^			
A

TERM	MEANING

ABI	Application Binary Interface
ACIA	asynchronous communications
	interface adapter
ACM	Association for Computing
	Machinery
AEC	Architecture, Engineering,
	Construction
AFP	AppleTalk Filing Protocol
AFS	Andrew File System
AGA	Advanced Graphics Architecture
	(Amiga chip set found in the
	A1200 and A4000)
Al	artificial intelligence
AIX	Advanced Interactive eXecutive
	(IBM's version of Unix)
ANSI	American National Standards
	Institute
AOCE	Apple Open Collaborative
	Environment
API	application programming
	interface
APL	A Programming Language
APPC	Advanced Program-to-Program
	Communications (IBM)
APPN	Advanced Peer-to-Peer
	Networking (IBM)
APSE	Ada Programming Support
	Environment
ARA	AppleTalk Remote Access
ARM	Advanced RISC machine;
	asynchronous response mode
ASCII	American Standard Code for
	Information Interchange
ASIC 	application-specific integrated
	circuit
ASMP	asymmetric multiprocessing
ASPI	advanced SCSI programming
	interface
ATM	asynchronous transfer mode;
	Adobe
	Type Manager
ATP	AppleTalk Transaction Protocol
AUI	attachment unit interface
A/UX	Apple's version of Unix
AVI	Audio Video Interleave
	(Microsoft)

B

TERM	MEANING

BASIC	Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic
	Instruction Code
BBLT	bus block transfer
BBS	bulletin board system
BCD	binary-coded decimal
BDOS	basic disk operating system
BIOS	basic input/output system
BISDN	Broadband ISDN
BITBLT	bit block transfer
BLMC	buried logic macrocell
BLOb	binary large object
BNC	A connector for coaxial cables.
Bps	bytes per second
bps	bits per second
BSD	Berkeley Software Distribution:
	A version of Unix that was
	developed at the University
	of California at Berkeley.

C

TERM	MEANING

CACP	Central Arbitration Control
	Point
CAD	computer-aided design
CADD	computer-aided design and
	drafting
CAE	computer-aided engineering
CAI	computer-aided instruction
CAM	computer-aided manufacturing;
	common access method
CAMMU	cache/memory management unit
CAS	column-address strobe;
	Communications Applications
	Specification
CASE	computer-aided software
	engineering
CATV	community antenna television
	(cable TV)
CBIOS	compatibility BIOS
CBLT	character block transfer
CCITT	Comité Consultatif
	Internationale de
	Telegraphique et Telephonique,
	or Consultative Committee on
	International Telegraphy and
	Telephony.
CCD	charge-coupled device
CDE	Common Desktop Environment
	(COSE)
CD-I	compact disc-interactive
CDMA	code division multiple access
CDPD	cellular digital packet data
CD-R	compact disc-recordable
CD-ROM	compact-disc read-only memory
CEMM	Compaq Expanded Memory
	Manager
CGA	Color Graphics Adapter
CISC	complex instruction-set computer
CLI	call level interface; command-
	line
	interpreter
CMC	Common Messaging Calls (XAPIA)
CMOS	complementary metal-oxide
	semiconductor
COM	Common Object Model (Microsoft)
CORBA	Common Object Request Broker
	Architecture (OMG)
COSE	Common Open Software
	Environment
CRC	cyclic redundancy check
CSMA/	carrier sense multiple
CD	access/collision detection
CUA	Common User Access

D

TERM	MEANING

DA	Desk Accessory (Apple);
	destination
	address
DAC	digital-to-analog converter
DAT	digital audiotape
DBMS	database management system
DDBMS	distributed DBMS
DCE	data communications equipment;
	data circuit-terminating
	equipment;
	Distributed Computing
	Environment
	(OSF)
DCL	Digital Command Language (DEC)
DDE	Dynamic Data Exchange
DDL	document description language;
	data description language
DES	Data Encryption Standard
DFS	Distributed File System
DHCP	Dynamic Host Configuration
	Protocol
DIF	Data Interchange Format
DIME	Dual Independent Map Encoding
DLL	dynamic link library
DMA	direct memory access
DMI	Desktop Management Interface
	(DMTF)
DMTF	Desktop Management Task Force
DNS	Domain Name System
DOE	Distributed Objects Everywhere
	(Sun)
dpi	dots per inch : A measure of
	screen and printer resolution.
DPMI	DOS Protected Mode Interface
DRAM	dynamic RAM
DS/DD	double-sided, double-density
DSOM	Distributed System Object Model
	(IBM)
DSP	digital signal processor
DSS	decision support;
	Digital Signature Standard
DTE	data terminal equipment
DTMF	dual-tone multi-frequency
DVI	Digital Video Interactive

