Computer jargon translated

Press, 1 August 1989, Page 33

Computer jargon translated

Save.— Transfer from computer memory to a . more permanent medium, such as disk or tape. Scroll.— Move across (usually up) a screen. Material disappears from the top as new material is added to the bottom. Sector.— The smallest amount of disk storage which may be read or written at a time. Semantics.— The meaning, as opposed to the form, of an instruction, i.e. what it is supposed to do. Serial.— A method of communication between peripherals in which the bits making up a character are sent one at a time down a cable. ■Software.— Instructions (programs) of various sorts given to the computer to act on. Sort.— Put in a . predertermined order — often alphabetical. Data is often sorted prior to other operations, for the sake of efficiency. Source code.— Programs written in a high-level language, before being translated into machine instructions by a compiler or interpreter. Special character.— A character

which is neither alphabetic or numerical, such as and Spreadsheet.— A program which mimics a paper worksheet, with the great improvement that when one number is changed, all other numbers on the sheet change (if necessary) to reflect the effects of the first change. Useful for many financial and other numerically oriented applications. Statement.— An instruction in some programming language. String.— A sequence of characters, such as a word, name or sentence. Subroutine.— A collection of instructions which can be called on repeatedly as part of a larger program. Syntax.— The rules which specify exactly how an instruction may be written. See also semantics. System program.— A program which is used to make the computer system function, as opposed to an application program, which performs some external task. Terminal.— A keyboard and screen attached to a computer. —Jordan De Leete