Acronyms & Defintions
| ADO | ActiveX Data Objects is the Microsoft standard for accessing data. Active Server Pages (ASP) works with ADO to provide data access capabilities to a web site. CORBA is a vendor-neutral approach to ADO. |
| AFAIK | As far as I know... |
| AJAX | Asynchronous JavaScript Technology and XML. Using JavaScript technology, an HTML page can asynchronously make calls to the server from which it was loaded and fetch content that may be formatted as XML documents, HTML content, plain text, or JavaScript Object Notation (JSON). The JavaScript technology may then use the content to update or modify the Document Object Model (DOM) of the HTML page. The term Asynchronous JavaScript Technology and XML (AJAX) has emerged recently to describe this interaction model. more..., faqs... |
| ANSI | American National Standards Institute. Founded in 1918, ANSI is a voluntary organization that creates standards for the computer industry. For example, ANSI C is a version of the C language that has been approved by the ANSI committee.In addition to programming languages, ANSI sets standards for a wide range of technical areas, from electrical specifications to communications protocols. For example, FDDI, the main set of protocols for sending data over fiber optic cables, is an ANSI standard. http://www.ansi.org/ |
| AP | Access Point, a hardware device or a computer's software that acts as a communication hub for users of a wireless device to connect to a wired LAN. APs are important for providing heightened wireless security and for extending the physical range of service a wireless user has access to. |
| API | Application Programmer's Interface - between the client part and the server part of a client/server system. |
| API | Application Programming Interface for java, see: http://java.sun.com/apis.html |
| Applet | Small application that runs within a Web browser environment |
| Application | A program or group of programs designed for end users. Software can be divided into two general classes: systems software and applications software. Systems software consists of low-level programs that interact with the computer at a very basic level. This includes operating systems, compilers, and utilities for managing computer resources. In contrast, applications software (also called end-user programs) includes database programs, word processors, and spreadsheets. Figuratively speaking, applications software sits on top of systems software because it is unable to run without the operating system and system utilities. |
| ARIA | Accessible Rich Internet Application, provides web developers with a means of annotating page elements with the roles, properties, and states that define exactly what those elements do. The added definitions help screen readers and other assistive devices navigate through your website. W3C's ARIA attributes. |
| ARP | Address Resolution Protocol. Part of the suite of protocols used process and locate different IP addresses on the internet. |
| ASCII | American Standard Code for Information Interchange. ASCII is a code for representing English characters as numbers, with each letter assigned a number from 0 to 127. For example, the ASCII code for uppercase M is 77. Most computers use ASCII codes to represent text, which makes it possible to transfer data from one computer to another. |
| ASP | Active Server Pages (a Microsoft product) is a server-side scripting environment that you can use to create and run dynamic, interactive Web server applications. Much like PERL and CGI scripts. |
| AWT | Abstract Windowing Toolkit, a java API group class |
| Browser | A software application used to locate and display Web pages. The two most popular browsers are Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer. Both of these are graphical browsers, which means that they can display graphics as well as text. In addition, most modern browsers can present multimedia information, including sound and video, though they require plug-ins for some formats. |
| CDF | Compound Document Format for Microsoft's OLE 2. Starting with Office 95, all MS Office applications store their documents in an archive called the OLE2 Compound Document Format (OLE2CDF). |
| CDONTS | The Microsoft® CDO for NTS Library (Collaboration Data Objects for Windows NT® Server). The CDO for NTS Library is intended to run on a Microsoft® Windows NT® Server, for example from Active Server Pages (ASP) script on a Microsoft® Internet Information Server (IIS). |
| CGI | Common Gateway Interface, a specification for transferring information between a World Wide Web server and a CGI program. CGI programs are the most common way for Web servers to interact dynamically with users. Many HTML pages that contain forms, for example, use a CGI program to process the form's data once it's submitted. |
