {bang path} or explicitly routed {Internet
	address}; a node-by-node specification of a link between two
	machines.

	2. <file system> {pathname}.

	3. <operating system>  The list of directories the kernel
	(under {Unix}) or the command interpreter (under {MS-DOS})
	searches for {executables}.  It is stored as part of the
	{environment} in both operating systems.

	Other, similar constructs abound under Unix; the {C}
	{preprocessor}, for example, uses such a search path to locate
	"#include" files.

	[{Jargon File}]

	(1996-11-21)

<operating system> See {Microsoft Windows}, {Windows NT}.

	(1997-11-23)

The structure of strings in some language.  A language's
	syntax is described by a {grammar}.  For example, the syntax
	of a binary number could be expressed as

		binary_number = bit [ binary_number ]

		bit = "0" | "1"

	meaning that a binary number is a bit optionally followed by a
	binary number and a bit is a literal zero or one digit.

	The meaning of the language is given by its {semantics}.

	See also {abstract syntax}, {concrete syntax}.

	(1994-10-31)

1. A discrepancy between a computed, observed, or measured
	value or condition and the true, specified, or theoretically
	correct value or condition.

	2. <programming> A mental mistake made by a programmer that
	may result in a program {fault}.

	3. (verb) What a program does when it stops as result of a
	programming error.

	(2000-03-28)

<operating system> A character string which tells a program to
	perform a specific action.  Most commands take {arguments}
	which either modify the action performed or supply it with
	input.  Commands may be typed by the user or read from a file
	by a {command interpreter}.  It is also common to refer to
	menu items as commands.

	(1997-06-21)

[back-formation from {hairy}] The complications that make
	something hairy.  "Decoding {TECO} commands requires a certain
	amount of hair."  Often seen in the phrase "infinite hair",
	which connotes extreme complexity.  Also in "hairiferous"
	(tending to promote hair growth): "GNUMACS elisp encourages
	{lusers} to write complex editing modes."  "Yeah, it's pretty
	hairiferous all right." (Or just: "Hair squared!")

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)

<data> A data structure holding many values, possibly of
	different types, which is usually accessed sequentially,
	working from the head to the end of the tail - an "ordered
	list".  This contrasts with a (one-dimensional) {array}, any
	element of which can be accessed equally quickly.

	Lists are often stored using a cell and pointer arrangement
	where each value is stored in a cell along with an associated
	pointer to the next cell.  A special pointer, e.g. zero, marks
	the end of the list.  This is known as a (singly) "linked
	list".  A doubly linked list has pointers from each cell to
	both next and previous cells.

	An unordered list is a {set}.

	(1998-11-12)

1. <file format> A single file containing one or (usually)
	more separate files plus information to allow them to be
	extracted (separated) by a suitable program.

	Archives are usually created for software distribution or
	{backup}.  {tar} is a common format for {Unix} archives, and
	{arc} or {PKZIP} for {MS-DOS} and {Microsoft Windows}.

	2. <operating system> To transfer files to slower, cheaper
	media (usually {magnetic tape}) to free the {hard disk} space
	they occupied.  This is now normally done for long-term
	storage but in the 1960s, when disk was much more expensive,
	files were often shuffled regularly between disk and tape.

	3. <networking> {archive site}.

	(1996-12-08)

1. <file system> {hard link} or {symbolic link}.

	2. <hypertext> {hyperlink}.

	(1997-10-22)

<body, project> /g*noo/ 1. A {recursive acronym}:
	"GNU's Not Unix!".  The {Free Software Foundation}'s project
	to provide a freely distributable replacement for {Unix}.  The
	GNU Manifesto was published in the March 1985 issue of
	Dr. Dobb's Journal but the GNU project started a year and a
	half earlier when {Richard Stallman} was trying to get funding
	to work on his freely distributable editor, {Emacs}.

	{Emacs} and the GNU {C} compiler, {gcc}, two tools designed
	for this project, have become very popular.  GNU software is
	available from many {GNU archive sites}.

	See also {Hurd}.

	2. <person> {John Gilmore}.

	[{Jargon File}]

	(1997-04-12)

<programming, tool> A program that converts another program
	from some {source language} (or {programming language}) to
	{machine language} (object code).  Some compilers output
	{assembly language} which is then converted to {machine
	language} by a separate {assembler}.

	A compiler is distinguished from an assembler by the fact that
	each input statement does not, in general, correspond to a
	single machine instruction or fixed sequence of instructions.
	A compiler may support such features as automatic allocation
	of variables, arbitrary arithmetic expressions, control
	structures such as FOR and WHILE loops, variable {scope},
	input/ouput operations, {higher-order functions} and
	{portability} of source code.

	{AUTOCODER}, written in 1952, was possibly the first primitive
	compiler.  {Laning and Zierler}'s compiler, written in
	1953-1954, was possibly the first true working algebraic
	compiler.

	See also {byte-code compiler}, {native compiler}, {optimising
	compiler}.

	(1994-11-07)

1. <architecture> {cache hit}.

	2. <World-Wide Web> A request to a {web server} from a {web
	browser} or other {client} (e.g. a {robot}).

	The number of hits on a server may be important for
	determining advertising revenue.

	In the course of loading a single {web page}, a browser may
	hit a web server many times e.g. to retrieve the page itself
	and each {image} on the page.  In contrast, caching by
	browsers and {web proxies} reduces the number of hits on the
	server because some requests are satisfied from the cache.

	3. <jargon> To press and release a key on the keyboard.  Some
	prefer the less aggressive "tap".

	(2000-02-20)

1. <operating system, software> The sequence of states of an
	executing {program}.  A process consists of the program {code}
	(which may be shared with other processes which are executing
	the same program), private data, and the state of the
	{processor}, particularly the values in its {registers}.  It
	may have other associated resources such as a {process
	identifier}, open files, {CPU time} limits, {shared memory},
	{child processes}, and {signal handlers}.

	One process may, on some {platforms}, consist of many
	{threads}.  A {multitasking} {operating system} can run
	multiple processes {concurrently} or in {parallel}, and allows
	a process to spawn "child" processes.

	(2001-06-16)

	2. <business> The sequence of activities, people, and systems
	involved in carrying out some business or achieving some
	desired result.  E.g. software development process, project
	management process, configuration management process.

	(2001-06-16)