The following terms starting with the letter "A" have specific pages dedicated to

them. You can come back to this page or the main Computer Terms page by using the
navigation breadcrumbs at the bottom of each page.

• A/D = Analog to Digital

• A/V = Audio/Visual
• AAC = Advanced Audio Coding
• AARP = AppleTalk Address Resolution Protocol
• ABBH = Average Bouncing Busy Hour
• ABC = Atanasoff-Berry Computer
• ABEND = Abnormal End
• AC = Alternating Current
• ACD = Automatic Call Distributor
• ACeS = Asia Cellular Satellite System
• ACK = Acknowledge Character
• ACL = Access Control List
• ACM = Association for Computing Machinery
• ACPI = Advanced Configuration and Power Interface
• ACTA = America's Carriers Telecommunications Association
• ACU = Automatic Calling Unit
• ADB = Apple Desktop Bus
• ADCCP = Advanced Data Communications Control Protocol
• ADO = ActiveX Data Objects
• ADP = Automatic Data Processing
• ADPCM = Adaptive Differential Pulse Code Modulation
• ADS = Alternate Data Streams
• ADSL = Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line
• ADVEIS = Anti-Virus Dependent Vulnerabilities in E-mail Infrastructure
Security
• AES = Asynchronous Event Scheduler
• AFAIK = As Far As I Know
• AGP = Accelerated Graphics Port
• AH = Authentication Header
• AI = Artificial Intelligence
• AIFF and AIFF-C = Audio Interchange File Format
• AIML = Astronomical Instrument Markup Language
• AIX = Advanced Interactive Executive
• ALGOL = Algorithmic Language
• ALU = Arithmetic (and) Logic Unit
• AMANDA = Advanced Maryland Automatic Network Disk Archiver
• AMD = Advanced Micro Devices
• AML = Astronomy Markup Language
• AMP = Advanced Metal Powder
• AMPS = Advanced Mobile Phone System
• AMS = American Mobile Satellite Corporation
• AN = Active Network
• ANSA = Adaptive Network Security Alliance
• ANSI = American National Standards Institute
• AOL = America Online
• APA = All Points Addressable
• API = Application Program(ming) Interface
• APM = Advanced Power Management
• APP = Application Portability Profile
• APWG = Anti-Phishing Working Group
• ARLL = Advanced Run Length Limited
• ARM = Advanced (Acorn) RISC Machine
• ARM = Advanced RISC Machines Ltd
• ARP = Address Resolution Protocol
• ARPA = Advanced Research Projects Agency
• ARQ = Automatic Repeat Request
• ASAP = Activate Secure Authentication Protocol
• ASAP = As Soon As Possible
• ASCII = American Standard Code for Information Interchange
• ASF = ActiveMovie Streaming Format
• ASIC = Application-Specific Integrated Circuit
• ASP = Active Server Pages
• ASP = Application Service Provider
• ASP = Association of Shareware Professionals
• AT = Attention
• ATA = AT Attachment
• ATL = Active (ActiveX) Template Library
• ATM = Asynchronous Transfer Mode
• AUI = Attachment Unit Interface
• AVI = Audio/Video Interleaved format
• AWHFY = Are We Having Fun Yet
• AWT = Abstract Windows Toolkit
The following terms starting with the letter "B" have specific pages dedicated to them.
You can come back to this page or the main Computer Terms page by using the
navigation breadcrumbs at the bottom of each page.

• B-ISDN = Broadband-Integrated Services Digital Network

• B2B = Business-to-Business
• BAPI = Business Application Programming Interface
• Baseband = A computer networking techinque
• BASIC = Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code
• BAT = Bandwidth Allocation Technology
• BBS = Bulletin Board System
• BCC = Blind Carbon Copy
• BCC = Block Check Character
• BCD = Binary Coded Decimal
• BDP = Bandwidth-delay Product
• BEDO RAM = Burst EDO RAM
• BeOS = Be, Inc. Operating System
• BG = Big Grin
• BGA = Ball-grid Array
• BGP = Border Gateway Protocol
• BICMOS = Bipolar Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor
• Biometrics = Science of using one or more bodily characteristics
• BIOS = Basic Input/Output System
• Bistable Display = A stable display when power is off.
• bit = Binary Digit
• BITNET = Because Its Time Network
• BLOB = Binary Large Object
• Bluetooth = A short-range wireless technology
• BNC = Bayonet Neill Concelman
• BOOTP = BOOTstrap Protocol
• Botnet = A network of remote-controlled zombie computers.
• BPEL = Business Process Execution Language
• BPL = Bits Per Line
• BPP = Bits Per Pixel
• BPS = Bits Per Second
• BRI = Basic-Rate Interface
• BSC = Base Station Controller
• BSD = Berkeley Software (System) Distribution (Design)
• BSML = Biosequence Markup Language
• BSWD = BellSouth Intelligent Wireless Data Network
• BTW = By The Way
The following terms starting with the letter "C" have specific pages dedicated to them.
You can come back to this page or the main Computer Terms page by using the
navigation breadcrumbs at the bottom of each page.