| Client, Thin/Fat | Clients are PCs or workstations on which users run applications. Clients rely on servers for resources, such as files, devices, and even processing power. In client/server applications, a thin client is designed to be especially small so that the bulk of the data processing occurs on the server. A fat client uses the computing power of the individual PC by placing/loading/residing all or parts of an application program on it, therefore all program changes and/or latest versions have to be re-loaded. Netscape and Sun Microsystems advocating Java-based thin clients running on network computers. Fat client, championed by Microsoft and Intel, is pushing ever-larger applications running locally on desktop computers. Although the term thin client usually refers to software, it is increasingly used for computers, such as network computers and Net PCs, that are designed to serve as the clients for client/server architectures. A thin client is a network computer without a hard disk drive, whereas a fat client includes a disk drive. |
| COM | Component Object Model. |
| CORBA | Common Object Request Broker Architecture is a vendor-neutral approach to creating such distributed applications, instead of the proprietory solution of Microsoft's ADO. |
| COTS | Commercial Off-The-Shelf products or software. |
| CSS | Cascading Style Sheets are used to control the appearance of web pages, individually or as a group. |
| CRUD | Create, Read, Update, and Delete. All 'applications' should have these four basic functions. In SQL terms = insert, select, update & delete. |
| DCOM | Distrubuted Component Object Model. |
| DHTML | Dynamic Hyper Text Markup Language - works only in Microsoft's Internet Explorer. There are many technologies for producing dynamic HTML, including CGI scripts, Server-Side Includes (SSI), cookies, Java, JavaScript, and ActiveX. |
| 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. |
| DNS | Domain Name System is a mechanism used on the Internet to translate host computer names into Internet (IP) addresses. It is one of the most universal methods of centralized name resolution. For example when a user requests the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) " www.something.com ", DNS servers translate the name into the IP address " 201.198.24.108 ". Much like checking a "telephone book" for someone's phone number, a name would be resolved/translated into a number. The DNS servers check their own "directory" then keep passing the query/message to another "directory" until the name is resolved into a number or (depending on which is needed) the reverse, a number into a name. Top-level domains are represented by two- or three-character name codes and are organized by their geographic location (.us .uk .au) or their organization type (.com .edu .gov .org .mil .net) The Second-level domain is the "name" of a site (amazon yahoo microsoft) Organizations can extend their second-level domain name into Subdomains for their departments, divisions, locations, whatever... Domain names are unique and can have up to 63 characters, including periods. |
| DOM | Document Object Model is a set of standard interfaces for programmatically handing how objects in XML or a Web page (text, images, headers, links, etc.) are represented. The DOM defines what attributes are associated with each object, and how the objects and attributes can be manipulated. Dynamic HTML (DHTML) relies on the DOM to dynamically change the appearance of Web pages after they have been downloaded to a user's browser. The two leading browsers -- Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer -- use different DOMs. The W3C's DOM specification will support both HTML and XML. |
| DTD | Document Type Definition, a type of file associated with SGML and XML documents that defines how the markup tags should be interpreted by the application presenting the document. The HTML specification that defines how Web pages should be displayed by Web browsers is one example of a DTD. XML promises to expand the formatting capabilities of Web documents by supporting additional DTDs. |
| EAR | Enterprise Application Archives, like a "zip" file, can include WAR files |
| e.g. | The abbreviation e.g. is for the Latin exempli gratia, "for example." The abbreviation i.e. is for the Latin id est, means "that is." They're not interchangeable. Both abbreviations should be followed by a comma. |
| EJB | Enterprise Java Beans are packaged in EAR files. EJB is a Java Bean on steroids... |
| FDDI | Fiber Distributed Data Interface, a set of ANSI protocols for sending digital data over fiber optic cable. FDDI networks are token-passing networks, and support data rates of up to 100 Mbps (100 million bits) per second. FDDI networks are typically used as backbones for wide-area networks. An extension to FDDI, called FDDI-2, supports the transmission of voice and video information as well as data. Another variation of FDDI, called FDDI Full Duplex Technology (FFDT) uses the same network infrastructure but can potentially support data rates up to 200 Mbps. |
| FQDN | Fully Qualified Domain Name such as " www.something.com " is translated by DNS servers into the IP address " 201.198.24.108 " FQDN total allows only 255 characters. |
| FSO | File System Object |
