Programming Technologies
Programming Technologies may include things like Protocols, Data Formats, and Development tools.
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Programming Terms
Programming Languages
ABAP
a programming language for developing applications for the SAP system.
ABLE
ABLE is a Java framework, component library, and productivity tool kit for building intelligent agents
using machine learning and reasoning. The ABLE framework provides a set of Java interfaces and base
classes used to build a library of JavaBeans called AbleBeans. The library includes AbleBeans for reading
and writing text and database data, for data transformation and scaling, for rule-based inferencing using
Boolean and fuzzy logic, and for machine learning techniques such as neural networks, Bayesian classifiers,
and decision trees. Developers can extend the provided AbleBeans or implement their own custom algorithms.
Rule sets created using the ABLE Rule Language can be used by any of the provided inferencing engines,
which range from simple if-then scripting to light-weight inferencing to heavy-weight AI algorithms using
pattern matching and unification. Java objects can be created and manipulated using ABLE rules. User-defined
functions can be invoked from rules to enable external data to be read and actions to be invoked.
ActiveX
A loosely defined set of technologies developed by Microsoft for sharing information
among different applications. ActiveX is an outgrowth of two other Microsoft technologies
called OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) and COM (Component Object Model).
As a moniker, ActiveX can be very confusing because it applies to a whole set of COM-based
technologies. Most people, however, think only of ActiveX controls, which represent a
specific way of implementing ActiveX technologies.
ASCII
American Standard Code for Information Interchange. A standard numbering scheme to display text in a computer system..
Assembly Languages
A programming language that is once removed from a computer's machine language. Machine languages consist entirely of
numbers and are almost impossible for humans to read and write. Assembly languages have the same structure and set of
commands as machine languages, but they enable a programmer to use names instead of numbers. Each type of CPU has its
own machine language and assembly language, so an assembly language program written for one type of CPU won't run on another.
In the early days of programming, all programs were written in assembly language. Now, most programs are written in a
high-level language such as FORTRAN or C. Programmers still use assembly language when speed is essential or when they need
to perform an operation that isn't possible in a high-level language.
DLL
Dynamic Link Library, a library of executable functions or data that can be used by a Windows application.
Typically, a DLL provides one or more particular functions and a program accesses the functions by creating
either a static or dynamic link to the DLL. A static link remains constant during program execution while a
dynamic link is created by the program as needed. DLLs can also contain just data. DLL files usually end
with the extension .dll,.exe., drv, or .fon.
A DLL can be used by several applications at the same time. Some DLLs are provided with the Windows
operating system and available for any Windows application. Other DLLs are written for a particular
application and are loaded with the application.
CFML
ColdFusion Markup Language is the tag-based server-scripting language for rapid web
development. Processed entirely on the server, CFML is easy to learn, yet powerful
enough to handle the most demanding web-application logic. CFML uses a syntax that
closely resembles HTML and XML, so it is ideally suited to programming applications
that use these markup languages. For new developers, tag-based CFML syntax makes
complex programming easy. Advanced developers can easily extend and customize CFML
through custom tags, reusable components, and user-defined functions, as well as
take advantage of structured exception handling and integration with Java, C, C++,
COM, CORBA, and EJB.
Clarion
Clarion is the foundation of the SoftVelocity product line and anchors the company's reputation
for fast, efficient database application development. In addition to the Clarion 4GL language, the Clarion product also includes both a C++ and Modula-2 compiler. All of the
languages share a common optimizer, and they can be mixed within a single application.
Independent software developers and corporate developers have similar needs: to increase
productivity to meet demands for new database applications. Clarion is a data-centric
Rapid Application Development Environment with an emphasis on code generation and
reusable metadata to quickly create "corporate quality" applications to manage business
data.
Cold Fusion
www.macromedia.com
ColdFusion is a Macromedia product designed for developers building dynamic websites and
Internet applications. Easy-to-use visual tools and an intuitive server scripting environment
dramatically flatten the learning curve for new developers. At the same time, advanced
features such as Components, integrated debugging, XML handling, Java integration, web
services, and more make it ideal for advanced developers creating complex web applications.
COM
(1) In DOS systems, the name of a serial communications port.