• CA = Certificate Authority
• CAD = Computer-Aided Design
• CAE = Computer-Aided Engineering
• CASE = Computer-Aided Software Engineering
• CAV = Constant Angular Velocity
• CBT = Computer-Based Training
• CCD = Charge-Coupled Device
• CCI = Common Content Inspection
• CCITT = Consultative Committee for International Telephony and Telegraphy
• CD = Carrier Detect
• cDc = Cult of the Dead Cow
• CDDI = Copper Data Distribution Interface
• CDF = Channel Definition Format
• CDFS = Compact Disk File System
• CDI = Common Data Interface
• CD-I = Compact Disc-Interactive
• CDIF = CASE Definition Interchange Facility
• CDMA = Code Division Multiple Access
• CDPD = Cellular Digital Packet Data
• CD-PROM = Compact Disc-Programmable Read Only Memory
• CD-R = Compact Disc-Recordable
• CDRAM = Cached Dynamic Random Access Memory
• CD-ROM = Compact Disc, Read Only Memory
• CD-RW = Compact Disc-Rewritable
• CERN = Conseil Europeen pour le Recherche Nucleaire
• CERT = Character Error Rate Testing
• CERT = The CERT Coordination Center
• CFI = Common Flash Interface
• CGA = Color Graphics Adapter
• CGI = Common Gateway Interface
• CGM = Computer Graphics Metafile
• CHAP = Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol
• CHRP = Common Hardware Reference Platform
• CIDR = Classless Inter-Domain Routing
• CIE Color Model = Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage Color Model
• CIFF = Camera Image File Format
• CIR = Committed Information Rate
• CISC = Complex Instruction-Set Computing
• CISC = Creative Integrated Solutions Consortium, LLC
• CIX = Commercial Internet Exchange Association
• CLEC = Competitive Local Exchange Carriers
• CLV = Constant Linear Velocity
• CME = Common Malware Enumeration
• CMIP = Common Management Information Protocol
• CML = Chemical Markup Language
• CMMI = Capability Maturity Model Integration
• CMOS = Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor
• CMS = Color Management System
• CMTS = Cable Modem Termination System
• CMYK = Cyan Magenta Yellow Black (Key)
• CNG = Calling tone
• COBOL = Common Business Oriented Language
• CODASYL = Conference on Data Systems Languages
• CODEC = Compression/Decompression
• COM = Component Object Model
• COMDEX = Communications and Data processing Exposition
• Connector = Termination on the end of a cable
• CORBA = Common Object Request Broker Architecture
• CP/M = Control Program for Microprocessors (Control Program/Monitor)
• CPE = Customer Premises Equipment
• cps = Characters Per Second
• CPU = Central Processing Unit
• CR = Carriage Return
• CRAM = Card RAM
• CRAM = Computational RAM
• CRC = Cyclic Redundancy Check (Code)
• CRM = Customer Relationship Management
• CRT = Cathode-Ray Tube
• CSDGM = Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata
• CSMA/CA = Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Avoidance
• CSMA/CD = Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Detection
• CSS = Cascading Style Sheets
• CSTN = Color Supertwist Nematic
• CSU = Channel Service Unit
• CSV = Comma-Separated Value (Variable)
• CTI = Computer-Telephony Integration
• CTP = Community Technical Preview
• CTR = Click-Through Ratio
• CUA = Common User Access
• Cuckoo Egg = A munged copy of what appears to be copyright-protected
material.
• CU-SeeMe = (Cornell University)-SeeMe
• CWM = Common Warehouse Metadata
• CWR = Congestion Window Reduced
• CYA = Cover Your ___ (Rear)
• Cyberloafing = Doing non-work activities at work on a computer.
 • CYBORG = Cybernetic Organism
• CYMK = Cyan Yellow Magenta Black (Key)

The following terms starting with the letter "D" have specific pages dedicated to them.
You can come back to this page or the main Computer Terms page by using the
navigation breadcrumbs at the bottom of each page.

