This page gathers the 5,883 dictionary entries belonging to the domain “Computing”, as labelled by Wiktionary. Each word leads to its full entry: definitions, etymology, pronunciation, examples. Page 4 of 59: from “autoload” to “beach ball”.
- autoload verb To load (data or storage media) automatically.
- autoloader noun A mechanical device that automatically loads storage media (such as tapes or disks) into the device that can read them.
- autoloading noun The capability of loading and linking portions of a program from mass storage automatically when needed.
- automagical adj Automatic, but with an apparent element of magic. Commonly referring to complex technical processes hidden from the view of users or…
- automatic adj Automatically added to and removed from the stack during the course of function calls.
- automatic differentiation noun Exact differentiation of functions represented in program code by inspecting the code (as opposed to mere evaluation) and repeated…
- automount verb To mount (a file system) automatically.
- autonomics noun The use of self-correcting software systems that automatically detect and fix certain types of error without intervention by a software…
- autonumber noun An automatically generated number.
- autoplay noun Any software feature that plays (a video, a compact disc, etc.) automatically.
- autoresponder noun A computer program that automatically sends a certain message or messages in response to incoming e-mail.
- autorun noun Any feature that runs a program, etc. automatically.
- autosave noun A software facility that saves an open document (or progress in a game, etc.) periodically to avoid the risk of data loss.
- autoscaler noun A system that automatically increases or decreases the resources available to a process depending on need and availability.
- autoscroll verb To scroll automatically.
- autostart verb To start automatically.
- autosuggest noun Any feature that makes automatic suggestions to the user.
- autosuggestion noun An autosuggest feature.
- autotype noun A function that completes the typing of a field using a prediction based upon the characters entered so far.
- autovector noun An interrupt vector representing a priority level, from which the processor determines the actual target address.
- autovivify verb In the Perl programming language, to create an array or hash automatically when a previously undefined value is dereferenced.
- autowrap verb To wrap (e.g. text) automatically.
- avalanche effect noun A property of some cipher systems in which a small change in the input results in a very large change in the output.
- average seek time noun Of a hard drive, the average of all possible seek times equivalent to the time of all possible seeks divided by the number of all possible…
- AVL tree noun A self-balancing binary search tree, where, for each node, the heights of the two child subtrees differ only by at most one.
- awaitable adj Able to be executed in an asynchronous manner, with the caller receiving any result at a later stage.
- awaiter noun An object that waits for the completion of an asynchronous task.
- b symbol bit
- B+ tree noun An m-ary tree data structure with a variable but often large number of children per node. It can be viewed as a B-tree in which each node…
- B-frame noun A compressed video frame which is reconstructed based on its differences from both the previous and the subsequent frame.
- B-tree noun An indexed data structure suitable for storage of a large number of items in a balanced fashion, with very few disk accesses required for…
- baby duck syndrome noun The tendency of computer users to think the system (software or usage paradigm) they originally started using is better than others.
- back buffer noun A buffer used to store graphics while they are being drawn, and later copied to the display in a single operation.
- back channel noun A real-time online discussion that occurs simultaneously with a verbal presentation.
- back end adj Relating to the back end part of a hardware or software system.
- back out verb To undo (a change).
- back pointer noun A pointer that reciprocates another structure's pointer to its own containing structure, typically found in doubly linked lists and trees.
- back up verb To copy (data) so that it can be restored if the main copy is lost.
- backchain verb To perform inferences, starting with a list of goals (or a hypothesis) and working backwards from the consequent to the antecedent.
- backface noun The back side of a face of a mesh, which typically will never face the camera and can thus be culled (discarded) from the list of items to…
- background noun The image or color over which a computer's desktop items are shown (e.g. icons or application windows).
- background processing noun The execution of a subsidiary operation by a computer while the user works with another application.
- backgrounded adj (of a task) Made non-interactive
- backing bean noun A bean managed by JavaServer Faces that acts as a server-side data model and controller for a specific UI view (page).
- backjumping noun A form of backtracking that may move more than one level at a time, used to improve the efficiency of certain algorithms.
- backlink noun A reference to an object on another server, allowing it to be updated periodically.
- backoff noun The situation where an algorithm or process refrains from taking an action it would otherwise have taken.
- backpatch verb To update (partially compiled code) with jump addresses that were previously left as placeholders because they had not yet been encountered…
- backport verb To retroactively supply to a previous version of a software product a fix or a new feature at the same time or after supplying it to the…
- backpressure noun The buildup of unprocessed data due to a bottleneck; a technique to control the flow of data between producers and consumers.
