Questions tagged [terminology]
For questions about words, phrases and definitions that are specific to classic computers and gaming systems.
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Origins of the term 'stack' and relationships to the related terms 'substack' and 'full stack' [closed]
We have the term 'stack' well described here: (What motivated stack being invented originally?).
I'm wondering though whether the stack data type relates to the origins of the terms 'substack' or '...
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Why were there so many OSes that had the name "DOS" in them?
Why were there so many OSes named "DOS" in them? For example, there was PC-DOS, DR-DOS, MS-DOS, and probably a few others. Couldn't the names of those OSes have something apart from having ...
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In relation to the Tandy TRS-80 Model 1 and Model III, what are "ISAM" and "PDS"?
While working with the TRS-80 /CMD file format I came across a couple of terms used frequently, but for which I'm struggling to find any definitions. Here's an example from the trscmdff.txt, which may ...
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What are .Z files on the Sharp X68000?
I was wondering what binary executable file format the Sharp X68000 used. Apparently the OS looks and feels quite a bit like MS-DOS but is not MS-DOS. Instead of .EXE it uses an .X file extension for ...
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What was "Mac SLM" or "ASLM"?
While looking through a very old codebase, I found some preprocessor defines and comments referring to something called "Mac SLM" or "ASLM". From the context, it appears to have ...
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What is R register and DRAM refresh internal operation
Resources say that R value gets incremented by Z80 after each M-cycle, and that R is used in Dynamic RAM refresh mechanism (avoiding charge leakage).
My questions:
how concrete value of R (say, #11) ...
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What other terms have been used to describe storing working data permanently besides "save"?
Today, we "save" the file we're working on to disk. This terminology appears to be specific to architectures combining volatile and non-volatile memory. I also distinctly remember a "...
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A kind of modem that let you make voice calls with a simultaneous data connection: what was it called?
I recall in the early 90s a type of modem (for analog phone lines) that let you conduct a voice call while maintaining a data connection. It sent bursts of data during the natural silences in ...
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What is the technical definition of "clone" that makes the K1810VM88 (К1810ВМ88) not a clone of the 8088?
The Clueless Engineer YouTube channel posted a video yesterday exploring a Soviet K1810VM88 CPU he got from Ukraine.
Apparently he originally used the wording in the video title that the K1810VM88 was ...
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Terminology of what is termed "CPU" and what is "computer"
In PDP-11/20 the block KA11 is termed "CPU". It is intended to be inserted into a rack. In PDP-11/05 on the other hand a similar block is termed "computer" even though it also is ...
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What are hobbyists? [closed]
In An Open Letter to Hobbyists, Bill Gates reprimanded hobbyists that pirated his software.
But what were hobbyists? What was the difference between a hobbyist and a user?
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What does it mean to "publish machine code"?
The Wikipedia article on “An Open Letter to Hobbysts” says that Bill Gates complained about hobbyists pirating his software, and due to piracy he refused to publish the machine code of his Altair ...
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Name of Commodore tape format?
How did Commodore call their tape format, if there ever was a specific name for it?
OK, let me clarify. I would be interested in the technical term of the encoding as well as any specific name, should ...
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What is the earliest computer technology to be referred to as "Artificial Intelligence"?
It seems that in recent years, when people talk about "AI", they are usually referring to neural net-based technologies (ChatGPT being the most well known example at the moment). But ...
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Difference between machine language and machine code, maybe in the C64 community?
I've always been sure that "machine language" and "machine code" are totally synonymous and mean programming directly in the language the machine understands, whether in binary, ...
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Difference between program and application [closed]
When I started learning about computers in the mid nineties, all books used the word program to reference any executable that ran under MS-DOS (.exe, .com, .bat).
Applications was a math concept, at ...
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Anyone know of older mentions of the word "trap" for software interrupts than the IBM 704 manual from 1955?
I've dug into the origin of the word "trap" in computer engineering. The older documented mentions of the term I can find, is the "trapping mode" in the IBM 704, specifically in ...
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Intel "Kernel processor" or "OS Kernel"
I used to have an Intel data book from 1981. I gave it away to a friend, and he probably also lost it along the way.
In this book there was a data sheet for a component called "OS Kernel" or ...
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Origin of "string"
When did people start referring to an ordered group of characters as a "string"? Did this name come from before / outside of the computing field, or is it special to computing?
The metaphor ...
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When was the term ‘directory’ replaced by ‘folder’?
I started using computers with MS-DOS and as far as I can remember the data structure holding files was called a directory (it held other directories as well), DIR is still used to list the content of ...
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Why was the "Space-cadet keyboard" called that?
Many of us have heard of the so-called "Space-cadet keyboard" from 1978 (famous for including a mind-boggling number of modifier keys including control, meta, hyper, super, shift, top, front,...
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Why are assemblers called assemblers?
We tend use the term assembler as if there is a fundamental implication of being different from a compiler. This disparity is usually taken as a fact, no matter how sophisticated or primitive either ...
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Is there an established name for this group of CPUs?
There is a group of 8-bit CPUs, starting with the Datapoint 2200, which includes the Intel 8080 and 8085, the Z80, the LR35902, the KR580VM1, the Rabbit 2000, and others. It seems like an obvious ...
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What was the first operating system to be called an "operating system"?
According to Wikipedia, the first operating system was GM-NAA I/O, produced in 1956 by General Motors' Research division for its IBM 704.
According to Merriam-Webster and Etymonline, the term "...
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What's the story behind IBM's SKU numbers?