• DAC = Digital-to-Analog Converter

• DAFS = Direct Access File System
• DAFS = Document Attribute Format Specification
• DAO = Data Access Objects
• DAO = Disk At Once
• DASD = Direct Access Storage Device
• DAT = Digital Audio Tape
• DB = Database
• DB2 = Database 2
• DBMS = Database Management System
• DCC = Direct Cable Connection
• DCE = Data Communications Equipment
• DCF = Design Rule for Camera File Systems
• DCI = Display Control Interface
• DDE = Dynamic Data Exchange
• DDI = Direct Draw Interface
• DDR SDRAM = Double Data Rate-Synchronous DRAM
• DDS = Digital Data Storage
• DEBI = DMA Extended Bus Interface
• DEC = Digital Equipment Corporation
• DES = Data Encryption Standard
• DFM = Design for Manufacturing
• DHCP = Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
• DID = Direct Inward Dialing
• DIF = Data Interchange Format
• DIF = Directory Interchange Format
• Digital Certificate = A form of secure identification
• DIMM = Dual In-Line Memory Module
• DIN = Deutsches Institut für Normung
• DINOR = Divided bit-line NOR
• DIP = Dual In-line Package
• Disintermediation = Remove the middleman
• Divx = Digital video express
• DIZ = Description in ZIP
• DLC = Data Link Control
• DLL = Dynamic Link Library
• DLP = Digital Light Processing
• DLT = Digital Linear Tape
• DMA = Direct Memory Access
• DMCA = Digital Millennium Copyright Act
• DMG = Data Mining Group
• DMI = Desktop Management Interface
• DNS = Domain Name Service (System)
• DOCSIS/MCNS = Data Over Cable Services and Interface Specifications for
Multimedia Cable Network Systems
• DOM = Document Object Model
• Donder vs Donner = That's right Santa's reindeer
• DoS = Denial-of-Service
• DOS = Disk Operating System
• Dot-matrix Printer = A printer that uses impact of pins against a ribbon
• dpi = Dots Per Inch
• DPMI = DOS Protected Mode Interface
• DRAM = Dynamic Random Access Memory
• DSL = Digital Subscriber Line
• DSLAM = Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer (Module)
• DSOM = Distributed System Object Model
• DSP = Digital Signal Processor
• DSR = Data Set Ready
• DSTN = Double-layer Supertwist Nematic
• DSU = Data Service Unit
• DSVD = Digital Simultaneous Voice and Data
• DTD = Document Type Definition
• DTE = Data Termination (Terminal) Equipment
• DUN = Dial-Up Networking
• DVD = Digital Versatile (Video) Disc
• DVD+RW = Digital Versatile (Video) Disc + Read/Write
• DVD-RAM = Digital Versatile (Video) Disc - Random Access Memory
• DVD-ROM = Digital Versatile (Video) Disc - Read Only Memory
• DVI = Digital Video Interactive
• DWDM = Dense Wave Division Multiplexing
• DXF = Data Exchange File (Format)
The following terms starting with the letter "E" have specific pages dedicated to them.
You can come back to this page or the main Computer Terms page by using the
navigation breadcrumbs at the bottom of each page.

• EAP = Extensible Authentication Protocol

• EBCDIC = Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code
• ECC = Error Correction Code (Error Checking and Correction)
• ECN = Explicit Congestion Notification
• EDGE = Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution
• EDI = Electronic Data Interchange
• EDLC = Electrochemical Double-layer Capacitor
• EDO RAM = Extended Data-Out Random Access Memory
• EDP = Electronic Data Processing
• EDRAM = Enhanced Dynamic Random Access Memory
• EEMS = Enhanced Expanded Memory Specification
• EEPROM = Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory
• EFT = Electronic Funds Transfer
• EGA = Enhanced Graphics Adapter
• EIA = Electronic Industries Alliance (Association)
• EIDE = Enhanced Integrated Device (or Intelligent Drive) Electronics
• EISA = Extended Industry Standard Architecture
• ELD = Electroluminescent Display
• ELF = Extremely Low Frequency
• EMM = Expanded Memory Manager
• EMS = Expanded Memory Specification
• EOF = End Of File
• EPP = Enhanced Parallel Port
• EPROM = Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory
• EPS = Encapsulated PostScript
• ERP = Enterprise Resource Planning
• ESC = Escape Character
• ESCD = Extended System Configuration Data
• ESDI = Enhanced System Device Interface
• ESP = Encapsulating Security Payload
• ESP = Eudora Sharing Protocol
• etard = A stupid user
• ETOX = EPROM Tunnel Oxide
• EULA = End User License Agreement
• EWAN = Emulator Without A Name
• Exif = Exchangeable Image File
The following terms starting with the letter "F" have specific pages dedicated to them.
You can come back to this page or the main Computer Terms page by using the
navigation breadcrumbs at the bottom of each page.

• FAHQT = Fully Automatic High-Quality Translation

• FAMOS = Floating Gate Avalanche MOS
• FAQ = Frequently Asked Questions
• FAT = File Allocation Table
• FBGA = Fine-pitch Ball-grid Array
• FCB = File Control Block
• FCC = File Carbon Copy
• FDD = Floppy Disk Drive
• FDDI = Fiber Distributed Data Interface
• FDHD = Floppy Drive, High Density
• FDM = Frequency Division Multiplexing
• FF = Form Feed
• FFS = Flash File System
• Fiber Optics = Optical information carried over a fiber
• FIF = Fractal Image Format
• FIFO = First In, First Out
• FLOPS = Floating-point Operations per Second
• Fortran = Formula Translator
• FPM RAM = Fast Page Mode RAM
• FPU = Floating-Point Unit
• FR = Frame Relay
• FRAD = Frame Relay Assembler/Disassembler
• FRAM = Ferroelectric RAM
• FSK = Frequency Shift Keying
• FSP = File Service Protocol
• FTP = File Transfer Protocol
• FWIW = For What It's Worth
• FYI = For Your Information
he following terms starting with the letter "G" have specific pages dedicated to them. You
can come back to this page or the main Computer Terms page by using the navigation
breadcrumbs at the bottom of each page.