| FTP | File Transfer Protocol used on the Internet to electronically transfer/send files. |
| GML | Goldfarb, Mosher, Lorie. The initial authors of SGML. |
| GML | Geography Markup Language |
| HDML | Handheld Device Markup Language is used to format content for Web-enabled mobile phones. HDML is Openwave's (formerly known as phone.com) proprietary language, which can only be viewed on mobile phones that use Openwave browsers. HDML came before the WAP standard was created. It uses Openwave's Handheld Device Transport Protocol (HDTP), instead of WAP. |
| HTML | Hyper Text Markup Language is similar to SGML, although it is not a strict subset. |
| HTTP | HyperText Transfer Protocol, the underlying protocol used by the World Wide Web. HTTP defines how messages are formatted and transmitted, and what actions Web servers and browsers should take in response to various commands. For example, when you enter a URL in your browser, this actually sends an HTTP command to the Web server directing it to fetch and transmit the requested Web page. |
| IDE | Integrated Development Environment - A programming environment integrated into an application. For example software product such as, JDev, XML Spy,... |
| i.e. | The abbreviation i.e. is for the Latin id est, means "that is." The abbreviation e.g. is for the Latin exempli gratia, "for example." They're not interchangeable. Both abbreviations should be followed by a comma. |
| INCITS | InterNational Committee for Information Technology Standards, contains information on the efforts and involvements of INCITS in the area of market-driven, voluntary consensus standards for multimedia, interconnection among computing devices, storage media, databases, security, and programming languages. http://www.x3.org/incits/ |
| IP | Internet Protocol is the basic data-transfer method used throughout the Internet. It is responsible for IP addressing, and performs the routing function, which selects a path to send data to the destination IP address. |
| ISAM | Indexed Sequential Access Method |
| ISO | International Organization for Standards |
| J2EE | Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition see: Specifications |
| J2SE | Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition see: http://java.sun.com/docs/ |
| JAR | Java Archive file, like a "zip" file |
| Java | Java is an object-oriented programming language with extensive class libraries. Java is an open standard - the language specifications are publicly available. A java program can be run as a stand-alone program or within a web browser (as an applet.) Java code can be written on any platform, and run on any platform. http://java.sun.com/ |
| JAWS | Job Access With Speech, is one of many screen readers for the internet. It allows users to hear what is being displayed on the screen. |
| JDBC | Java Database Connectivity similar to ODBC but the client application is written in Java. It allows a server to work with any SQL-compliant database. JDBC allows Java to process SQL statements within Java programs, allowing a programmer to configure a database as a Java object. Therefore, a Java program can manipulate the database as if it were part of the program's structure. JSON is built on two structures: 1) A collection of name/value pairs. In various languages, this is realized as an object, record, struct, dictionary, hash table, keyed list, or associative array. 2) An ordered list of values. In most languages, this is realized as an array, vector, list, or sequence. |
| JDK | Java Development Kit |
| JNDI | Java Naming and Directory Interface |
| JRE | Java Runtime Environment |
| JSON | JavaScript Object Notation is a lightweight data-interchange format. It is based on a subset of JavaScript. JSON is a text format that is completely language independent but uses conventions that are familiar to programmers of the C-family of languages, including C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Perl, Python, and many others. These properties make JSON an ideal data-interchange language. |
| JSP | Java Server Pages, call Java Classes like a variation of HTML and similar to ASP. http://java.sun.com/products/jsp/ |
| JSTL | Java Standard Tag Library or Java Server Pages Standard Tag Library |
| JVM | Java Virtual Machine (an interpreter) |
| LAN | Local Area Network is a group of only a few dozen computers connected/networked/linked together, usually all located within the same building, that access a common group of severs/databases and printers. Each computer in a network has a network interface card in its systems unit. This is an input/output device that sends and receives data over cables. The network interface cards of computers on a network are connected together with cables. |
| LDAP | Lightweight Directory Access Protocol directory. |
| LLC | Logical Link Control is responsible for error and flow control on the transmission media of a data link which is part of the process by which information is sent over a network or the internet. MAC is the other half of the data link that provides reliable data transfer across a network or the internet. |