(2) Component Object Model, A software architecture developed by Microsoft to build
component-based applications. COM objects are discrete components, each with a unique
identity, which expose interfaces that allow applications and other components to access
their features. COM objects are more versatile than Win32 DLLs because they are completely
language-independent, have built-in interprocess communications capability, and easily fit into
an object-oriented program design. COM was first released in 1993 with OLE2, largely to
replace the interprocess communication mechanism DDE used by the initial release of OLE.
ActiveX also is based on COM.
CORBA
Short for Common Object Request Broker Architecture, an architecture that enables
pieces of programs, called objects, to communicate with one another regardless of
what programming language they were written in or what operating system they're
running on. CORBA was developed by an industry consortium known as the Object
Management Group (OMG).
There are several implementations of CORBA, the most widely used being IBM's SOM and
DSOM architectures. CORBA has also been embraced by Netscape as part of its Netscape
ONE (Open Network Environment) platform. Two competing models are Microsoft's COM and
DCOM and Sun Microsystems' RMI.
CSS
Cascading Style Sheet, a text based scheme used to tell the browser how to format web pages.
Delphi
RAD system developed by Borland International, Inc to use on Micorsoft Windows platforms.
Delphi is similar to Visual Basic from Microsoft, but whereas Visual Basic is based on
the BASIC programming language, Delphi is based on Pascal.
DFD
Data Flow Diagram, another name for a data flow model.
DFM
1) Data Flow Model, a graphical representation produced by data flow modeling. Also referred to as a data flow diagram.
2) Data Flow Modeling, the process of identifying, modeling and documenting how data moves around an
information system. Data flow modeling examines processes (activities that transform data from one form to another),
data stores (the holding areas for data), external entities (what sends data into a system or receives data from a system,
and data flows (routes by which data can flow).
ERP
Enterprise Resource Planning, a business management system that integrates all facets of the business,
including planning, manufacturing, sales, and marketing. As the ERP methodology has become more
popular, software applications have emerged to help business managers implement ERP in business activities
such as inventory control, order tracking, customer service, finance and human resources.
Frontier
Frontier is the technology powerhouse behind Manila and Radio UserLand. Its a powerful Web content
management system, built around an object database, scripting language, script editor and debugger,
outliner, multi-threaded runtime, integrated HTTP server, distributed computing protocols such as
XML-RPC and SOAP.
Frontier technology solves the problem every large site has, how to separate form from content.
Frontier makes it easy to keep complicated HTML out of the way of writers, and gives you, the
site manager, all the tools you need to manage the site.
GDI
Graphical Device Interface, a Windows standard for representing graphical objects and transmitting
them to output devices, such as monitors and printers.
GTK
Gimp/Gnome Tool Kit, a GUI library for developing in the Gnome desktop environment.
HTML
Hyper Text Markup Language, standard web formatting language, which tells a browser
how to display text from a web page, and link to other files & systems.
IDL
Interactive Data Language. It is a product of Research Systems, Inc. (RSI).
IDL is a complete package for the interactive reduction, analysis, and visualization of
scientific data and images. Optimized for the workstation environment, IDL integrates a
responsive array oriented language with numerous data analysis methods and an extensive
variety of two and three dimensional displays into a powerful tool for researchers.
IDL supports an extensive data import capability, publication quality hard copy output,
and user-defined Motif graphical user interfaces. Users can create complex visualizations
in hours instead of weeks with the aid of IDL's high level capabilities and interactive
environment. IDL is useful in physics, astronomy, image and signal processing, mapping,
medical imaging, statistics, and other technical disciplines requiring visualization of
large amounts of data.
JDBC
Java Database Connectivity, a Java API that enables Java programs to execute SQL statements.
This allows Java programs to interact with any SQL-compliant database. Since nearly all relational
database management systems (DBMSs) support SQL, and because Java itself runs on most platforms,
JDBC makes it possible to write a single database application that can run on different platforms
and interact with different DBMSs. JDBC is similar to ODBC, but is designed specifically for
Java programs, whereas ODBC is language-independent.
Kylix
RAD system developed by Borland International, Inc.for use on Linux.
Kylix similar to Visual Basic, but is based on Pascal.
Mantis
1. MANTIS (Multimodal Networks of In-situ Sensors) is a new wireless sensor network
technology that provides an integrated hardware and software platform suitable for
a wide variety of sensor network applications. The two central components of the MANTIS
platform are the MANTIS Operating System (MOS)
(a small, UNIX-like runtime environment) and a wireless sensor node that is specifically
designed to take advantage of the advanced capabilities of MOS.
