Resources & Results

IT glossary

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Application
A complete, self-contained program that performs a specific function for the user. Examples include text editors, spreadsheets and text formatters.
Archie
A software tool that finds files stored on anonymous FTP (see: file transfer protocol) sites. You need to know the exact file name or a substring of it.
ARPAnet
Short for Advanced Research Projects Agency Network which was developed in the late 60’s and early 70’s by the US Department of Defense as an experiment in wide-area-networking (WAN) that would survive a nuclear war. It became the "father" of the Internet.
ASCII
Short for American Standard Code for Information Interchange -the world-wide standard for the code numbers used by computers to represent all the upper and lower-case Latin letters, numbers, punctuation, etc. There are 128 standard ASCII codes each of which can be represented by a 7 digit binary number: 0000000 through 1111111.
Application service providers (ASPs)
Vendors who provided application packages and online services to companies on the Internet. Applications may include e-commerce, payroll and accounting and supply chain.
Asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL)
High speed transmission technology that uses the telephone's existing copper wires. It requires ADSL modems at both the subscriber's and telephone company ends. The line has different speeds to and from the user.
Analog
A signal that is received in the same form in which it is transmitted, while the amplitude and frequency may vary.
Amplitude
The amount of variety in a signal. Commonly thought of as the height of a wave.
Asynchronous
Communication in which interaction between parties does not take place simultaneously.
Asynchronous Transmission Mode (ATM)
A method of sending data in irregular time intervals using a code such as ASCII. ATM allows most modern computers to communicate with one another easily.
Audio Bridge
A device used in audio conferencing that connects multiple telephone lines. Audio conferencing: Voice only connection of more than two sites using standard telephone lines.
ASCII
(abbreviation for American Standard Code for Information Interexchange)
A computer language used to convert letters, numbers, and control codes into a digital code understood by most computers.
Active Desktop
Microsoft's integration of Windows desktop for Windows 95/98 and Windows NT with Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser (4.0 and later) where users can access local and remote information from a single location.
Active Directory
Microsoft's Active Directory presents applications with a single, simplified set of interfaces so that users can locate and utilize directory resources from a variety of networks while bypassing differences among proprietary services.
Active Server Pages (ASP)
A specification for a Web page that is dynamically created by the Web server and contains both HTML and scripting code.With ASP, programs can be run on a Web server in a similar way to CGI scripts, but ASP uses uses the ActiveX scripting engine to support either VBScript or JScript.When a user requests data from an Active Server Page, the ActiveX server engine reads through the file, sends the HTML back to the browser and executes the script.
Active X
ActiveX is a model for writing programs so that other programs and the operating system can call them.ActiveX technology is used with Microsoft Internet Explorer to make interactive Web pages that look and behave like computer programs, rather than static pages.With ActiveX, users can ask or answer questions, use push buttons, and interact in other ways with the Web page.ActiveX controls are often written using Visual Basic.
Alias
1.An abbreviation for an e-mail address that, when keyed in, sends the message to the complete address.2. An alternate label for identifying an object, such as a file or data field.3.A false signal created in the digitization of an analog audio sample.
Alpha testing
Testing new software in the factory by either the manufacturer's staff or outsiders.The next stage is beta testing, which is done by actual users in the kind of environment in which the software will be used.
Aspect ratio
The ratio of width to height of an image on a television, motion picture, or computer screen.
Attachment
1.A file linked to an e-mail message.Many mail programs use MIME encoding to attach files. 2.A device attached to a computer, along with any adapters used to attach it.
Authentication
Verification of identity as a security measure. Passwords and digital signatures are forms of authentication.
Audioconferencing
Teleconferencing using sound for communication between participants.
Audio Streaming
Playing audio immediately as it is downloaded from the Internet, rather than storing it in a file on the receiving computer first.Web browser plug-ins decompress and play the file in real time.
Authoring
Creating a document; especially used for World Wide Web documents.
AutoCAD
A CAD program for mechanical engineering from Autodesk, Inc., which can be run on PC, Macintosh, UNIX, and VAX.
Autoexec.bat
(Automatically Executing Batch File).A DOS batch file that is executed automatically when the computer is started, after CONFIG.SYS is run.AUTOEXEC.BAT sets up the DOS prompt, tells the system which directories to search for programs to run, loads the mouse driver, configures the serial ports, and initializes RAM-resident programs and utilities.
Autoflow
A function of some programs that allows text to wrap around graphic images and spread from one page to the next, to fill the space as needed.
Autoresponder
A program that automatically delivers information by email.
Auxiliary storage
Storage on external media such as disk or tape.