• GbE = Gigabit Ethernet

• GDI = Graphics Device Interface
• GIF = Graphical Interchange Format
• GIGO = Garbage In, Garbage Out
• GIMP = General (GNU) Image Manipulation Program
• GIS = Geographic Information System
• GM = General MIDI
• GMT = Greenwich Mean Time
• GNU = GNU is Not UNIX
• GPF = General Protection Fault
• GPRS = General Packet Radio Service
• GPS = Global Positioning Satellite (System)
• grep = Globally search for the Regular Expression and Print (Generalized
Regular Expression Pattern-Matcher)
• GRiNS = Graphical Interface to SMIL
• GSM = Global System for Mobiles
• GUI = Graphical User Interface
• GUID = Globally Unique Identifier
The following terms starting with the letter "H" have specific pages dedicated to them.
You can come back to this page or the main Computer Terms page by using the
navigation breadcrumbs at the bottom of each page.

• HAL = Hardware Abstraction Layer

• HD = High Density
• HDD = Hard Disk Drive
• HDLC = High-level Data Link Control
• HDML = Handheld Device Markup Language
• HDR = High Data Rate
• HDTV = High-Definition Television
• HFS = Hierarchical Filing System
• HMA = High Memory Area
• HMD = Head-Mounted Display
• HP = Hewlett-Packard
• HP-GL = Hewlett-Packard Graphics Language
• HPAS = Hypermedia Presentation and Authoring System
• HPFS = High Performance File System
• HSL = Hypermedia Synchronization Language
• HSM = Hierarchical Storage Management
• HTML = Hypertext Markup Language
• HTTP = Hypertext Transfer Protocol
• HTTPD = Hypertext Transfer Protocol Daemon (Server)
The following terms starting with the letter "I" have specific pages dedicated to them.
You can come back to this page or the main Computer Terms page by using the
navigation breadcrumbs at the bottom of each page.

• I/O = Input/Output
• IAB = Internet Architecture Board
• IAC = Internet Access Coalition
• IAD = Integrated Access Device
• IAHC = Internet International Ad Hoc Committee
• IANA = Internet Assigned Numbers Authority
• IANAL = I Am Not A Lawyer
• IAS = Internet Authentication Service
• IBM = International Business Machines
• IBM 1401 = Second-generation IBM mainframe
• IBM 650 = First successful IBM mainframe
• ICA = Independent Computing Architecture
• ICANN = The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
• ICMP = Internet Control Message Protocol
• Icon = A form of on-screen graphic
• ICQ = [No specific expansion]
• IDE = Intelligent (Integrated) Drive Electronics
• IDEA = International Data Encryption Algorithm
• IDSL = ISDN Digital Subscriber Line
• IEEE = Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• IETF = Internet Engineering Task Force
• IGES = Initial Graphics Exchange Specification
• IGMP = Internet Group Management Protocol
• IIM = Internet Interaction Management
• IIOP = Internet Inter-ORB Protocol
• IIS = Internet Information Server
• IMAP = Internet Message Access Protocol
• IMHO = In My Humble Opinion
• Impact Printer = Uses a character image to press against a ribbon
• Incremental Backup = A backup of only files that have changed
• Indent = A movement inward from the left or right margin
• Index = A pointer to data
• Input = Method of getting data into a computer
• Insert Mode = Entered text pushes existing to the right
• Integer = Number with no decimal places
• Intel 80x Processors = Description of early Intel CPUs
• Interleave Factor = Number of sectors skipped between write operations
• InterNIC = Internet Network Information Center
• Interpreter = A form of program used to run other programs
• Interrupt = Signal that stops some operation
• IOS = Input Output System
• IP = Internet Protocol
• IPSec = Internet Protocol Security
• IPTV = Internet Protocol Television
• IPX = Internetwork Packet Exchange
• IRC = Internet Relay Chat
• IrDA = Infrared Data Association
• IRQ = Interrupt Request
• ISA = Industry Standard Architecture
• ISAM = Indexed Sequential Access Method
• ISAPI = Internet Server API
• ISDN = Integrated Services Digital Network
• ISO = International Organization for Standardization
• ISP = Internet Service Provider
• ITU = International Telecommunications Union
• IX = Internet Exchange
The following terms starting with the letter "J" have specific pages dedicated to them.
You can come back to this page or the main Computer Terms page by using the
navigation breadcrumbs at the bottom of each page.

• JBIG = Joint Bi-level Image Experts Group

• JCL = Job Control Language
• JDBC = Java Database Connectivity
• JDK = Java Developers (Development) Kit
• JEIDA = Japan Electronic Industry Development Association
• JFIF = JPEG File Interchange Format
• Joe Job = Use of a fake return address in a spam message
• JOVIAL = Jules' Own Version of the International Algebraic Language
• JPEG = Joint Photographic Experts Group
• Jump Line = A continuation link for split articles

he following terms starting with the letter "K" have specific pages dedicated to them. You
can come back to this page or the main Computer Terms page by using the navigation
breadcrumbs at the bottom of each page.

• kb = Kilobit
• KB = Kilobyte
• Kbps = Kilobits per second
• Kernal = Core portion of an operating system
• Keychord = Combination of two or more keys pressed at the same time
The following terms starting with the letter "L" have specific pages dedicated to them.
You can come back to this page or the main Computer Terms page by using the
navigation breadcrumbs at the bottom of each page.