| MAC | Media Access Control is responsible for placing data on the transmission media of a data link which is part of the process by which information is sent over a network or the internet. LLC is the other half of the data link that provides reliable data transfer across a network or the internet. |
| MDC | Markup Declaration Close, the closing tag > character |
| MDO | Markup Declaration Open, the opening tag < character |
| meta | A common prefix that means "about" in computer science. So, for example, metadata is data that describes other data (data about data). A metalanguage is a language used to describe other languages. A metafile is a file that contains other files. The HTML META tag is used to describe the contents of a Web page. |
| MIME | Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions, a specification for formatting non-ASCII messages so that they can be sent over the Internet. Many e-mail clients now support MIME, which enables them to send and receive graphics, audio, and video files via the Internet mail system. In addition, MIME supports messages in character sets other than ASCII. There are many predefined MIME types, such as GIF graphics files and PostScript files. It is also possible to define your own MIME types. In addition to e-mail applications, Web browsers also support various MIME types. This enables the browser to display or output files that are not in HTML format. MIME was defined in 1992 by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). A new version, called S/MIME, supports encrypted messages. |
| MSAM | Mass Storage Access Method (Index sequential or Direct - access method) |
| OCR | Optical Character Reader - this may read handwriting, fingerprints or more... |
| ODBC | Open Database Connectivity is a standard interface (set of definitions to establish communications) between a database and an application (written in C++ or VB) that accesses the data held in the database. Definitions are: a function call library, SQL syntax, SQL data types, protocol for connecting to a database engine and error codes. |
| OLEDB | Object Linking and Embedding Database is a Microsoft product. A model to actually access their SQL database. It is similar to ODBC, except it is used to access many types of data, not just databases. ADO provides the interface, whereas OLEDB provides the actual access to the data. |
| OO | Object-Oriented programming (Java & others) extend the abilities of traditional programming languages. |
| OODBMS | Object-Oriented Database Management System typically not based on SQL. |
| ORDBMS | Object-Relational Database Management System extend the abilities of SQL. |
| Portable Document Format, a file format developed by Adobe Systems. PDF captures formatting information from a variety of desktop publishing applications, making it possible to send formatted documents and have them appear on the recipient's monitor or printer as they were intended. To view a file in PDF format, you need Adobe Acrobat Reader, a free application distributed by Adobe Systems. | |
| PERL | Practical Extraction and Report Language, Perl is a programming language developed by Larry Wall, especially designed for processing text. Because of its strong text processing abilities, Perl has become one of the most popular languages for writing CGI scripts. Perl is an interpretive language, which makes it easy to build and test simple programs. |
| PHP | Hypertext Preprocessor. In an HTML document, PHP script (similar syntax to that of Perl or C ) is enclosed within special PHP tags. Because PHP is embedded within tags, the author can jump between HTML and PHP (similar to ASP, JSP and Cold Fusion) instead of having to rely on heavy amounts of code to output HTML. PHP was originally designed as a small set of Perl scripts, first known as Personal Home Page Tools. |
| Plug-ins | A hardware or software module that adds a specific feature or service to a larger system. (PDF, Flash, Quick Time...) For example, there are number of plug-ins for the Netscape Navigator browser that enable it to display different types of audio or video messages. Navigator plug-ins are based on MIME file types. |
| PME | Property.Method.Event (object.attribute) textName.value = "Mickey" Properties = attributes that describe the object: color, font name... Method internal producer built into object has no assignment, textName.setFocus |
| POI | Poor Obfuscation (to confuse) Implementation. The POI project consists of APIs for manipulating various file formats based upon Microsoft's OLE 2 Compound Document Format using pure Java. In short, you can read and write MS Excel files using Java. POI contains several components, one of which, HSSF (Horrible SpreadSheet Format), writes Excel files. HDF (Horrible Document Format) understands the Microsoft Word structures. HPSF (Horrible Property Sheet Format, used to read -- and eventually write -- document property information available through File->Property) include a document's title, a summary, a category, and keywords.
http://jakarta.apache.org/poi/ and more, and more.