E

TERM	MEANING

ECC	error-correction code
ECL	emitter-coupled logic
ECM	error-correction mode
ECMA	European Computer
	Manufacturers'
	Association
ECS	Enhanced Chip Set (Amiga)
EDI	Electronic Data Interchange
EEMS	Enhanced Expanded Memory
	Specification
EEPROM	electrically erasable
	programmable ROM
EGA	Enhanced Graphics Adapter
EIS	executive information system
EISA	Extended Industry Standard
	Architecture
EMS	Expanded Memory Specification
ENS	Enterprise Memory Services
	(Banyan Vines)
EPLD	electrically programmable logic
	device
EPROM	erasable programmable ROM
EPS	Encapsulated PostScript
ER	entity relationship
ERLL	enhanced run length limited
ESDI	enhanced small device interface

F

TERM	MEANING

FAT	file allocation table
FDDI	Fiber Distributed Data Interface
FDHD	floppy disk high-density
FDM	frequency-division multiplexing
FDx	full-duplex
FFS	Fast File-System (Amiga)
FIFO	first in, first out
FLOPS	floating-point operations per
	second
4GL	fourth-generation language
FPD	full-page display
FPGA	field programmable gate array
FPI	floating-point interface
FPU	floating-point unit
FTP	file transfer protocol

G

TERM	MEANING

GAL	generic array logic
GB	gigabyte; approximately one
	billion bytes
GDDM	Graphical Data Display Manager
GDI	Graphical Device Interface
GEM	Graphics Environment Manager
GFLOPS	gigaFLOPS; billion floating-point
	operations per second
GIF	Graphics Interchange Format
GIS	geographic information system
GPF	general protection fault
GPI	Graphics Programming Interface
GPIB	general-purpose interface bus
GPSS	General Purpose Simulation
	System
GPU	graphics processing unit
GUI	graphical user interface

H

TERM	MEANING

HAL	hardware abstraction layer
HDLC	high-level data-link control
HDTV	high-definition television
HDx	half duplex
HFS	Hierarchical File System (Apple)
HIPPI	High Performance Parallel
	Interface
HLLAPI	High-Level Language Application
	Programming Interface
HMMU	hardware memory management
	unit
HOB	high-order byte
HPFS	High Performance File System:
	(OS/2)
HPGL	Hewlett-Packard Graphics
	Language
HP-IB	Hewlett-Packard Interface Bus
HPPI	High Performance Peripheral
	Interface
HP/UX	Hewlett-Packard's version of
	Unix
HSM	hierarchical storage management
HSYNC	horizontal synchronization
HTML	Hypertext Markup Language
HTTP	Hypertext Transport Protocol;
	also Hypertext Transfer Protocol 

I

TERM	MEANING

IAC	Interapplication Communication
	(Apple)
ICE	in-circuit emulator
IDA	Intelligent Drive Array
IDAPI	Independent Database API
	(Borland)
IDE	Integrated Drive Electronics
IEEE	Institute of Electrical and
	Electronics Engineers
IETF	Internet Engineering Task Force
IFF	Interchange File Format
IGES	Initial Graphics Exchange
	Specification
IMAP	Interactive Mail Access Protocol
INT	interrupt
IP	Internet Protocol; also
	Internetwork Protocol
IPC	interprocess communications
IPX/SPX	Internet Packet
	Exchange/Sequenced
	Packet Exchange
IR	instruction register
IRC	interrupt request controller
IRQ	interrupt request
ISA	Industry Standard Architecture
ISAM	indexed sequential-access
	method
ISDN	Integrated Services Digital
	Network
ISO	International Standards
	Organisation
ISR	interrupt service routine
ISV	independent software vendor
IT	information technology
ITSEC	Information Technology Security
	Evaluation Criteria (European)
IXC	interexchange carrier; also
	called IEC

J

TERM	MEANING

JIS	Japan Industrial Standard
JPEG	Joint Photographic Experts Group

K

TERM	MEANING

KB	kilobyte; 1024 bytes.
KBps	kilobytes per second
Kbps	kilobits per second

L

TERM	MEANING

LAN	local-area network
LATA	Local Access and Transport Area
LDT	local descriptor table
LIFO	last in, first out
LIPS	logical instructions per second
Lisp	list processing
LLC	logical link control
LOB	low-order byte
LSB	least-significant bit (or byte)
LSD	least-significant digit
LSI	large-scale integration
LZW	Lempel-Ziv-Welch

