CS101 Glossary

•  HTML

Hypertext Markup Language As its name suggests, HTML is a collection of formatting commands that create hypertext documents--Web pages, to be exact. When you point your Web browser to a URL, the browser interprets the HTML commands embedded in the page and uses them to format the page's text and graphic elements. HTML commands cover many types of text formatting (bold and italic text, lists, headline fonts in various sizes, and so on), and also have the ability to include graphics and other nontext elements. Usually, html commands (tags) come in pairs depicting the start and end of a style; e.g. <B> This is bold text </B> would appear as bold text within a browser window. Development and maintenance of HTML standards is coordinated by the World Wide Web Consortium. See also: browser, HTML 3.0, hypertext, URL, VRML

 100BaseT

Another term for fast Ethernet, an upgraded standard for connecting computers into a local area network (LAN). 100BaseT Ethernet works just like regular Ethernet except that it can transfer data at a peak rate of 100 mbps. It's also more expensive and less common than its slower 10BaseT sibling. See also: fast Ethernet, Ethernet (10BaseT)

 10BaseT

The most common form of Ethernet is called 10BaseT, which denotes a peak transmission speed of 10 mbps using copper twisted-pair cable. Ethernet is a standard for connecting computers into a local area network (LAN). See also: Ethernet, fast Ethernet (100BaseT), hub

 anonymous FTP

Part of the Internet's appeal is the huge number of files available for download. Anonymous File Transfer Protocol (FTP) enables anyone to download files from a properly configured FTP server. This allows users without accounts to access files by entering the username anonymous, along with their email address as a password. Because anyone can access files that have been set up for anonymous FTP, Webmasters need to be careful to use it only for files meant for public consumption. See also: FTP

•  ANSI

CS101

Glossary

American National Standards Institute This organization of American industry groups works with the standards committees of other nations to develop standards to facilitate international trade and telecommunications. Some of ANSI's greatest hits in the computing field include ASCII, SCSI, and the ANSI.SYS device driver. See also: ASCII, SCSI

•  API

application programming interface An API is a series of functions that programs can use to make the operating system do their dirty work. Using Windows APIs, for example, a program can open windows, files, and message boxes--as well as perform more complicated tasks--by passing a single instruction. Windows has several classes of APIs that deal with telephony, messaging, and other issues.

 applet

Applet is a diminutive form of app (application), and it refers to simple, single-function programs that often ship with a larger product. Programs such as Windows' Calculator, File Manager, and Notepad are examples of applets.

 ARPAnet

In the late 1960s--when the U.S. military was desperately afraid of a nuclear attack from the Soviet Union--some government computer scientists in the Advanced Research Projects Agency got together to design a bomb-proof network that would connect military bases and other military agencies. To do so, they created a system based on linking distant computers via a newly developed set of protocols called TCP/IP. This new nuke-proof network (though it was never tested with real nukes, of course) became ARPAnet. In the early 1980s, ARPAnet technology was put to use for nonmilitary purposes and gradually became what we now call the Internet. ARPAnet was taken out of commission in favor of a higher-speed network called NSFNET in 1990. See also: TCP/IP

 ASCII

American Standard Code for Information Interchange Bland, unformatted text files are best saved in ASCII (pronounced "askee") format. But ASCII is more than a text file format--it's a standard developed by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) to define how computers write and read characters. The ASCII set of 128 characters includes letters, numbers, punctuation, and control codes (such as a character that marks the end of a line). Each letter or other character is represented by a number: an uppercase A, for example, is the number 65, and a lowercase z is the number 122. Most operating systems use the ASCII standard, except for Windows NT, which uses the suitably larger and newer Unicode standard. See also: ANSI

 bandwidth

In a general sense, this term describes information-carrying capacity. It can apply to telephone or network wiring as well as system buses, radio frequency signals, and monitors. On a more human level, the term can describe a person's capacity for dealing with multiple projects ("I'd like to update this database, but I don't have the bandwidth."). Bandwidth is most accurately measured in cycles per second, or hertz (Hz), which is the difference between the lowest and highest frequencies transmitted. But it's also common to use bits or bytes per second instead. See also: memory bandwidth, video bandwidth

 BASIC

beginner's all-purpose symbolic instruction code This standard, high-level family of programming languages is simple to learn but creates programs that are typically slow to use. Many types of BASIC are available--your package might be called Turbo, Quick, or Visual Basic. The language is not generally used for industrial-strength applications, although Visual Basic has spawned a lot of shareware programs--and even some commercial apps such as MicroHelp's Uninstaller. See also: Visual Basic

 beta software

Beta versions of commercial software are work-in-progress test copies released prior to the full version. They're used to put the product through real-world tests and to ferret out bugs before the finished software hits the shelves. Betas often expire after a period of time, usually when the full version or the next beta is released. Originally, beta software was released only to developers, but increasingly betas are offered to the general public, usually through the manufacturer's Web site. Testing beta software can be a great way to try out a new product that you're not sure you want to buy. But be warned: if you decide to experiment with betas, expect an occasional software glitch or system crash. See also: demo software

 binary

A numeric system that represents all numbers using only two digits: 1 and 0. Binary is used by computers because each binary digit can be represented by a single digital switch set to either on or off. Each of these digital switches is called a bit. An 8-bit computer processor represents data using sets of 8 bits, a 16-bit processor uses 16 bits, and so on. The more bits a computer can process at once, the larger the numbers it can work with. See also: bit

 bitwise operators

JavaScript bitwise operators (&, |, ^, ~, <<, >>, >>>) work on numbers, just like arithmetic operators (+, -, /, *) do. But whereas arithmetic operators work on the actual values of numbers, bitwise operators work on their binary representations. Bitwise operators treat their operands as a set of bits (zeros and ones) rather than as decimal, hexadecimal, or octal numbers. Although the operators act upon binary representations of the operands, they return standard JavaScript numerical values. See also: bit, binary

•  BIOS

basic input/output system The BIOS is what's coded into a PC's ROM to provide the basic instructions for controlling system hardware. The operating system and application programs both directly access BIOS routines to provide better compatibility for such functions as screen display. Some makers of add-in boards such as graphics accelerator cards provide their own BIOS modules that work in conjunction with (or replace) the BIOS on the system's motherboard. See also: ROM