• L2TP = Layer Two Tunneling Protocol

• LAN = Local Area Network
• Laser Printer = Output device that uses a laser to form the output
• LAWN = Local-Area Wireless Network
• LBA = Logical Block Addressing
• LBV = Layered Biometric Verification
• LCD = Liquid-Crystal Display
• LDAP = Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
• Leading = Space between lines of type
• LED = Light Emitting Diode
• LEP = Light Emitting Polymers
• LGMR = Laser Guided Magnetic Recording
• Li-ion = Lithium Ion
• LIFO = Last In, First Out
• Ligature = Two or more letters printed as one
• LILO = Linux Loader
• LIM = Lifeline Interface Module
• LIM = Lotus-Intel-Microsoft
• Line Art = Drawing with no halftones
• Link = A connection of some sort
• LMB = Left Mouse Button
• LoD = Legion of Doom
• Log On/Off = Process used to gain access
• LPM = Lifeline Port Module
• lpm = Lines Per Minute
• LPT = Local Printer Terminal LTO = Linear Tape Open LZW = Lempel-Zif-
Welsh

The following terms starting with the letter "M" have specific pages dedicated to them.
You can come back to this page or the main Computer Terms page by using the
navigation breadcrumbs at the bottom of each page.

• Machine Language = Binary commands used by the computer hardware

• Macro = Stored list of commands
• MAE = Metropolitan Area Exchange (Ethernet)
• Mail Merge = Combination of a database and document
• MAN = Metropolitan Area Network
• MAPI = Messaging Application Programming Interface
• Mapping = Way of converting encoded data
• MARS = Multi-player Animated Role-playing System
• Mashup = Web site or application developed from combinations of content.
• Mask = A pattern or outline
• MathML = Mathematical Markup Language
• MAU = Media (Multistation) Access Unit
• MAU = Multistation Access Unit
• Mb = Megabit
• MB = Megabyte
• Mbps = Megabits per second
• MBR = Master Boot Record
• MCA = Micro Channel Architecture
• MCGA = Multi-Color Graphics Array
• MCI = Media Control Interface
• MDA = Monochrome Display Adapter
• MDC = Metadata Coalition
• MDI = Multiple Document Interface
• MDIS = Metadata Interchange Specification
• MEMS = MicroElectro-Mechanical System
• MFLOPS = Millions of Floating Point Operations per Second
• MFM = Modified Frequency Modulation
• MIB = Management Information Base
• MICR = Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (Reader)
• MIDI = Musical Instrument Digital Interface
• MIF = Management Information Format
• MILNET = Military Network
• MIME = Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension
• MIPS = Millions of Instructions Per Second
• MIS = Management Information System (or Services)
• MLC = Multilevel Cell
• MMDS = Multichannel Multipoint Distribution System
• MMU = Memory Management Unit
• MMX = Matrix Math Extensions (Multimedia Extensions)
• MNG = Multiple-image Network Graphics
• MNP = Microcom Networking Protocol
• MODEM = Modulator/Demodulator
• Modular Programming = Small elements of a larger whole
• MOF = Meta Object Facility
• MOO = Mud, Object Oriented
• MOS = Metal Oxide Semiconductor
• MOSFET = Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor
• MOSIS = MOS Implementation System
• MOSS = Mime Object Security Services
• MP3 = MPEG layer 3
• MPC = Matchbox PC
• MPC = Multimedia Personal Computer
• MPEG = Motion Picture Experts Group
 • MPI = Message Passing Interface
• MRC = Magneto-Resistive Cluster

The following terms starting with the letter "N" have specific pages dedicated to them.
You can come back to this page or the main Computer Terms page by using the
navigation breadcrumbs at the bottom of each page.

• NAP = Network Access Point

• NAS = Network-Attached Storage
• NAT = Network Address Translation
• NCSA = National Center for Supercomputing Applications
• NDIS = Network Driver Interface Specification
• NDMP = Network Data Management Protocol
• NDS = Novell Directory Services
• NetBEUI = Network BIOS Extended User Interface
• NetBIOS = Network Basic Input Output System
• NFBSK = Not For British School Kids
• NFS = Network File System
• NGI = Next Generation Internet
• NIC = Network Interface Card
• NiMH = Nickel Metal Hydride
• NNTP = Network News Transfer Protocol
• NOP = No Operation
• NOS = Network Operating System
• NSAPI = Netscape Server API
• NSF = National Science Foundation
• NSFnet = National Science Foundation network
• NSP = Network Service Provider
• NTFS = NT File System
• NTSC = National Television Standards Committee
• NUMA = Non-Uniform Memory Access
• NURBS = Non-Uniform Rational B-Spline
• NVRAM = Non-Volatile RAM

The following terms starting with the letter "O" have specific pages dedicated to them.
You can come back to this page or the main Computer Terms page by using the
navigation breadcrumbs at the bottom of each page.