M

TERM	MEANING

MAC	media access control
MAN	metropolitan-area network
MAP	Manufacturing Automation
	Protocol
MAPI	Messaging API (Microsoft)
MASM	Macro Assembler (Microsoft)
MB	megabyte; approximately one
	million bytes
Mb	megabit; approximately one
	million bits
MCA	Micro Channel architecture (IBM)
MCGA	Multicolor Graphics Array
MCI	media control interface
MDA	Monochrome Display Adapter
MDI	Multiple Document Interface
MDS	Macintosh Development System;
	Microprocessor Development System
MFC	Microsoft Foundation Classes
MFLOPS	megaFLOPS; million floating-
	point operations per second
MFM	modified frequency modulation
MFS	Macintosh File System
MHS	Message Handling Service
MIDI	musical instrument digital
	interface
MIMD	multiple instruction, multiple
	data
MIME	Multipurpose Internet Mail
	Extensions
MIPS	million instructions per second
MIS	management information system
MMU	memory management unit
MNP	Microcom Networking Protocol
MPC	Multimedia PC
MPEG	Moving Pictures Experts Group
MPU	microprocessor unit
MPW	Macintosh Programmer's
	Workshop
MRCI	Microsoft Real-Time Compression
	Interface
ms	millisecond; one thousandth of a
	second
MSB	most significant bit (or byte)
MSI	medium-scale integration
MTBF	mean time between failures
MVS	Multiple Virtual Storage (IBM)

N

TERM	MEANING

NAPLPS	Northern American
	Presentation-Level
	Protocol Syntax
NAU	network access unit;
	network addressable unit
NCSC	National Computer Security
	Center
NDIS	Network Driver Interface
	Specification
NDP	numeric data processor
NDS	NetWare Directory Service
	(Novell)
NetBIOS	Network Basic Input/Output
	System
NetBEUI	NetBios Extended User Interface
NFS	Network File System (Sun)
NIC	network interface card
NIS	Network Information Service;
	formerly Yellow Pages (Sun)
NIST	National Institute of Standards
	and Technology
NIU	network interface unit
NLM	NetWare loadable module
NMI	nonmaskable interrupt
NNTP	Network News Transport Protocol
NOS	network operating system
ns	nanosecond; one-billionth of a
	second
NTSC	National Television Standards
	Committee

O

TERM	MEANING

OCR	optical character recognition
OCS	Old Chip Set (Amiga)
OCX	OLE Control
ODAPI	Open Database API
ODBC	Open Database Connectivity
	(Microsoft)
ODBMS	Object DBMS; Object-oriented
	DBMS;
	also called OODBMS
ODI	Open Data-Link Interface
ODMA	Open Document Management API
ODMG	Object Database Management
	Group
OEM	original-equipment manufacturer
OFS	Old File-System (Amiga)
OLE	Object Linking and Embedding
OLTP	on-line transaction processing
OMG	Object Management Group
ONC	Open Network Computing (Sun)
OOFS	object-oriented file system
OOP	object-oriented programming
OOPL	object-oriented programming
	language
OPROM	optical programmable ROM
ORB	Object Request Broker
OS	operating system
OSF	Open Software Foundation
OSI	Open Systems Interconnection
OSPF	Open Shortest Path First
OS/2	Operating System /2 (IBM)
OWL	Object Windows Library (Borland)

P

TERM	MEANING

PABX	private automatic branch
	exchange (now synonymous
	with PBX)
PAL	phase alternate line;
	programmable array logic;
	Paradox Application Language
	(Borland)
PBX	private branch exchange
PCI	Peripheral Component
	Interconnect
PCL	printer control language
	(Hewlett-Packard)
PCM	pulse code modulation
PCMCIA	Personal Computer Memory Card
	International Association
PDA	personal digital assistant
PDES	Product Data Exchange
	Specification
PDL	page-description language;
	Program Design Language (Ada)
PDN	public data network
PDO	Portable Distributed Objects
	(Next)
PEEL	programmable electronically
	erasable logic
PEM	Privacy Enhanced Mail
PERT	Program Evaluation and Review
	Technique
PGA	pin grid array;
	programmable gate array
PGL	Professional Graphics Language
PHIGS	Programmer's Hierarchical
	Interactive Graphics Standard
PIA	peripheral interface adapter
PIF	program information file
PIM	personal information manager
PIN	positive intrinsic negative;
	personal identification number
PLA	programmable logic array
PLC	programmable logic controller
PLD	programmable logic device
PLE	programmable logic element
PL/1	Programming Language/1
PMMU	paged memory management unit
POP	point-of-presence;
	Post Office Protocol (POP 1,2,
	and 3)
POS	Programmable Option Select
POSE	Picture-Oriented  Software
	Engineering
POST	power-on self test
POTS	plain old telephone service
PPP	Point-to-Point Protocol
PRML	partial-response maximum
	likelihood
PROM	programmable read-only memory