2. Mantis is a web-based bugtracking system. It is written in the PHP scripting language and requires the MySQL
database and a webserver. Mantis has been installed on Windows, MacOS, OS/2, and a variety of Unix operating systems.
Almost any web browser should be able to function as a client. It is released under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL)..
MATLAB
(MATrix LABoratory) A programming language for technical computing from The MathWorks,
Natick, MA (www.mathworks.com). Used for a wide variety of scientific and engineering
calculations, especially for automatic control and signal processing, MATLAB runs on
Windows, Mac and a variety of Unix-based systems. Developed by Cleve Moler in the late
1970s and based on the original LINPACK and EISPACK FORTRAN libraries, it was initially
used for factoring matrices and solving linear equations. Moler commercialized the product
with two colleagues in 1984. MATLAB is also noted for its extensive graphics capabilities.
.NET
Microsoft .NET is a set of software technologies for connecting information, people,
systems, and devices. This new generation of technology is based on Web services
small building-block applications that can connect to each other as well as to other,
larger applications over the Internet.
There are four main principles of .NET from the perspective of the user:
1) It erases the boundaries between applications and the Internet.
Instead of interacting with an application or a single Web site,
.NET will connect the user to an array of computers and services
that will exchange and combine objects and data.
2) Software will be rented as a hosted service over the Internet instead
of purchased on a store shelf. Essentially, the Internet will be housing
all your applications and data.
3) Users will have access to their information on the Internet from any device,
anytime, anywhere.
4) There will be new ways to interact with application data, such as speech
and handwriting recognition.
Microsoft views this new technology as revolutionary, enabling Internet users to do
things that were never before possible, such as integrate fax, e-mail and phone services,
centralize data storage and synchronize all of a users computing devices to be automatically
updated.
.NET depends on four Internet standards: HTTP, XML, SOAP, UDDI
ODBC
Open DataBase Connectivity, a standard database access method developed by the SQL
Access group in 1992. The goal of ODBC is to make it possible to access any data from
any application, regardless of which database management system (DBMS) is handling the data.
ODBC manages this by inserting a middle layer, called a database driver , between an application
and the DBMS. The purpose of this layer is to translate the application's data queries into commands
that the DBMS understands. For this to work, both the application and the DBMS must be
ODBC-compliant -- that is, the application must be capable of issuing ODBC commands and the
DBMS must be capable of responding to them. Since version 2.0, the standard supports SAG SQL.
PDF
Postscript Document Format, a complete data file written in the Postscript language.
This format is owned by Adobe, and is most commonly created and read by the Adobe Acrobat,
however some open source applications like ghostscript will also read PDF files.
PostScript
A page description language (PDL) developed by Adobe Systems. PostScript is primarily
a language for printing documents on laser printers, but it can be adapted to produce
images on other types of devices. PostScript is the standard for desktop publishing
because it is supported by imagesetters, the very high-resolution printers used by
service bureaus to produce camera-ready copy.
PostScript is an object-oriented language, meaning that it treats images, including
fonts, as collections of geometrical objects rather than as bit maps. PostScript fonts
are called outline fonts because the outline of each character is defined. They are also
called scalable fonts because their size can be changed with PostScript commands.
Given a single typeface definition, a PostScript printer can thus produce a multitude
of fonts. In contrast, many non-PostScript printers represent fonts with bit maps.
To print a bit-mapped typeface with different sizes, these printers require a complete
set of bit maps for each size.
The principal advantage of object-oriented (vector) graphics over bit-mapped graphics
is that object-oriented images take advantage of high-resolution output devices whereas
bit-mapped images do not. A PostScript drawing looks much better when printed on a 600-dpi
printer than on a 300-dpi printer. A bit-mapped image looks the same on both printers.
Every PostScript printer contains a built-in interpreter that executes PostScript
instructions. If your laser printer does not come with PostScript support, you may be
able to purchase a cartridge that contains PostScript.
QT
GUI library, most popularily used by the K Dekstop Environment.
Regular Expressions
A standardized way of maniplating text from a program.
RPC
Remote Procedure Call, a type of protocol that allows a program on one computer to
execute a program on a server computer. Using RPC, a system developer need not develop
specific procedures for the server. The client program sends a message to the server with
appropriate arguments and the server returns a message containing the results of the program executed.
