The Techie Glossary
Version 2.0 By The WIDM Technology Transference Project

1st Letter

Terms are accessible by their first and second letters

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Da

DARPA stands for Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The US government agency that originally funded the historic network ARPANET.

Data is any digitized information stored within a computer. All software on a computer system is data.

Data buses are electronic pathways located on buses inside a computer that allows the processor chip to exchange data with the RAM memory.

Data Encryption Standard (DES) is a publicly disclosed encryption standard that has been widely used on the Internet. Created by NIST which has been improved by the AES standard.

Data link layer is the layer that handles low level data link communication between network hardware devices and networked computers using the TCP/IP protocol within the framework of the OSI network model.

Data links are low level layer communications between network hardware devices and networked computers. Data links communicate using the TCP/IP protocol on the data link layer of the OSI network model.

Data processing is the preparation, storage or manipulation of data on a computer or a network.

Data types are the from the data takes when it is stored. In variables data can be stored as a type of value, number or string.

Databases are collective groups of information stored as records. It can be stored on a server computer that can be accessed by queries from authorized users from across a network. The data records are usually referenced by using a variety of categorized fields.

DC

DCA stands for Defense Communications Agency. The government agency responsible for the internal government network called the Defense Data Network.

DCE stands for Distributed Computing Environment. This is an environment for defining the standard programming interfaces, conventions, and server functionality for distributed computing. It includes naming conventions, distributed file system and remote procedure calls used for the distribution of applications across networks of heterogeneous computers. The DCE is promoted and controlled by the Open Software Foundation.

DD

DDN stands for Defense Data Network. This government network combines MILNET with several other defense related networks. The Defense Communications Agency is the government agency for managing the DDN.

De

Debugging is the phase in software application development where the program is checked for errors, bugs and other anomalies. The debugging can be done by a utility that parses the code and looks for syntax errors or manually by the developer.

Decimal system is the number system with a base of ten and which uses ten digits from zero to nine. This is our normal numeric system. Computers use the binary system for precision and speed since at the lowest level the hardware circuitry can send either a high current or low current that is easily detected as representing either on or off.

DECNet stands for Digital Equipment Corporation Network. This type of network is a proprietary network architecture.

Decryption is the process of deciphering encoded data. Decryption is the complementary process of encryption.

Defaults are the original settings on either a piece of hardware or software. The default settings can usually be restored using a function of the software application. In an extreme case the default settings can be restored by reinstalling the software or the hardware drivers.

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) was the US government agency that originally funded the historic network called ARPANET.

Defense Communications Agency (DCA) is the government agency responsible for the internal government network called the Defense Data Network.

Defense Data Network (DDN) is a government network combining MILNET with several other defense related networks. The Defense Communications Agency is the government agency for managing the DDN.

Defragmentation of a hard drive is the process where all the files are rewritten so each file is contained intact on a contiguous sector. While files are saved to a drive by an operating system they can become fragmented.

Delete key refers to the key on the keyboard with the word Del or Delete on it. It is usually located with the directional keys. It provides various functions with different systems and software applications, but usually deletes whatever is highlighted or selected on the screen or the character in front of the cursor.

Deleting in computer terms is the act of taking a file or an object within a file and getting rid of it. Cutting is like deleting, but preserves a copy in a temporary storage area. The Delete key can be used to delete files or objects by selecting the file and then pressing the delete key or if nothing is selected it will delete the character or object in front of the cursor.

Delimiters are a string of characters that marks the end of one section and the beginning of another section. It can be used to distinguish between different sets of data or lines of text that are separated by the delimiter.

Demounting a drive from a computer operating system is to remove the drive and any disk in it from the filing system so it is no longer recognized.

Denial of service is a flood of packets used to overwhelm a server. The UDP broadcast protocol is commonly used in denial of service attacks.

DES stands for Data Encryption Standard. This is an algorithm for an publicly disclosed encryption standard that has been widely used on the Internet. Created by NIST which has been improved by the AES standard.

Deselected objects or text strings are not highlighted within a software application or on the desktop. Deselecting a selected objects can be with the mouse by clicking elsewhere.