Q

TERM	MEANING

QEMM	Quarterdeck Expanded Memory
	Manager
QIC	Quarter Inch Cartridge

R

TERM	MEANING

RAID	redundant arrays of inexpensive disks
RAM	random-access memory
RAMDAC
	random-access memory digital
	-to-analog converter
RAS	row-address strobe
RDBMS	relational database management
	system
RFS	Remote File System (AT&T)
RGB	red-green-blue
RIP	raster-image processor;
	Routing Information Protocol;
	Remote Imaging Protocol
RISC	reduced-instruction-set
	computer
RLE	run length encoding
RLL	run length limited
RMW	read, modify, write
ROM	read-only memory
RPC	remote procedure call
RSA	Rivest-Shamir-Adleman
RTF	Rich Text Format
RTN	recursive transition network
RTV	real-time video

S

TERM	MEANING

SAA	Systems Application Architecture
	(IBM)
SANE	Standard Apple Numeric
	Environment
SASI	Shugart Associates system
	interface
SCSI	small computer system interface
SDK	Software Development Kit
SDLC	synchronous data-link control
SGML	Standard Generalised Markup
	Language
SHTTP	Secure HTTP
SIMD	single instruction, multiple data
SIMM	single in-line memory module
SIP	single in-line package
SIPP	single in-line pin package
SLIP	Serial Line Internet Protocol
SMB	Server Message Block
SMP	symmetric multiprocessing
SMTP	Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
SMPTE	Society of Motion Picture &
	Television Engineers
SNA	Systems Network Architecture
	(IBM)
SNMP	Simple Network Management
	Protocol
SOM	System Object Model (IBM)
SPI	Service Provider Interface
SQL	Structured Query Language
SRAM	static RAM
SSA	Serial Storage Architecture
SSI	small-scale integration 
SS/SD	single-sided, single density
SVGA	SuperVGA

T

TERM	MEANING

TalAE	Taligent Application Environment
TASM	Turbo Assembler (Borland)
Tcl	Tool control language
TCP/IP	Transmission Control Protocol/
	Internet Protocol
TCSEC	Trusted Computer Systems
	Evaluation Criteria
	(Orange Book)
TB	terabyte; approximately one
	trillion bytes.
TFTP	Trivial File Transfer Protocol
TIFF	Tagged Image File Format
TIGA	Texas Instruments Graphics
	Architecture
TOP	Technical Office Protocol
TRAM	transputer module
TSR	terminate-and-stay resident
TTL	transistor-transistor logic
TWAIN	interface standard for imaging
	peripherals; also toolkit without
	an important name

U

TERM	MEANING

UART	universal asynchronous receiver/
	transmitter
UAE	unrecoverable applications error
UDP	User Datagram Protocol
UPS	uninterruptible power supply
URL	Uniform Resource Locator
USART	universal synchronous/
	asynchronous receiver/
	transmitter
UUCP	Unix-to-Unix copy

V

TERM	MEANING

VAN	value-added network
VAP	value-added process
VAR	value-added reseller
VBL	vertical blanking interrupt
VBX	Visual Basic Control
VCPI	Virtual Control Program
	Interface
VERONICA
	Very Easy Rodent-Oriented
	Netwide Index to
	Computerized Archives
VESA	Video Electronics Standards
	Association
VFS	Virtual File System
VGA	Video Graphics Array
VIDC	video controller
VIM	Vendor-Independent Messaging
VIS	Video Information System
VLIW	very long instruction word
VLSI	very large-scale integration
VME	Virtual Machine Environment
VMS	Virtual Memory System (DEC)
VRAM	Video RAM
VSAM	Virtual Storage Access Method
	(IBM)
VSYNC	vertical synchronisation

W

TERM	MEANING

WAIS	Wide Area Information Server;
	also Wide Area Information
	Service
WAN	wide-area network
WIMP	windows, icons, menus and
	pointing device
WISC	writable instruction set computer
WORM	write once, read many times
WOSA	Windows Open Services
	Architecture
WWW	World Wide Web
WYSIWYG
	what-you-see-is-what-
	you-get

X

TERM	MEANING

XA	Extended Architecture
XAPIA	X.400 API Association
XCMD	external command: A user-
	defined command that uses
	built-in Macintosh code
	to extend the features of
	HyperCard.
XGA	Extended Graphics Array
XMS	Extended Memory Specification:
	A set of rules defining a
	software interface that
	provides DOS applications with
	access to extended memory.
XON/XOFF
	telecommunications control
	protocol
XOR	exclusive-OR
XPG	X/Open Portability Guide

Z

TERM	MEANING

ZBR	zone-bit recording
ZCAV	zone constant angular velocity
ZIF	zero insertion force
ZIP	zig-zag in-line package/pin