The POI project consists of the following components: * The HSSF Serializer is a set of Java classes whose main class supports the Serializer interface from the Cocoon 2 project and outputs the serialized data in a format compatible with the spreadsheet program Microsoft Excel '97. * The HSSF library is a set of classes for reading and writing Microsoft Excel 97 file format using pure Java. * The POIFS library is a set of classes for reading and writing Microsoft's OLE 2 Compound Document format using pure Java. |
| POIFS | POI FileSystem, see POI above. Think of POIFS as a "zip" library. Once you can get the data in a zip file you still need to interpret the data. |
| Protocol | An agreed-upon format for transmitting data between two devices. The protocol determines the following: the type of error checking to be used data compression method, if any how the sending device will indicate that it has finished sending a message how the receiving device will indicate that it has received a messageThere are a variety of standard protocols. Your computer or device must support the right ones if you want to communicate with other computers. The protocol can be implemented either in hardware or in software. |
| RAM | Random Access Memory. "Random" means that the memory cells can be accessed in any order. Main memory in the computer is sometimes called RAM. Main memory is where programs and data are kept when the processor is actively using them. When people say that a computer has "128 megabytes of RAM" they are talking about how big its main memory is. One megabyte of memory is enough to hold approximately one million characters of a word processing document. |
| RCFs | Requests for Comments are published documents of interest to the internet community. They include detailed information about standardized internet protocols, such as IP and TCP, and those in various stages of development. They also include informational documents regarding protocol standards, assigned numbers (e.g. prot numbers), host requirements (e.g. data link, network, transport and applications OSI layers) and other router requirements. RFCs are identified by number. The higher the number, the more recent the RFC. Be sure you are viewing the most recent RFC during your research. A recommended RFC reference site is located at http://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc.html |
| RDBMS | Relational Database Management Systems |
| RDDL | Resource Directory Description Language is a standard for packaging information on an XML namespace. A RDDL document is an XHTML document that contains prose descriptions of the namespace. |
| RDF | Resource Description Framework is a general framework for describing a Web site's metadata, or the information about the information on the site. It provides interoperability between applications that exchange machine-understandable information on the Web. RDF details information such as a site's sitemap or keywords that search engines look for. |
| RMI | Remote Method Invocation, enables you to create distibuted Java applications. |
| ROM | Read Only Memory, usually just one program that is permanently kept in a special kind of main memory of a computer. A computer that is dedicated to running a program that controls another device is an embedded system. An embedded system is usually embedded inside the device it controls. More processor chips are sold per year for embedded systems than for all other purposes. |
| RSS | Real Simple Syndication is a family of Web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works – such as news headlines, audio, and video – in a standardized format. A standardized XML file format allows the information to be published once and viewed by many different programs. The user subscribes to a feed by entering the feed's link into the reader or by clicking an RSS icon in a browser that initiates the subscription process. feed burner |
| Sandbox | Defined area within the ‘client/user' computer's memory where an applet can run. Defined to protect from potentially hostile applets that may try to extract information or cause malicious damage, disallowing the applet to affect anything outside of the sandbox. Danger is reduced, but not completely eliminated. |
| Schema | The structure of a database system, described in a formal language supported by the database management system (DBMS). In a relational database, the schema defines the tables, the fields in each table, and the relationships between fields and tables. Schemas are generally stored in a data dictionary. Although a schema is defined in text database language, the term is often used to refer to a graphical depiction of the database structure. |
| SDK | Software Development Kit. Typically an SDK includes one or more APIs, programming tools, and documentation. |
| Server | Servers are powerful computers or processes dedicated to managing disk drives (file servers), printers (print servers), or network traffic (network servers ). A database server is a computer system that processes database queries. Servers are often dedicated, meaning that they perform no other tasks besides their server tasks. Any user on the network can store files on the server |