Deselecting an object or text is to unhighlight it within a software application or on the desktop. Selected objects can be deselected with the mouse by clicking elsewhere.

Desktop publishing is designing of professional literary publications using a set of software applications that provide layout tools for the text and images. These applications spawned from word processing software to provide users with enhanced features such as the use of layers for precise placement of objects.

Desktops for computers are the background of the operating system in a GUI based system. The desktop is always below all open windows and their software applications. A desktop shows up right when a user logs on. It may contain icons, shortcuts, files, toolbars and more. What the desktop contains and the way it looks is configured through the display properties and set in the profile for each user. The desktop is also in a file or directory that can be found in the directory tree. There can be more than one desktop for each user on some systems.

Device drivers are pieces of utility software that provide connection information from a hardware device to the operating system. Sometimes an operating system will require that the user load the device driver file. This file is usually found on the install disk or can be downloaded from the Internet, if the original disk or back up disk cannot be found.

DH

DHCP stands for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. This protocol allows a computer system to automatically assign an IP address for a network connection. Each time the computer is reset the system's address is updated dynamically, as opposed to specifically assigning a static IP address.

DHTML stands for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol which is a method using client-side scripting languages such as JavaScript within the HTML or XML to make an interactive web page more dynamic. This is usually done with the addition of Cascading Style Sheets.

Di

Dial-up is a type of connection to the Internet that uses a phone modem to connect to the network.

Dialog box in a GUI based system is a reference box that requests information from the user. Usually this is a request from the operating system or a software application.

Diffusion is the pixelation of an image or a photo. Loss of diffusion is the lack of pixels that can create a hazy, grainy effect to a picture. This loss is usually due to low a resolution used in the original digitization.

Digital is the common form of data encoding where each unit is represented by either the digit zero or one. Some real objects such as images, sounds and videos can be digitized. Digital measurements can be contrasted with analog measurements that are uninterrupted representations, such as a continuous line.

Digital signatures are used in email and on web sites to verify the identity of the sender or publisher by creating a public certificate.

Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) is a method for moving digital information as data over regular phone lines. A DSL provides a broadband connection to the Internet using the wires for regular phone service. A DSL circuit is not a leased line. A DSL circuit must be configured to connect two specific locations which is similar to a leased line. A type of asynchronous DSL is ADSL.

Digitizing is the process of capturing information and converting it into a digital form that a computer can use. Any audio or visual signal that is converted into data that can be stored and manipulated by a computer has been digitized.

Directional keys are the two sets of keys located on the keyboard with the directional arrows, and the keys that include the Home key, End key, Page up key and Page down key. These keys are used to move the cursor on the screen.

Directories are special files on a computer that organize other files. Each directory is part of the file management system for the operating system. This system organizes a hierarchy of directories where each one holds certain files. This is the directory tree for the system. Directories and folders usually mean the same thing.

Directory System Agent (DSA) is software that supports the directory service for a portion of a directory information base. Each DSA agent is responsible for the directory information of each organizational group.

Directory tree is the graphical representation of the directory structure with connected levels and resembles an upside down tree. The lowest level of the directory tree is called the root directory. Each operating system has different type of directory tree structure. The file management utility software is the good place to learn about the particular directory tree for a computer. The root directory is the lowest directory on a directory tree.

Directory User Agent (DUA) is the software that accesses a directory service on behalf of the user agent. The directory user may be a person or another software element.

Disk Operating System (DOS) was the original command line based operating system for the PC which could run from a floppy disk or the hard disk.

Display defines what is showing on the screen. After the computer system has started and is ready for input the monitor's screen shows the user either a command line or GUI interface on the display. Display settings can usually be configured in the control panel.

Display adapters is another term for the video card used to connect the computer with the monitor.

Display properties are the settings for the video card and the monitor of the computer system. They can be changed through the control panel or by right clicking on the desktop on most systems.

Distributed computing is the allocation of the burden of processing to more than one computer system. This can be done through the Internet or over a network.

Distributed Computing Environment (DCE) is a programming environment for defining the standard interfaces, conventions, and server functionality for distributed computing. It includes naming conventions, distributed file system and remote procedure calls used for the distribution of applications across networks of heterogeneous computers. The DCE is promoted and controlled by the Open Software Foundation.

