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Glossary Of Software Development Terms

This is a glossary of terms used in software development and programming of various types of computerized systems.

Algorithm: refers to a certain set of directions designed to solve a problem in a certain number of steps.

Alphanumeric: refers to something containing a combination of letters, numbers, and punctuation marks.

BIOS: “basic input/output system.”

BASIC: is an acronym for “Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code,” which is a highly advanced computer programming language.

C++: is an object oriented programming language.

Checksum: refers to a sum gathered by adding digits in a number with no meaning. For example, the checksum of “123” is “6.”

Data Bus: refers to the “vehicle” by which data travels on from a processing unit to a storage device.

Data Sink: refers to equipment that accepts data signals after they have been transmitted.

EBCDIC: “Extended binary coded decimal interchange code.”

EPROM: “Electrically erasable programmable read only memory.”

Fail-safe: refers to a component which automatically turns itself off or moves into safe mode in the event of a system failure.

Fault seeding: refers to intentionally adding faults and errors into a computer program for the sole purpose of figuring out how fast or well error detection works.

GB: is the abbreviation for the term “gigabyte” which refers to 1000 megabytes of storage space.

Graphic software specifications: refer to the graphs and other documents which detail the program layout.

Half duplex: refers to communications traveling only in one direction at a time, but that allow the direction to change.

Handshake: refers to the series of signals relayed between two components that each component waits for before sending another.

Implementation: refers to the process of converting a design document into actual hardware and software parts.

Incremental development: refers to a software development technique where all the stages of development overlap rather than occur sequentially.

Job: refers to a user defined task set to be completed by a computer.

Job control language: otherwise known as JCL, is used to identify a set of jobs, setup and detail their requirements and execution to an operating system.

Kermit: is an asynchronous file transfer protocol developed at Columbia University.

Key element: refers to one step in a critical point of the manufacturing process.

LAN: “local area network.”

Latency: refers to the amount of time it takes for information to start moving from the CPU once the request has been made. This is also known as “waiting time.”

MTTF: is an acronym used to describe the term, “mean time to failure,” which describes the average time it takes for a device to fail.

MTTR: is an acronym used to describe the term, “mean time to repair,” which describes the average time it takes to repair a device.

National Institutes for Standards and Technology: is a federal agency, controlled by the Department of Commerce, designed to strengthen and promote the use of technology.

Non incremental integration: refers to making changes to an entire program after testing one portion of it. It is the opposite of incremental integration.

Object oriented language: allows the program to be written as a set of objects and messages between those objects.

Object oriented programming: allows for a object oriented design to be implemented through an objected oriented language.

Parity: refers to an error detection method of adding bits and bytes to information to cause the program to have too many or too few bytes.

Pascal: a programming language designed to promote structured programming practices.

Quality Assurance: refers to the plan and steps required to ensure that all program components and specifications meet the necessary requirements for quality and error free operation.

Quality Control: refers to the action steps taken to ensure quality assurance measures are developed and followed correctly.

RAM: is an acronym for “random access memory.” This is like the computer’s short term memory.

ROM: is an acronym for “read only memory.” This is like the computer’s long term memory.

Servomechanism: a device that uses feedback to determine exactly where another element is.

Side effect: an unintentional result produced by a program during testing and programming stages.

Terabyte: a unit of storage space measure, equal to 1000 GB.

Test Case: refers to the documentation for the testing of a program.

Underflow: occurs when a calculator drops numbers from the end of a result and displays only zero. For example, “0.00000587” would drop the “.587”

Underflow exception: happens when a result is too small a fraction to be represented by the storage location designated to receive it.

VAX: “virtual address extension.”

Valid: refers to being sound and able to withstand criticism.

WAN: “wide area network.”

Waterfall model: refers to a software development model in which phases are performed sequentially with little or no overlap.

xmodem: refers to an asynchronous file transfer protocol similar to Kermit.

ymodem: refers to an asynchronous file transfer protocol almost identical to xmodem.

zmodem: refers to an asynchronous file transfer protocol more efficient than xmodem.

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