• OC = Optical Carrier
 • OCR = Optical Character Recognition
• OCX = OLE Custom Control
• ODBC = Open Database Connectivity
• ODI = Open Data-link Interface
• OEM = Original Equipment Manufacturer
• OIM = Open Information Model
• OLAP = Online Analytical Processing
• OLE = Object Linking and Embedding
• OLED = Organic Light-Emitting Diode
• OLTP = On-Line Transaction Processing
• OMG = Object Management Group
• OOP = Object-Oriented Programming
• OpenSRS = Open Shared Registration System
• OPSEC Alliance = Open Platform for Secure Enterprise Connectivity Alliance
• OSF = Open Software Foundation
• OSI = Open System Interconnection
• OSPF = Open Shortest Path First
• OSR = OEM System Release
• OTOH = On The Other Hand

The following terms starting with the letter "P" have specific pages dedicated to them.
You can come back to this page or the main Computer Terms page by using the
navigation breadcrumbs at the bottom of each page.

• P-SRAM = Pseudo-Static RAM

• P3P = Platform for Privacy Preferences
• PAD = Portable Application Description
• PAL = Phase Alternating Line
• PAL = Programmable Array Logic
• PAN = Personal Area Network
• PAP = Password Authentication Protocol
• PB SRAM = Pipelined Burst Static RAM
• PBX = Private Branch Exchange
• PC = Personal Computer
• PC/TV = Personal Computer and Television
• PCB = Printed Circuit Board
• PCI = Peripheral Component Interface
• PCL = Printer Control Language
• PCM = Pulse Code Modulation
• PCMCIA = Personal Computer Memory Card International Association
• PCS = Personal Communications System
• PDA = Personal Digital Assistant
• PDC = Primary Domain Controller
• PDF = Portable Document Format
• PDL = Page Description Language
• PE = Portable Executable
• Perl = Practical Extraction and Report Language
• PFR = Portable Font Resource
• PGA = Pad Grid Array
• PGA = Pin Grid Array
• PGA = Professional Graphic Adapter
• PGM = Pragmatic General Multicast (was Pretty Good Multicast)
• PGP = Pretty Good Privacy
• Pharming = Redirection of a User to Bogus Websites
• PHB = Photochemical Hole Burning
• Phishing = Social Engineering for Stealing Information
• PHP = PHP Hypertext Preprocessor (Personal Home Page)
• PIC = Programmable Interrupt Controller
• PICNIC = Problem In Chair, Not In Computer
• PIF = Program Information File
• PIM = Personal Information Manager
• PIN = Personal Identification Number
• Pine = Pine Is Not Elm (or Program for Internet News and E-mail)
• PING = Packet Internet Groper
• PIO = Programmed Input Output
• PIP = Peripheral Interchange Program
• PISO = Parallel-In/Serial-Out
• PITA = Pain In The A__ (Rear)
• PJTF = Portable Job Ticket Format
• PKI = Public Key Infrastructure
• PLA = Programmable Logic Array
• PLD = Programmable Logic Device
• PMML = Predictive Modeling Markup Language
• PMS = Pantone Matching System
• PMT = Photomultiplier Tube
• PNG = Portable Network Graphics
• PnP = Plug and Play
• Pod Slurping = Use of the iPod to steal data
• POP = Post Office Protocol
• Port Knocking = Pinging a combination of ports before entry is allowed.
• POS = Pivoting Optical Servo
• POSIX = Portable Operating System Interface for UNIX
• POST = Power On Self Test
• POTS = Plain Old Telephone Service
• PPCP = PowerPC Platform
• ppm = Pages Per Minute
• PPP = Point-to-Point Protocol
• PPPTP = Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol
 • PQDIF = Power Quality Data Interchange Format
• PRAM = Parameter RAM
• PRI = Primary-Rate Interface
• PRL = Packetized Residential Lifeline
• PROM = Programmable Read-Only Memory
• PSTN = Public Switched Telephone Network
• PTH = Plated Through-Hole
• PUP = Potentially Unwanted Program
• PURL = Persistent URL
• PVC = Permanent Virtual Circuit
• PWB = Printed Wire Board

he following terms starting with the letter "Q" have specific pages dedicated to them. You
can come back to this page or the main Computer Terms page by using the navigation
breadcrumbs at the bottom of each page.

• QBE = Query By Example

• QCELP = QualComm Code Excited Linear Predictive Coding
• QCIF = Quarter Common Intermediate Format
• QIC = Quarter-Inch Cartridge
• QoS = Quality of Service
• QSIG = Q (point of the ISDN model) Signaling
• Query = A structured database statement
• QWERTY = QWERTY

The following terms starting with the letter "R" have specific pages dedicated to
them. You can come back to this page or the main Computer Terms page by using the
navigation breadcrumbs at the bottom of each page.

• RADIUS = Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service

• RADSL = Rate-Adaptive Digital Subscriber Line
• RAID = Redundant Array of Independent (or Inexpensive) Disks
• RAM = Random Access Memory
• RAMDAC = Random Access Memory Digital-to-Analog Converter
• RARP = Reverse Address Resolution Protocol
• RAS = Remote Access Services
• RC4 = RC4 Stream Cipher (Rivest Cipher 4 or Ron's Code)
• RDBMS = Relational Database Management System
• RDF = Resource Description Framework
• RDRAM = Rambus DRAM
• Registry = A guide to Windows registry information
• RFC = Request for Comments
 • RFI = Radio Frequency Interference
• RFID = Radio Frequency Identification
• RFP = Request for Proposal
• RGB = Red Green Blue
• RIP = Raster Image Processor
• RIP = Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000
• RISC = Reduced Instruction-Set Computing
• RJ-11 & RJ-45 = Registered Jack-11 & Registered Jack-45
• RLL = Run Length Limited
• RMB = Right Mouse Button
• RMON = Remote Monitoring
• RMTP = Reliable Multicast Transport Protocol
• ROFL = Rolling On Floor, Laughing
• ROM = Read-Only Memory
• RPG = Report Program Generator
• RPG = Role-Playing Game
• rpm = Revolutions per Minute
• RSN = Real Soon Now
• RSVP = Resource Reservation Setup Protocol
• RTF = Rich Text Format
• RTFM = Read The F___ing Manual
• RTSP = Realtime Streaming Protocol
• RTT = Round-trip Time