Distributed processing allocates the burden of processing to more than one computer system's processor. This can be done within the system itself, through the Internet or over a network.

Dithering is the mingling of display pixels or printed dots on paper of several different colors to appear as a new color.

DN

DNS stands for Domain Name System. This distributed name and address service is used to identify addresses of the computes on a network or the Internet. This is done by resolving the IP address with their domain name.

DNS server stands for Domain Name System server. This is a server computer that is used to identify IP addresses with domain names on a network or the Internet through DNS.

Do

Document Object Model (DOM) is a model that outlines the objects and HTML elements for HTML documents and the web environment. Knowing the structure of the DOM enables the web site developer to manipulate objects within HTML, this can be useful in client-side processes when using scripting languages or when developing web applications.

Documentation is any computer help in text based form either written in a pamphlet or listed in a help menu that are associated with a hardware device, software application or operating system. Sometimes the documentation is available on the CD with the software or can be searched for on-line. White papers are published in-depth technical specifications available for some software as documentation.

DOM stands for Document Object Model. This model outlines the objects and HTML elements for HTML documents and the web environment. Knowing the structure of the DOM enables the web site developer to manipulate objects within HTML, this can be useful in client-side processes when using scripting languages or when developing web applications.

Domain Name System (DNS) is a distributed name and address service is used to identify addresses of the computes on a network or the Internet. This is done by resolving the IP address with their domain name.

Domain Name System server is a server computer that is used to identify IP addresses with domain names on a network or the Internet through DNS.

Domain names are the addressable portion of a URL for a web site. This part is located after the http://www portion of the web site address protocol and includes the extension. It could be one name or a sequence of names separated by periods. A whois search can tell who currently owns a domain name.

DOS stands for Disk Operating System. This was the original command line based operating system for the PC which could run from a floppy disk or the hard disk.

Dot pitch is the size of the smallest dot pixel that can appear on a display screen.

Dotted decimal notation is the syntactic representation for a 32-bit integer that consists of four 8-bit numbers written in base 10 separated with dots or periods. Used to represent IP addresses on the Internet and on networks when using the TCP/IP protocol.

Double clicking is the act of pressing and releasing the mouse button twice in succession rapidly. The sensitivity to the speed needed for clicking rapidly enough to initiate a double click can be set by the user in the control panel.

Downloading is the transferring of data from one computer system to another over a network. This is usually done by using a server application and a client application. When downloading a file from the Internet the server application is commonly an FTP or HTTP service that resides on a server computer. The client is either an FTP program or web browser that can download the file between systems and it resides on a client computer. The opposite of downloading is uploading.

Dr

Drag and dropping is using the mouse to click on an object then holding down the mouse button and rolling the mouse to a new location. This drags the object across the screen and by letting go of the mouse button the object is dropped in the new location.

DRAM stands for Dynamic Random Access Memory. This is a chip similar to a RAM chip that uses capacitors to store memory charges. DRAM chips refresh continuously.

Drivers are software utilities for both hardware devices and software applications that allow them to be recognized by the operating system. This file is usually found on the install disk or can sometimes be downloaded from the Internet, if the original disk or back up disk cannot be found.

Drives are storage devices attached to a computer that can contain data. A drive can be a floppy drive, CD drive, tape drive or hard drive. There can be several virtual drives located on each physical hard drive, if it has been separated into mountable partitions that have been formatted independently each partition will be recognized as a separate drive to the operating system.

DS

DSA stands for Directory System Agent. This software supports the directory service for a portion of a directory information base. Each DSA agent is responsible for the directory information of each organizational group.

DSL stands for Digital Subscriber Line. This is a method for moving digital information as data over regular phone lines. A DSL provides a broadband connection to the Internet using the wires for regular phone service. A DSL circuit is not a leased line. A DSL circuit must be configured to connect two specific locations which is similar to a leased line. A type of asynchronous DSL is ADSL.

