1. A program which provides some service to other ({client})
	programs.  The connection between client and server is
	normally by means of {message passing}, often over a
	{network}, and uses some {protocol} to encode the client's
	requests and the server's responses.  The server may run
	continuously (as a {daemon}), waiting for requests to arrive
	or it may be invoked by some higher level daemon which
	controls a number of specific servers ({inetd} on {Unix}).

	There are many servers associated with the {Internet}, such as
	those for {HTTP}, {Network File System}, {Network Information
	Service} (NIS), {Domain Name System} (DNS), {FTP}, {news},
	{finger}, {Network Time Protocol}.  On Unix, a long list can
	be found in /etc/services or in the {NIS} database "services".
	See {client-server}.

	2. A computer which provides some service for other computers
	connected to it via a network.  The most common example is a
	{file server} which has a local disk and services requests
	from remote clients to read and write files on that disk,
	often using {Sun}'s {Network File System} (NFS) {protocol} or
	{Novell Netware} on {PCs}.  Another common example is a {web
	server}.

	[{Jargon File}]

	(2003-12-29)

A company supplying {multimedia} and interactive television
	services and digital arts software tools in the US and
	worldwide.  They produce products for {Microsoft Windows} and
	the {Macintosh} including: Macromedia FreeHand, a tool for
	design and illustration; Macromedia Director, an animation and
	authoring tool for multimedia production; Authorware
	Professional, a multiplatform authoring tool for interactive
	learning; MacroModel, a 3D modelling tool for multimedia,
	graphics and product design; SoundEdit 16, a digital sound
	recording and editing system; Fontographer, a typeface editing
	programme; and Action!, a multimedia presentation application.

	Chief Executive Officer: Bud Colligan.

	(1995-01-10)

1. {application program}.

	2. {function application}.

1. <mathematics> (Or "map", "mapping") If D and C are sets
	(the domain and codomain) then a function f from D to C,
	normally written "f : D -> C" is a subset of D x C such that:

	1. For each d in D there exists some c in C such that (d,c) is
	an element of f.  I.e. the function is defined for every
	element of D.

	2. For each d in D, c1 and c2 in C, if both (d,c1) and (d,c2)
	are elements of f then c1 = c2.  I.e. the function is uniquely
	defined for every element of D.

	See also {image}, {inverse}, {partial function}.

	2. <programming> Computing usage derives from the mathematical
	term but is much less strict.  In programming (except in
	{functional programming}), a function may return different
	values each time it is called with the same argument values
	and may have {side effects}.

	A {procedure} is a function which returns no value but has
	only {side-effects}.  The {C} language, for example, has no
	procedures, only functions.  {ANSI C} even defines a {type},
	{void}, for the result of a function that has no result.

	(1996-09-01)

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)

1. Not simulated.  Often used as a specific antonym to
	{virtual} in any of its jargon senses.

	2. <mathematics> {real number}.

	[{Jargon File}]

	(1997-03-12)

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

	See also {dry run}.

	(1996-05-13)

<World-Wide Web, database, tool> {Allaire Corporation}'s
	commercial {database} application development tool that allows
	{databases} to have a {World-Wide Web} {interface}, so a
	database can be queried and updated using a {web browser}.

	The ColdFusion Server application runs on the {web server} and
	has access to a {database}.  ColdFusion files on the web
	server are {HTML} pages with additional ColdFusion commands to
	{query} or {update} the database, written in {CFML}.  When the
	page is requested by the user, the {web server} passes the
	page to the Cold Fusion application, which executes the {CFML}
	commands, places the results of the {CFML} commands in the
	{HTML} file, and returns the page to the {web server}.  The
	page returned to the {web server} is now an ordinary {HTML}
	file, and it is sent to the user.

	Examples of ColdFusion applications include order entry, event
	registration, catalogue search, directories, calendars, and
	interactive training.  ColdFusion applications are robust
	because all database interactions are encapsulated in a single
	industrial-strength {CGI} script.  The formatting and
	presentation can be modified and revised at any time (as
	opposed to having to edit and recompile {source code}).

	ColdFusion Server can connect with any database that supports
	{ODBC} or {OLE DB} or one that has a native database driver.
	Native database drivers are available for {Oracle} and
	{Sybase} databases.

	ColdFusion is available for {Windows}, {Solaris}, and {HP-UX}.
	A {development environment} for creating ColdFusion files,
	called ColdFusion Studio, is also available for {Windows}.

	Current version: MX(6), as of 2003-07-11.

	The {filename extension} for ColdFusion files is .cfm

	{Home (http://www.coldfusion.com/)}.

	(2003-07-27)

<jargon> A somewhat humorous variant of "{down}", used
	primarily by {Unix} {hackers}.  "Hosed" implies a condition
	thought to be relatively easy to reverse.  It is also widely
	used of people in the mainstream sense of "in an extremely
	unfortunate situation".  The term was popularised by fighter
	pilots refering to being hosed by machine gun fire (date?).
	Usage in hackerdom dates back to {CMU} in the 1970s or
	earlier.

	{"Acronyms and Abbreviations" from UCC, Ireland
	(http://www.ucc.ie/cgi-bin/acronym)} expands it as "Hardware
	Or Software Error Detected", though this is probably a
	back-formation.

	The {Jargon File} version 4.1.4 1999-06-17 says that it was
	probably derived from the Canadian slang "hoser" (meaning "a
	man, esp. one who works at a job that uses physical rather
	than mental skills and whose habits are slightly offensive but
	amusing").

	One correspondant speculates about an allusion to a hose-like
	body part.

	Once upon a time, a {Cray} that had been experiencing periodic
	difficulties crashed, and it was announced to have been hosed.
	It was discovered that the crash was due to the disconnection
	of some coolant hoses.  The problem was corrected, and users
	were then assured that everything was OK because the system
	had been rehosed.  See also {dehose}.

	See also: {hose}.

	(1999-10-28)

1. <World-Wide Web> {Internet Information Server}.

	2. <language> {Idealized Instruction Set}.

	(1999-08-26)

1. <tool> A program used primarily to create, manipulate,
	modify, or analyse other programs, such as a compiler or an
	editor or a cross-referencing program.  Opposite: {app},
	{operating system}.

	2. A {Unix} {application program} with a simple, "transparent"
	(typically text-stream) interface designed specifically to be
	used in programmed combination with other tools (see {filter},
	{plumbing}).

	3. <jargon> ({MIT}: general to students there) To work; to
	study (connotes tedium).  The {TMRC} Dictionary defined this
	as "to set one's brain to the grindstone".  See {hack}.

	4. <jargon, person> ({MIT}) A student who studies too much and
	hacks too little.  MIT's student humour magazine rejoices in
	the name "Tool and Die".

	[{Jargon File}]

	(1996-12-12)

<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)

1. <hardware> An electrical conductor.  For distances larger
	than a breadbox, a single line may consist of two electrical
	conductors in twisted, parallel, or concentric arrangement
	used to transport one logical signal.

	By extension, a (usually physical) medium such as an {optical
	fibre} which carries a signal.

	(1995-09-29)

<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)

1. <filename extension> {filename extension}.

	2. <programming> A {feature} or piece of {code} which
	{extends} a program's {functionality}, e.g. a {plug-in}.

	(1997-06-21)

<World-Wide Web> (Or "website") Any computer on the
	{Internet} running a {World-Wide Web} {server} process.  A
	particular website is usually identified by the {hostname}
	part of a {URL}.  Multiple hostnames may actually map to the
	same computer in which case they are known as "{virtual
	servers}".

	(2005-07-12)

<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)