The following terms starting with the letter "S" have specific pages dedicated to them.
You can come back to this page or the main Computer Terms page by using the
navigation breadcrumbs at the bottom of each page.

• S-HTTP = Secure HTTP

• S/MIME = Secure/MIME
• SAA = System Application Architecture
• SAN = Storage Area Network
• SAP = SAP America, Inc. (SAP AG)
• SAP = Secondary Audio Program
• SAP = Service Advertising Protocol
• SAS = Serial Attached SCSI
• SBB = Storage Bridge Bay Working Group
• SCAM = SCSI Configuration Automatically
• SCART = Syndicat des Constructeurs d'Appareils Radiorécepteurs et Téléviseurs
• Script Kiddie = A shameful description of someone who was not smart enough to
build malware from scratch.
• SCSI = Small Computer System Interface
• SDH = Synchronous Digital Hierarchy
• SDK = Software Development Kit
• SDRAM = Synchronous Dynamic RAM
• SDSL = Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line
• SET = Secure Electronic Transaction
• SFF = Small Form-Factor
• SGI = Silicon Graphics Incorporated
• SGML = Standard Generalized Markup Language
• SGRAM = Synchronous Graphic RAM
• SIG = Special Interest Group
• SIMD = Single Instruction Multiple Data
• SIMM = Single In-line Memory Module
• SIP = Single In-line Package
• SLDRAM = SyncLink DRAM
• SLED = Single Large Expensive Disk
• SLIP = Serial Line Internet Protocol
• SMART = Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology
• SMB = Server Message Block
• SMDS = Switched Multimegabit Data Services
• SMIF = Stream-based Model Interchange Format
• SMIL = Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language
• SMP = Simple Management Protocol
• SMP = Symmetric Multiprocessing
• SMS = Systems Management Server
• SMTP = Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
• SNA = Systems Network Architecture
• SNMP = Simple Network Management Protocol
• SOAP = Simple Object Access Protocol
• SOC = System-on-a-Chip
• SOHO = Small Office/Home Office
• SONET = Synchronous Optical Network
• SPARC = Scalable Processor Architecture
• SPE = Superparamagnetic Effect
• SPEC = Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation
• SPID = Service Profile (Provider) Identification
• SPIM = Spam Over Instant Messaging
• SPX = Sequenced Packet Exchange
• SQL = Structured Query Language
• SRAM = Static Random Access Memory
• SSD = Solid-state Disk
• SSI = Server-Side Include
• SSL = Secure Sockets Layer
• SSL Trojan = Money-stealing Trojan that attacks banking sites.
• SSSCA = Security Systems Standards and Certification Act
• ST506/412 = Seagate Technologies 506 and 412 Controller
• SVC = Switched Virtual Circuit
• SVG = Scalable Vector Graphics
 • SVGA = Super Video Graphics Array
• SWISH = Simple Web Indexing System for Humans
• SYN = Synchronize sequence Number
• SYSOP = System Operator

The following terms starting with the letter "T" have specific pages dedicated to them.
You can come back to this page or the main Computer Terms page by using the
navigation breadcrumbs at the bottom of each page.

• T1 = T-One
• T3 = T-Three
• TA = Terminal Adapter
• TANSTAAFL = There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch
• TAPI = Telephony Application Programming Interface
• TCP/IP = Transmission (Transport) Control Protocol/Internet Protocol
• TDM = Time Division Multiplexing
• TDMA = Time Division Multiple Access
• TFT = Thin Film Transistor
• TFTP = Trivial File Transfer Protocol
• TIA = Thanks In Advance
• TIFF = Tagged Image File Format
• TIGA = Texas Instruments Graphics Architecture
• TLD = Top-Level Domain
• TOPS = Transparent Operating System
• tpi = Tracks Per Inch
• TRAM = Transactional RAM
• TSAPI = Telephony Service API
• TSR = Terminate-and-Stay-Resident
• TTF = True Type Font
• TTL = Transistor-Transistor Logic
• TWAIN = [No present expansion]
• TWIP = Twentieth of a Point

The following terms starting with the letter "U" have specific pages dedicated to them.
You can come back to this page or the main Computer Terms page by using the
navigation breadcrumbs at the bottom of each page.