Two newer object-oriented methods for programs to communicate with each other, CORBA
and DCOM, provide the same types of capabilities as traditional RPCs.
RTF
Rich Text Format is a data file format most commonly used by applications
such as Microsoft Word, Open Office, and Lotus Notes. RTF files are actually ASCII files
with special commands to indicate formatting information, such as fonts and margins.
SAS
Short for Serial Attached SCSI, an evolution of parallel SCSI into a point-to-point
serial peripheral interface in which controllers are linked directly to disk drives.
SAS is a performance improvement over traditional SCSI because SAS enables multiple
devices (up to 128) of different sizes and types to be connected simultaneously with
thinner and longer cables; its full-duplex signal transmission supports 3.0Gb/s. In
addition, SAS drives can be hot-plugged.
SGML
Standard Generalized Markup Language, a system for organizing and tagging elements
of a document. SGML was developed and standardized by the International Organization
for Standards (ISO) in 1986. SGML itself does not specify any particular formatting;
rather, it specifies the rules for tagging elements. These tags can then be interpreted to
format elements in different ways.
SGML is used widely to manage large documents that are subject to frequent revisions
and need to be printed in different formats. Because it is a large and complex system,
it is not yet widely used on personal computers. However, the growth of Internet, and
especially the World Wide Web, is creating renewed interest in SGML because the
World Wide Web uses HTML, which is one way of defining and interpreting tags according to SGML rules.
SOAP
Short for Simple Object Access Protocol, a lightweight XML-based messaging protocol
used to encode the information in Web service request and response messages before
sending them over a network. SOAP messages are independent of any operating system
or protocol and may be transported using a variety of Internet protocols, including
SMTP, MIME, and HTTP.
SQL
Abbreviation of structured query language, and pronounced either see-kwell or as
separate letters. SQL is a standardized query language for requesting information
from a database. The original version called SEQUEL (structured English query language)
was designed by an IBM research center in 1974 and 1975. SQL was first introduced as a
commercial database system in 1979 by Oracle Corporation.
Historically, SQL has been the favorite query language for database management systems
running on minicomputers and mainframes. Increasingly, however, SQL is being supported
by PC database systems because it supports distributed databases (databases that are
spread out over several computer systems). This enables several users on a local-area
network to access the same database simultaneously.
TK
A cross Plaform GUI Tool Kit.
UML
Unified Modeling Language, a general-purpose notational language for specifying and visualizing
complex software, especially large, object-oriented projects. UML builds on previous notational
methods such as Booch, OMT, and OOSE.
Unicode
A standard for displaying and exchanging text on different computer
systems, much like ASCII, but expanded to include characters other than just the Latin based
characters of English, Spanish, etc.
VHDL
VHDL-1076 (VHSIC (Very High Speed Integrated Circuits) Hardware Description Language)
is an IEEE Standard since 1987. It is "a formal notation intended for use in all phases
of the creation of electronic systems. ... it supports the development, verification,
synthesis, and testing of hardware designs, the communication of hardware design
data ..." [Preface to the IEEE Standard VHDL Language Reference Manual] and especially
simulation of hardware descriptions. Additionally, VHDL-models are a DoD requirement for vendors.
Today many simulation systems and other tools (synthesis, verification and others)
based on VHDL are available. The VHDL users community is growing fast. Several
international conferences organized by the VHDL Users Groups(s) have been held with
relevant interest. Other international conferences address the topic as well.
XML
Extensible Markup Language, a specification developed by the W3C. XML is a pared-down
version of SGML, designed especially for Web documents. It allows designers to create their
own customized tags, enabling the definition, transmission, validation, and interpretation of data
between applications and between organizations.
XSL
eXtensible Style Language, a specification for separating style from content when creating HTML
or XML pages. The specifications work much like templates, allowing designers to apply single style
documents to multiple pages. XSL is the second style specification to be offered by the World Wide Web
Consortium (W3C )(www.w3c.org). The first, called Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), is similar to XSL
but does not include two major XSL's innovations -- allowing developers to dictate the way Web pages
are printed, and specifications allowing one to transfer XML documents across different applications.
W3C released the first draft of XSL in August 1998, and promotes the specifications as helpful to the
Web's speed, accessibility, and maintenance.
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Programming Terms
Programming Languages