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Terms for computer junkies
Pump up your computer-related vocabulary! Load your brains with these frequenty used i-terms.
Hardware: Machinery and equipment (CPU, disks, tapes, modem, cables, etc). In operation, a computer is both hardware and software. One is useless without the other. The hardware design specifies the commands it can follow, and the instructions tell it what to do. See instruction set.
Hardware is “storage and transmission”: The more memory and disk storage a computer has, the more work it can do. The faster the memory and disks transmit data and instructions to the CPU, the faster it gets done. A hardware requirement is based on the size of the databases that will be created and the number of users or applications that will be served at the same time. How much? How fast?
Software is “logic and language”: Software deals with the details of an ever-changing business and must process transactions in a logical fashion. Languages are used to program the software. The “logic and language” involved in analysis and programming is generally far more complicated than specifying a storage and transmission requirement.
Hard macro: The design of a logic function that specifies how the required logic elements are interconnected and specifies the physical pathways and wiring patterns between the components. Also called a “macro cell.” Contrast with soft macro.
Taligent: (Taligent, Inc., Cupertino, CA, subsidiary of IBM, www.taligent.com) A software company formed by Apple and IBM to develop the next-generation operating system. TalOS was to be based on Apple’s object-oriented operating system, code named Pink, but was later disbanded. Taligent delivered its CommonPoint application frameworks and development tools for AIX and OS/2, but they were not widely used. It since turned its focus to class libraries and Web tools and became an IBM subsidiary in 1996. See also Teligent.
Hard sectored: A sector identification technique that uses a physical mark. For example, hard sectored floppy disks have a hole in the disk that marks the beginning of each sector. Contrast with soft sectored.
Hard space: A special space character that acts like a letter or digit, used to prevent multiple-word, proper names from breaking between lines.
Hard return: A code inserted into a text document by pressing the Enter key. If the hard return does not display as a symbol on screen, it can usually be revealed along with other layout codes in an expanded mode. DOS, Windows and OS/2 insert a CR/LF combo: Carriage Return and Line Feed. Mac uses only a CR, and UNIX only an LF. Contrast with soft return.
Hardware engineer: A person involved with the design, implementation and testing of hardware (circuits, components, systems, etc.). See software engineer.
Hard token: A physical authentication device such as a smart card. See authentication token.
Process bound: An excessive amount of processing in the CPU that causes an imbalance between I/O and processing. In a multitasking system, process-bound applications may slow down other applications and other users depending on how the operating system slices time (see preemptive multitasking). A personal computer can become process bound when it is recalculating a spreadsheet, for example.
Routable protocol: A communications protocol that contains a network address as well as a device address, allowing data to be routed from one network to another. Examples of routable protocols are SNA, OSI, TCP/IP, XNS, IPX, AppleTalk and DECnet. Contrast with non-routable protocol. See routing protocol.
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