Term
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Definition
| A string of bits, usually 8, used to store one number or character in a computer system. |
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Term
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Definition
| A binary digit representing the smallest unit of data in a computer system. It can only have one of two states, representing 0 or 1. |
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Term
| Central Processing Unit (CPU) |
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Definition
| Area of the computer system that manipulates symbols, numbers, and letters, and controls the other parts of the computer system. |
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Term
| Arithmetic-Logic Unit (ALU) |
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Definition
| Component of the CPU that performs the computer's principal logic and arithmetic operations. |
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Term
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Definition
| Series of operations required to process a single machine instruction. |
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Term
| RAM (random access memory) |
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Definition
| Primary storage of data or program instructions that can directly access any randomly chosen location in the same amount of time. |
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Term
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Definition
| Semiconductor memory chips that contain program instructions. These chips can only be read from; they cannot be written to. |
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Term
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Definition
| Very large scale integrated circuit technology that integrates the computer's memory, logic, and control on a single chip. |
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Term
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Definition
| A measure of cycle speed, or the pacing of events in a computer; one megahertz equals one million cycles per second. |
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Term
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Definition
| Type of processing in which more than one instruction can be processed at a time by breaking down a problem into smaller parts and processing them simultaneously with multiple processors. |
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Term
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Definition
| A secondary storage medium in which data are stored by means of magnetized spots on a hard or floppy disk. |
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Term
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Definition
| Magnetic disk resembling a metallic platter; used in large computer systems and in most PCs. |
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Term
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Definition
| Removable magnetic disk storage primarily used with PCs. |
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Term
| CD-ROM (compact disk read-only memory) |
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Definition
| Read-only optical disk storage used for imaging, reference, and other applications with massive amounts of unchanging data and for multimedia. |
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Term
Digital Video Disk (DVD)
Holds minimum of 4.7 gigabytes |
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Definition
| High-capacity optical storage medium that can store full-length motion pictures and large amounts of data. |
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Term
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Definition
| Inexpensive, older secondary-storage medium in which large volumes of information are stored sequentially by means of magnetized and nonmagnetized spots on tape. |
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Term
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Definition
| A method of collecting and processing data in which transactions are accumulated and stored until a specified time when it is convenient or necessary to process them as a group. |
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Term
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Definition
| A method of collecting and processing data in which transactions are entered directly into the computer system and processed immediately. |
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Term
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Definition
| Largest category of computer; used for major business processing. |
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Term
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Definition
| Computer specifically optimized to provide software and other resources to other computers over a network. |
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Term
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Definition
| Highly sophisticated and powerful computer that can perform very complex computations extremely rapidly. |
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Term
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Definition
| The distribution of computer processing work among multiple computers linked by a communications network. |
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Term
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Definition
| A model for computing that splits processing between "clients" and "servers" on a network, assigning functions to the machine most able to perform the function. |
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Term
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Definition
| The user point-of-entry for the required function in client/server computing. Normally a desktop computer, workstation, or laptop computer. |
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Term
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Definition
| Applying the computational resources of many computers in the network to a single large and complex problem. |
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Term
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Definition
| The system software that manages and controls the activities of the computer. |
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Term
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Definition
| Special system software that translates a high-level language for execution by the computer. |
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Term
| graphical user interface (GUI) |
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Definition
| The part of an operating system users interact with that uses graphic icons and the computer mouse to issue commands and make selections. |
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Term
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Definition
| Operating system for all types of computers, which is machine independent and supports multi-user processing, multitasking, and networking. Used in high-end workstations and servers. |
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Term
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Definition
| Reliable and compactly designed operating system that is an offshoot of UNIX and that can run on many different hardware platforms. Is available free or at very low cost as an alternative to UNIX and Windows opeating system. |
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Term
| COBOL (COmmon Business Oriented Language) |
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Definition
| Major programming language for business applications because it can process large data files with alphanumeric characters. |
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Term
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Definition
| Visual programming tool for creating applications running on Windows. |
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Term
| fourth-generation language |
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Definition
| A programming language that can be employed directly by end users or less-skilled programmers to develop computer applications more rapidly than conventional programming languages. |
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Term
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Definition
| Programming language that is very close to human language. |
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Term
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Definition
| Software tool that provides immediate online answers to requests for information that are not predefined. |
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Term
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Definition
| Programming language that can deliver only the software functionality needed for a particular task, such as a small applet downloaded from a network; can run on any computer and operating system. |
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Term
| hypertext markup language (HTML) |
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Definition
| Page description language for creating Web pages and other hypermedia documents. |
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Term
| XML (eXtensible Markup Language) |
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Definition
| General-purpose language that describes the structure of a document and supports links to multiple documents, allowing data to be manipulated by the computer. Used for both Web and non-Web applications. |
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Term
| XHTML (Extensible Hypertext Markup Language) |
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Definition
| Hybrid of HTML and XML that prvides more flexibility than HTML. |
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Term
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Definition
| A prewritten, precoded, commercially available set of programs that eliminates the need to write software programs for certain functions. |
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Term
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Definition
| An easy-to-use software tool for accessing the World Wide Web and the Internet. |
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Term
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Definition
| Software that manages requests for Web pages on the computer where they are stored and that delivers the page to the user's computer. |
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