DU

Dual boot systems are single computer systems that are capable of running alternatively either of two different operating system platforms. These platforms are stored separately on two hard drives or two separate formatted partitions. Normally after the system starts to boot up on a dual system computer it begins with a boot loader program that allows the user to chose the operating system.

Dumping is a way to clear memory from one area of memory. Memory dumping is usually restricted to temporary memory caches and the data can be dumped to a different storage area, or it can be deleted.

DV

DVD stands for Digital Video Disc. This is a removable optical storage of digital media for computers. A DVD can either have data on it and can be read by the computer, or it can be a recordable disc. If it is recordable it may be a DVD-R disc or a DVD-RW disc. A computer with a standard DVD drive can read a DVD when there is data on the disc. A DVD writer can be used to imprint data on to a blank DVD-R disc or a DVD-RW disc using optical technologies. Data written to a DVD-R disc using a DVD burner may be written only once. After it is written to the disc it can be read repeatedly. The storage capacity on DVD discs holds many times the capacity of CD discs. The data capacity of a DVD is dependent on format, but it can be anywhere from 8 gigabytes to up to 40 gigabytes.

DVD burners are hardware devices that use optical technology to write information for storage usually on to DVD-R, DVD-RW, CD-R or CD-RW discs. They are located inside the computer case facing the front of the system physically attached by an IDE cable to the motherboard. The drives have accessible storage trays for insertion of the DVD disc. When the user closes the tray the drive reads the media with laser optics. DVD burners are the same thing as a DVD writer.

DVD drives are typically ROM drives that use read only memory, so they cannot write to the disc. They are located inside the computer case facing the front of the system physically attached by an IDE cable to the motherboard. The drives have accessible storage trays for insertion of the DVD disc. When the tray is closed it reads the media by using laser optics. These drives are physical storage devices read only memory, ROM, drives attached by an IDE cable to the motherboard that has a removable memory storage drive that can read media by using optical technologies. DVD drives read DVDs or CDs, if they have data on them.

DVD writers are hardware devices that use optical technology to write information for storage usually on to DVD-R, DVD-RW, CD-R or CD-RW discs. They are located inside the computer case facing the front of the system physically attached by an IDE cable to the motherboard. The drives have accessible storage trays for insertion of the DVD disc. When the user closes the tray the drive reads the media with laser optics. DVD writers are the same thing as a DVD burner.

DVD-ROM drives stands for Digital Video Disc - Read Only Memory drives. These ROM drives use read only memory, so they cannot write to the disc. They are located inside the computer case facing the front of the system physically attached by an IDE cable to the motherboard. The drives have accessible storage trays for insertion of the compact disc. When the user closes the tray the drive reads the media with laser optics. These drives are physical storage devices read only memory, ROM, drives attached by an IDE cable to the motherboard that has a removable memory storage drive that can read media by using optical technologies. DVD-ROM drives read DVDs or CDs, if they have data on them.

DVD-R disc stands for Digital Video Disc - Recordable. It is the standard blank DVD recordable disc that is the removable computer storage of digital media that can be read by the standard DVD drive when there is data on the disc. A DVD writer can be used to imprint data on to a blank DVD-R disc using optical technologies. Data written to a DVD-R disc this way may be written only once. After it is written to the disc it can be read repeatedly. The storage capacity on DVD discs holds many times the capacity of CD discs. The data capacity of a DVD is dependent on format, but it can be anywhere from 8 gigabytes to up to 40 gigabytes.

DVD-RW disc stands for Digital Video Disc - Rewritable. This is a rerecordable disc using optical technologies that can be written to recursively. When the disc is used with a compatible DVD burner the user can write, read or delete files to it. The data can be written to the same removable DVD-RW disc again and again like a regular hard drive.

Dy

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is the protocol that allows a computer system to automatically assign an IP address for a network connection. Each time the computer is reset the system's address is updated dynamically, as opposed to specifically assigning a static IP address.

Dynamic HTML (DHTML) is a method using client-side scripting languages such as JavaScript within the HTML or XML to make an interactive web page more dynamic. This is usually done with the addition of Cascading Style Sheets.

(Letter D Totals - 86 Terms - 794 Links)

D

Glossary

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