| Servlet | A small program that runs on a server. A servlet usually refers to a small Java application that runs within a Web server environment. This is similar to a Java applet that runs within a Web browser environment. |
| 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. |
| SMTP | Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, a protocol for sending e-mail messages between servers. SMTP is an Internet standard for electronic mail among clients having common access to a server for message storage. |
| SOAP | Simple Object Access Protocol defines a way of packaging typed data as XML for transmission between systems. The main use for SOAP today is for remote procedure calls. SOAP is an 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. |
| SOA | Service Oriented Architecture. This is the 'new' pattern for Web Services. SOA has a service provider, a service requestor, and a service registry. |
| SSG | Symbolic Stream Generator |
| SQL | System Query Language (pronounced "sequel"). Databases store information in an organized, tabular format. To enable transactions between these databases and users, the client/server model must translate human-readable language into machine-readable code. SQL is the most efficient way to accomplish this. SQL comes in a variety of "flavors", Microsoft has their SQL 7.0 and SQL 2000, Oracle has a PL/SQL and there is a vendor-neutral MySQL. |
| SVG | Scalable Vector Graphics, a vector graphics file format that enables two-dimensional images to be displayed in XML pages on the Web. Vector images are created through text-based commands formatted to comply with XML specifications. In contrast to JPEG and GIF images on the Web, which are bitmapped and always remain a specified size, SVG images are scalable to the size of the viewing window and will adjust in size and resolution according to the window in which it is displayed. |
| TCP/IP | Transmission control protocol/internet protocol is the internet's official protocol. It is basically an agreement about how to represent and transmit data over a network, usually large networks. (Also see Protocol above) |
| Telnet | Telnet is a terminal emulation protocol. It allows a user at one site to log on and run programs from a remote system. |
| tModel | is used for compliance check. It validates the contents of what is inside the WSDL. It is an abstract description of a particular specification of the Web Service. |
| UDDI | Universal Description Discovery and Integration. A Web-based distributed directory that enables businesses to list themselves on the Internet and discover each other, similar to a traditional phone book's yellow and white pages. UDDI Home page |
| UDF | Universal Data Format. Web services (SOA) use XML for describing the functionality and exchanging data between the service requestor and service provider. |
| UML | Unified Modeling Language, a general-purpose notational language for specifying and visualizing complex software, especially large object-oriented projects. |
| URI | Uniform Resource Identifier, the generic term for all types of names and addresses that refer to objects on the World Wide Web. URL and URN are types of URI. URI are specified in RFC 2396. |
| URL | Uniform Resource Locator, the global address of documents and other resources on the World Wide Web. The first part of the address indicates what protocol to use (ftp:// http:// https://), and the second part specifies the IP address or the domain name where the resource is located " www.something.com " |
| URN | Uniform Resource Name. A group known as the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is working on a predefined synax for URNs. Proposed syntax will provide for the resolution using Internet Protocols of Uniform Resource Names, which have a greater persistence than that currently associated with Internet host names or domains that URLs use. If adopted, URNs may eventually be used as the URI schemes that improve on URLs with regard to their efficacy, including reliability for authenticity, replication and availability purposes. |
| UTF | Universal Transformation Format, a method of converting Unicode characters, which are 16 bits each, into 7- or 8-bit characters. UTF-7 converts Unicode into ASCII for transmission over 7-bit mail systems, and UTF-8 converts Unicode to 8-bit bytes. |
| WAN | Wide-Area Network can connect thousands of computers together over great distances. The long distance connections are made by using fiber optic lines, telephone lines, microwave communications, and satellite communications. Each computer in the network has a network address (as with local-area networks) to uniquely identify it. Wide-area networks use a variety of special hardware to manage the flow of data. When two computers share data, this hardware makes it appear that the two computers are connected together directly. In reality, there may be dozens of network devices between the two computers. |
