The term is also used, especially in the description of algorithms, to mean associative array or " abstract array ", a theoretical computer science model ( an abstract data type or ADT ) intended to capture the essential properties of arrays.

The term byte was coined by Dr. Werner Buchholz in July 1956, during the early design phase for the IBM Stretch computer.

Sometimes, especially in computer science, the term is used for any binary function.

The computer term bootstrap began as a metaphor in the 1950s.

However, the distinction between BIOS and EFI is rarely made in terminology by the average computer user, making BIOS a catch-all term for both systems.

Originally the word " broadband " had a technical meaning, but became a marketing term for any kind of relatively high-speed computer network or Internet access technology.

The term computer programmer can refer to a specialist in one area of computer programming or to a generalist who writes code for many kinds of software.

The term programmer can be used to refer to a software developer, software engineer, computer scientist, or software analyst.

* List of computer term etymologies

The term has been in use in the computer industry at least since the early 1960s.

" Since the term " CPU " is generally defined as a device for software ( computer program ) execution, the earliest devices that could rightly be called CPUs came with the advent of the stored-program computer.

Combined with the advent and eventual success of the ubiquitous personal computer, the term CPU is now applied almost exclusively to microprocessors.

The term theoretical chemistry may be defined as a mathematical description of chemistry, whereas computational chemistry is usually used when a mathematical method is sufficiently well developed that it can be automated for implementation on a computer.

This last term (" von Neumann machine ") is less specific and also refers to a completely unrelated computer architecture proposed by von Neumann, so its use is discouraged where accuracy is important.

Each computer acts as both the client and the server which means all the computers on the network are equals, that is where the term peer-to-peer comes from.

Early computer buses were parallel electrical wires with multiple connections, but the term is now used for any physical arrangement that provides the same logical functionality as a parallel electrical bus.

The more general term computer generated imagery encompasses both static scenes and dynamic images, while computer animation only refers to moving images.

More recently, with the advent of personal computing, and the growth of home recording, the term computer music is now sometimes used to describe any music that has been created using computing technology.

In computer and information science contexts, especially, the term ' concept ' is often used in unclear or inconsistent ways.

The earliest known publication of the term mouse as a computer pointing device is in Bill English's 1965 publication " Computer-Aided Display Control ".

Now ubiquitous, in current usage the term " cyberspace " stands for the global network of interdependent information technology infrastructures, telecommunications networks and computer processing systems.

His political opponent and lifetime friend, Thomas Jefferson, achieved immortality through his authorship of the Declaration of Independence, but equally notable were the legal and constitutional reforms he instituted in his native Virginia, his role as father of our territorial system, and his acquisition of the Louisiana Territory during his first term as President.

Personal Emergency Response Systems ( PERS ), or Telecare ( UK term ), are a particular sort of assistive technology that use electronic sensors connected to an alarm system to help caregivers manage risk and help vulnerable people stay independent at home longer.

The term vestibular ataxia is employed to indicate ataxia due to dysfunction of the vestibular system, which in acute and unilateral cases is associated with prominent vertigo, nausea and vomiting.

The term " Anasazi " was established in archaeological terminology through the Pecos Classification system in 1927.

The term " anti-ballistic missile " describes any antimissile system designed to counter ballistic missiles.

The system was described in 1976 by Guy Ottewell and also by Robert J. Weber, who coined the term " approval voting.

AMPS pioneers fathered the term " cellular " because of its use of small hexagonal " cells " within a system.

The conservation of momentum equations are often called the Navier-Stokes equations, while others use the term for the system that includes conversation of mass, conservation of momentum, and conservation of energy.

More recent IUPAC recommendations now suggest the newer term " hydronium " be used in favor of the older accepted term " oxonium " to illustrate reaction mechanisms such as those defined in the Brønsted – Lowry and solvent system definitions more clearly, with the Arrhenius definition serving as a simple general outline of acid – base character.

The term " black-letter law " is also used commonly in the American legal system to mean well-established case law.

This year marks the first post-communist government that not collapsed and served its 4-year term until 2001, thus stabilizing the political system in Bulgaria.

These leagues did not consider themselves " minor " – a term that did not come into vogue until St. Louis Cardinals GM Branch Rickey pioneered the farm system in the 1930s.

On the Great British canal system, the term ' barge ' is used to describe a boat wider than a narrowboat, and the people who move barges are often known as lightermen.

The term BIOS ( Basic Input / Output System ) was invented by Gary Kildall and first appeared in the CP / M operating system in 1975, describing the machine-specific part of CP / M loaded during boot time that interfaces directly with the hardware ( a CP / M machine usually has only a simple boot loader in its ROM ).

By extension, the term is also used to refer to any system administrator who displays ( or wishes he could get away with ) the qualities of the original.

In the stories, the PFY ( Pimply-Faced Youth ) is the BOFH's assistant ; this too has become a general term for a junior or trainee system administrator.

These definitions are archaic, their relevance having dissipated with the development of the English legal system over the centuries, but they do explain the origin of the term as used today.

The modern system of constellations used in astronomy focuses primarily on constellations as grid-like segments of the celestial sphere rather than as patterns, while the term for a star-pattern is asterism.

The term was first coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent of Lovecraft, who used the name of the creature Cthulhu — a central figure in Lovecraft literature and the focus of Lovecraft's famous short story The Call of Cthulhu ( first published in pulp magazine Weird Tales in 1928 )— to identify the system of lore employed by Lovecraft and his literary successors.

Caltech is on the quarter system: the fall term starts in late September and ends before Christmas, the second term starts after New Years Day and ends in mid-March, and the third term starts in late March or early April and ends in early June.

Heisenberg never used the term collapse, preferring to speak of the wavefunction representing our knowledge of a system, and collapse as the " jumping " of the wavefunction to a new state, representing a " jump " in our knowledge which occurs once a particular phenomenon is registered by the experimenter ( i. e. when an observation takes place ).

In the diagram, the “ working body ” ( system ), a term introduced by Clausius in 1850, can be any fluid or vapor body through which heat Q can be introduced or transmitted to produce work.