• UAC = User Account Control

• UART = Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter
• UCITA = Uniform Computer Information Transaction Act
• UDDI = Universal Description, Discovery and Integration
• UDP = UDP - User Datagram Protocol
• UIN = Universal Internet Number
• ULSI = Ultra Large Scale Integration
• UltraATA = Ultra AT Attachment
 • UltraDMA = Ultra Direct Memory Access
• UMB = Upper Memory Block
• UML = Unified Modeling Language
• UNC = Universal Naming Convention
• UNIX = niversal Interactive eXecutive
• UPS = Uninterruptible Power Supply
• URI = Uniform Resource Indicator
• URL = Uniform Resource Locator
• USB = Universal Serial Bus
• USENET = User Network
• USR = U.S. Robotics
• UTP = Unshielded Twisted Pair
• UUCP = UNIX-to-UNIX Copy
• UUENCODE = UNIX-to-UNIX Encode

he following terms starting with the letter "V" have specific pages dedicated to them. You
can come back to this page or the main Computer Terms page by using the navigation
breadcrumbs at the bottom of each page.

• VAR = Value-Added Reseller

• VAX = Virtual Address Extension
• VBE = Vesa Bios Extension
• vBNS = very high-speed Backbone Network Service
• VCM SDRAM = Virtual-Channel Memory SDRAM
• VCPI = Virtual Control Program Interface
• VCSEL = Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser
• VDSL = Very High Bit Rate DSL
• VDT = Video Display Terminal
• VERONICA = Very Easy Rodent-Oriented Networkwide Index to Computerized
Archives
• VESA = Video Electronics Standards Association
• VFAT = Virtual File Allocation Table
• VFW = Video For Windows
• VGA = Video Graphics Array (Adapter)
• VLAN = Virtual LAN
• VLB = VESA Local Bus (or VL Bus)
• VME bus = VersaModule Eurocard bus
• VMS = Virtual Memory System
• VoB = Voice over Broadband
• VoDSL = Voice over Digital Subscriber Line
• VoIP = Voice Over IP
• VPN = Virtual Private Network
• VR = Virtual Reality
• VRAM = Video Random Access Memory
• VRM = Voltage Regulator Module
 • VRML = Virtual Reality Modeling Language
• VRU = Virus Research Unit
• VSA = Virtual Storage Architecture
• VTAM = Virtual Telecommunications Access Method
• VTC = Virus Test Center

The following terms starting with the letter "W" have specific pages dedicated to them.
You can come back to this page or the main Computer Terms page by using the
navigation breadcrumbs at the bottom of each page.

• W3C = World Wide Web Consortium

• WAFS = Wide-area File Sharing
• WAI = Web Accessibility Initiative
• WAIS = Wide-Area Information Server
• WAN = Wide Area Network
• WAP = Wireless Application (Access) Protocol
• WATS = Web-based Assessment and Testing Systems
• WATS = Wide Area Telecommunications System
• WCS = World Coordinate System
• WDM = Wavelength Division Multiplexing
• WebCGM = Web Computer Graphics Metafile
• Webinar = Web-based sponsored educational seminar
• WEP = Wireless Equivalent Privacy
• WFW = Windows For Workgroups
• WIAD = Wireless Integrated Access Device
• WIMP = Windows, Icons, Menus and Pointing Device
• WinCE = Windows CE
• WINS = Windows Internet Name Service
• WINSOCK = Windows Socket
• WINTEL = Windows/Intel
• WIT = ireless Information Terminal
• WLAN = Wireless Local Area Network
• WLANA = Wireless LAN Association (Alliance)
• WMF = Windows Meta File
• WML = Wireless Markup Language
• WNIU = Wireless Network Interface Unit
• WORM = Write Once Read Many
• WOSA = Windows Open Services Architecture
• WP = WordPerfect
• WPA = Windows Product Activation
• WRAM = Windows Random Access Memory
• WSDL = Web Services Description Language
• WWW = World-Wide Web
 • WYSIWYG = What You See Is What You Get
• WYSIWYP = What You See Is What You Print

The following terms starting with the letter "X" have specific pages dedicated to them.
You can come back to this page or the main Computer Terms page by using the
navigation breadcrumbs at the bottom of each page.

• xDSL = x Digital Subscriber Line

• XGA = Extended Graphics Array (Adapter)
• XMI = XML Metadata Interchange
• XML = Extensible Markup Language
• XMLC = Extensible Markup Language Compiler
• XMS = Extended Memory Specification
• XPS = XML Paper Specification
• XSL = Extensible Style Language
• XT = Extended
• XTA = XT Attachment
• XUL = XML-based User Interface Language

The following terms starting with the letter "Y" have specific pages dedicated to them.
You can come back to this page or the main Computer Terms page by using the
navigation breadcrumbs at the bottom of each page.

• Y2K = Year 2000

• YAHOO = Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle
• YTD = Year To Date

The following terms starting with the letter "Z" have specific pages dedicated to them.
You can come back to this page or the main Computer Terms page by using the
navigation breadcrumbs at the bottom of each page.

• ZAW = Zero Administration for Windows

• ZCAV = Zoned Constant Angular Velocity
• ZD = Ziff-Davis
• ZDI = Zero Day Initiative
• Zero Day Attack = Disclosure of a vulnerability before notifying a concerned
producer
• ZIF = Zero Insertion Force
• ZV = Zoomed Video Port