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Thomas Loss Final Project |
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Definitions |
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Thomas M Loss Final Project Information Technology - Technology that provides data to users via computers. This includes the implementation and installation of computer hardware and software. Personal computers – Personal computers come in many varieties. Generally consumers are most familiar with name brands like Compaq or Dell, however computers are also built by enthusiasts to specs of their choosing. These typically use Intel or AMD processors that use either the x86 or x64 architecture. Macintosh computers are all built by apple. Until recently apple used a IBM microprocessors. Apple finally saw the light and converted over to Intel x86 based processors. Needs assessment – This is the systematic analysis of what a person or company needs to attain improved productivity. Operating systems – Operating systems software that makes the computer run. The operating system provides a user interface for the operator to give instructions to the hardware. Different operating systems include Windows, Linux, os2 and others. High level language vs. machine language – High level languages consist of C, Pascal, Fortran and others. These are programming languages that humans can interpret and understand. Machine language is usually long strings of numbers which is nearly impossible for a human to interpret. Graphical user interface (GUI) – A GUI is a graphical environment that a user can manipulate without a command line interface like DOS. Microsoft Windows uses a GUI interface. Computer Network – Computer networks today are created using the TCP/IP protocol. This can be achieved with a wired or wireless network. This enables computers to communicate with each other in order to exchange information. WWW vs. The Internet – The World Wide Web or just Web is a set of computers that connect using the internet as an intermediary. These computers rely on a complex hierarchy of dedicated servers to accomplish displaying web pages. However the Internet is much more than just web pages. There is Internet relay chat, File transfer protocol (FTP) peer to peer technologies like Napster and many more applications. The internet stands alone from the web but the web couldn’t exist without the internet. TCP/IP - Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. This is what makes the internet possible. This makes sure communications from computer to computer get to where they are going via network packets. Ethernet and Fast Ethernet – A standard that enables computers to communicate at a physical lever often using a Star or a Bus topology. This operates at 10mb/s Fast Ethernet is the same thing but operating at 100mb/s Bandwidth – A measurement of speed across a network. Typically used to define how fast a broadband line is. It can be used for other things as well since it is a generic term. Bandwidth is “A range within a band of frequencies or wavelengths”. So therefore it can be used in discussing different kinds of computer architecture such as AGP, PCI express and others. ISPs – Internet service providers bring the internet into a home or office. There are Dial-up ISPs and Broadband ISPs. Dialup would be connection using Telephony over a phone line while broadband is typically transmitted over other mediums. Streaming video – Video that is displayed as it is received by a computer from another source. This is done mostly over the internet but can be done on a LAN as well. MPG – Mpg files are typically movie files archived on a computer. However there are many modifications to this that are out of the scope of this definition. AVI – Similar to MPG files. Avi files are typically compressed using either DIVX or XVID technology and can contain Mpeg layer 3 audio. Virtual environments – These typically emulate a certain programs, allowing the user to manipulate another kind of program (typically and operating system) without actually installing it. Visual Basic – a programming language that allows for the formation of a GUI while programming corresponding code. C++ - A high level programming language Invented by Bjarne Stroustrup. It is a derivative of “C” and is typically used to program visual elements. Batch Files –These files run a set of commands. Rather that execute each command manually a batch file allows a user to use one command to run many. Object oriented programming – Programming that is based on objects and classes as a part of the programming technique. Browser – Web browsers are programs that view web pages that are stored locally as well as on the Web. There are different brands of browsers that boast different features and tools. Mozilla Firefox is one of the leading web browsers today. Others include Microsoft’s very own Internet Explorer and Netscape’s self titled browser. HTML – Hypertext Markup language is the code that web pages are written in. overall a simple language, it can be easily done in a text editor. Static web page – A static page will only display data edited into the HTML code and it’s content will only change with editing to that code. Interactive Web Page – A web page that requires input from the user to display certain information. URL - Uniform Resource Locator used to access web pages. Bibliography http://www.techweb.com/encyclopedia/defineterm.jhtml?term=URL&x=0&y=0 |