Big Blue IBM seemingly since forever is using a fixed numbering scheme for all their parts, where every little thing, dingus and gizmo is labeled with the so-called IBM SKU#. It's always in the form:
...
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What is a "sympathetic bit"?
I am reading about BIOS in Phil Storrs PC Hardware book: What happens when we turn on a PC ?
Next comes the incremental check of all the RAM memory. The RAM memory is written to, and read from, with ...
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Correct pronunciation of `vi` (Unix editor)?
According to this video with Brian Kernighan, the correct pronunciation of the classical Unix editor ed is "Eee. Dee." — not "Edd".
So that made me wonder — what about the other ...
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Why is slash so commonly used in old systems' abbreviations?
Many things around the '80s or earlier use ‘/’ in their abbreviations and sometimes even in their names, for example
IBM PS/2, OS/2 and PS/2 port
CP/M - MP/M - PL/M - PL/I - PL/S - PL/8 along with CP/...
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Where did the term ‘blue screen of death’ come from?
Did somebody famous coin the term? Where does it originate from? I have it heard many times over the years. I wonder if there is a neat bit of trivia associated with the term?
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What is a Dumb Terminal?
There seems to be some confusion what a 'Dumb' terminal is as visible in answers and comments to this question about portable dumb terminals. So:
What is a Dumb Terminal?
Points that would help to ...
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What are the "virtual machines" that were running on 80386 and later x86 CPUs before full hardware virtualization?
When reading techy articles about older Windows versions I often come across the term "Virtual machine". Apparently even Windows 3.11 had some sort of virtual-machine-thing going on in it, ...
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Did Intel syntax for x86 assembly come from an Intel assembler?
I'm wondering where the so-called Intel syntax for x86 assembly came from. Did Intel release their own assembler for chips like the 8086 or do we just mean the syntax they used in the manuals?
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Is "component video" synonymous with "RGB"?
Before asking this, I read the Wikipedia article. I've been confused about this for many, many years. I'd like to finally get it straightened out.
What exactly is the difference between "RGB"...
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Was the term "master" in source code management systems first used with the sense of master/replica or master/slave?
In recent years there has been a push by some to move away from using the term "master" in source code management systems, often by renaming the "master" branch to a "main&...
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In what year did term "program" first appear in the meaning of "series of coded instructions"?
I'm trying to figure out year when the term "program" was firstly used is the meaning ‘a series of coded instructions which directs a computer in carrying out a specific task’.
Additionally ...
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Who called it "microchip" first?
We all know how Kilby at TI and Noyce at Fairchild invented the integrated circuit. But who called it microchip? Chip?
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What does it mean to byte swap or split a ROM image?
I'd like to understand: What does it mean to "byte swap" when burning kickstart or extended ROMs? Is it the same as "splitting" the ROM? How is it done and why?
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What's a good term for "instruction cycle count-accurate" emulation / simulation?
Emulation is called cycle-accurate if the original system's cycle-synchronous behaviour is fully captured; for example, a cycle-accurate emulation of a CPU, executing an instruction, would first ...
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Origin of "arithmetic" and "logical" for signed and unsigned shifts
The assembly language for many processors use the phrase "arithmetic shift" to represent the bitwise shift of a signed value, and "logical shift" for an unsigned value. The two ...
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Why is EEPROM called ROM if it can be written to?
Is there a historical reason? Since it is rewritable it isn't read only by definition, so why call it so?
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When was the phrase "sufficiently smart compiler" first used?
In discussions and arguments about programming language design, one often hears comments about "sufficiently smart" compilers, as in "X needn't be inefficient, since a sufficiently ...
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What was the earliest use of |> pipe in programming?
I am trying to find which language used the |> operator first.
It's being discussed for use in R, and it's been in OCaml for some years.
Did it originate in OCaml? If not, what are its earliest ...
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Why are paddles called paddles?
A paddle is a sort of input device, common on early video game consoles and home computers, consisting of a handheld wheel with one or more fire buttons. Unlike dial boxes, which spin freely, paddles ...
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Distinction between scientific and business computing
Wikipedia's page on the IBM System/360 family claims that a distinction once existed between business and scientific computers. The model 44 in particular was designed for scientific work and was set ...
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What does "ByteSwapped" and "BigEndian" refer to in the context of video game ROMs?
I have found two different sets of Nintendo 64 ROMs with the same games (which, of course, I physically own). One is labeled "ByteSwapped" and the other "BigEndian". What exactly ...
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What is a 4002's "RAM Status Character"?
I was looking at this emulator of a Intel 4004, and I noticed something with the RAM. It had something called "Status Chars". There were 4 of them per memory line and all were 4-bit numbers ...
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Where did the the term "chrome," referring to onscreen decorations, originate?
To most people today "chrome" probably sounds like a reference to the web browser; but at least in Microsoft contexts I've read "chrome" to refer to window decorations - like the ...
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When was the term Multics (operating system) coined and by whom?
From the history of Multics, I found that Project MAC was established on July 1, 1963 by MIT for the development of the Multics operating system and later GE (General Electric) and AT&T's Bell ...
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When was term "word" first used as reference to CPU max register size
I've tried to find information when term 'word' was firstly used. And it seems that even ENIAC used this term.
Is it safe to say that term 'word' was invented with ENIAC?
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Why were computer customers called "Users"?
The term User for computer hardware and software customers has been universal for as long as I can remember. It has always applied to both hardware and software customers - There were "Lotus Users" ...
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