- backprime noun The ⟨‵⟩ or ⟨`⟩ symbol; a reversed prime.
- backquote noun The symbol `, resembling a reversed quotation mark.
- backscatter noun The sending of IP packets to essentially random addresses in response to incoming packets that have a spoofed origin.
- backslash verb To escape (a metacharacter) by prepending a backslash that serves as an escape character, thereby forming an escape sequence.
- backspace verb To remove a character behind a cursor.
- backstore noun A back end data storage; a backing store device.
- backtab noun A software-defined key combination to do the reverse of pressing the Tab key, usually Shift+Tab.
- backtick noun The symbol `, resembling a reversed quotation mark and also being, or being homoglyphic to (depending on mental model), a grave accent mark…
- backtrace noun A stack trace.
- backtracking noun The act of building all possible solutions to a problem incrementally, abandoning any candidate solution if it cannot lead to a valid…
- backup noun A copy of a file or record, stored separately from the original, that can be used to recover the original if it is damaged or destroyed.
- backup copy noun A duplicate instance of an application, datafile, server or system created as a means to restore the original data in case it is deleted…
- backward compatibility noun The capability of an electronic device, a piece of software, etc., to interoperate with older systems; (countable) an instance of this.
- backward induction noun The process of reasoning backwards in time, from the end of a problem or situation, to determine a sequence of optimal actions.
- backwrap noun A word wrap feature that restores a word to the preceding line when space is made for it by deletion.
- badge noun A small overlay on an icon that shows additional information about that item, such as the number of new alerts or messages.
- bag of words noun The collection of words from an unprocessed text without regard to grammar; a collection of word unigrams.
- baitware noun Freeware of deliberately poor quality with some, but generally not all, of the features of a software application, intended to entice those…
- bake verb To fix (lighting, reflections, etc.) as part of the texture of an object to improve rendering performance.
- baksmal verb Converting a Dalvik executable file (.dex file) to smali language (a human-readable representation of the binary Dalvik bytecode)
- banana noun A catamorphism (from the use of banana brackets in the notation).
- band printer noun A type of impact line printer in which a metal band, etched with character shapes and timing marks, moves horizontally across the print…
- bandelet noun An orthonormal basis that is adapted to geometric boundaries, used in image processing.
- bandwidth noun The rate of data flow in digital networks typically measured in bits per second; the bitrate.
- bang path noun An early form of e-mail address with the components separated by exclamation marks, naming the sequence of networked computers that the…
- bank noun A contiguous block of memory that is of fixed, hardware-dependent size, but often larger than a page and partitioning the memory such that…
- bank switching noun A method to increase the usable memory beyond what the processor normally supports by switching between different areas of memory ("banks")…
- bar noun A metasyntactic variable representing an unspecified entity, often the second in a series, following foo.
- bare bones adj Describes a computer sold preassembled, but without certain essential components, such as a processor, memory, and hard drive.
- bare metal noun A runtime environment where little to no abstraction is available: usually employing a low-level programming language, without access to…
- bareword noun A sequence of text characters in source code that do not form a keyword nor part of a quoted string, and may potentially be interpreted in…
- barf verb Of a system: to fail.
- barnacle noun A deprecated or obsolete file, image or other artifact that remains with a project even though it is no longer needed.
- barrel file noun A JavaScript or TypeScript module which does nothing except import various files and then export them together, for the convenience of…
- barrel shifter noun A digital circuit that can shift a word by a specified number of bits using only combinational logic, without any sequential logic.
- base 2 adj Synonym of binary (“concerning numbers and calculations using the binary number system”).
- base memory noun The first 640 kilobytes of RAM (random access memory) in an IBM-compatible PC.
- base station noun A radio receiver/transmitter that serves as the hub of the local wireless network, and may also be the gateway between a wired network and…
- BaseBean noun A foundational utility or base class (a JavaBean or data object) from which specialized classes inherit common properties and methods.
- baseline verb To provide a baseline for measurement.
- batch verb To handle a set of input data or requests as a batch process.
- batch process noun A series of commands or programs that are executed without human intervention; the execution of such a series.
- batch processing noun the execution of a series of programs on a computer, called jobs, without manual intervention
- batteries-included adj Including all possible components required for full usability.
- battery-backed adj Using a battery to maintain volatile memory when powered off.
- battle of the sexes noun A situation in which two people want to do different things, but do them together.
- baud noun A unit of data transmission symbol rate; the number of signalling events per second.
- baz noun A metasyntactic variable used to stand for some unspecified entity; typically the third in a series after foo and bar.
- BB noun Initialism of bulletin board.
- beach ball noun A spinning wait cursor in macOS.