| WAP | Wireless Application Protocol, a secure specification that allows users to access information instantly via handheld wireless devices such as mobile phones, pagers, two-way radios, smartphones and communicators. WAPs that use displays and access the Internet run what are called microbrowsers--browsers with small file sizes that can accommodate the low memory constraints of handheld devices and the low-bandwidth constraints of a wireless-handheld network. Although WAP supports HTML and XML, the WML language (an XML application) is specifically devised for small screens and one-hand navigation without a keyboard. WML is scalable from two-line text displays up through graphic screens found on items such as smart phones and communicators. WAP also supports WMLScript. It is similar to JavaScript, but makes minimal demands on memory and CPU power because it does not contain many of the unnecessary functions found in other scripting languages. Because WAP is fairly new, it is not a formal standard yet. It is still an initiative that was started by Unwired Planet, Motorola, Nokia, and Ericsson. |
| WAR | Web Application Archives, like a "zip" file, may be found within EAR file |
| Weblication | An application, program or group of programs designed to be run on the web. |
| Wi-Fi | Wireless Fidelity used generically to refer to any type of 802.11 network, whether 802.11b, 802.11a, dual-band, etc. "Wi-Fi Certified" (a registered trademark) by the Wi-Fi Alliance is certified as interoperable with each other, even if they are from different manufacturers. A user with a "Wi-Fi Certified" product can use any brand of AP with any other brand of client hardware that also is certified. |
| WML | Wireless Markup Language, an XML language used to specify content and user interface for WAP devices; the WAP forum provides a DTD for WML. WML is supported by almost every mobile phone browser around the world. WML pages are requested and served in the same way as HDML pages. For Web servers to serve WML pages, they must contain the text/vnd.wap.wml mime type. |
| WSDL | Web Services Description Language, an XML-formatted language used to describe a Web service's capabilities as collections of communication endpoints capable of exchanging messages. WSDL is an integral part of UDDI, an XML-based worldwide business registry. WSDL is the language that UDDI uses. WSDL was developed jointly by Microsoft and IBM. |
| www | World Wide Web consists of many wide-area networks that have been connected together to form one huge world-wide network. It is a system of Internet servers that support specially formatted documents. The documents are formatted in a script called HTML that supports links to other documents, as well as graphics, audio, and video files. This means you can jump from one document to another simply by clicking on hot spots. Not all Internet servers are part of the World Wide Web. |
| XHTML | Extensible Hypertext Markup Language, a hybrid between HTML and XML specifically designed for Net device displays. XHTML is a markup language written in XML; therefore, it is an XML application. XHTML uses three XML namespaces (used to qualify element and attributes names by associating them with namespaces identified by URI references. Namespaces prevent identically custom-named tags that may be used in different XML documents from being read the same way), which correspond to three HTML 4.0 DTDs: Strict, Transitional, and Frameset. XHTML markup must conform to the markup standards defined in a HTML DTD. When applied to Net devices, XHTML must go through a modularization process. This enables XHTML pages to be read by many different platforms. A device designer, using standard building blocks, will specify which elements are supported. Content creators will then target these building blocks--or modules. Because these modules conform to certain standards, XHTML's extensibility ensures that layout and presentation stay true-to-form over any platform. |
| XLink | XML Linking Language, a computer language that allows both unidirectional and bidirectional links to other resources (e.g., files, images, documents, programs, query results) to be embedded in XML documents, similar to the hyperlinks found in HTML Web pages. |
| XLL | Extensible Linking Language will work together with XML and XSL to change the way information is exchanged over the Web. |
| XML | Extensible Markup Language 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. XML Links |
| XSD | XML Schema Definition, a way to describe and validate data in an XML environment. (A schema is a model for describing the structure of information.) XSD is a recommendation of the W3C. XSD has advantages over earlier XML schema languages, such as DTD. Because XSD is written in XML, there is no need for a parser. XSD defines a richer set of data types such as booleans, numbers, dates and times, and currencies -- which is invaluable for e-commerce applications. DTDs, on the other hand, express data types as explicit enumerations, which makes validation much more difficult and less accurate. More important, XSD makes it easier to validate documents based on namespaces (used to qualify element and attributes names by associating them with namespaces identified by URI references. Namespaces prevent identically custom-named tags that may be used in different XML documents from being read the same way), something DTDs cannot do. XSD is defined in the W3C's XML Schema Working Group Working Draft published on May 6, 1999. |
| XSL | Extensible Stylesheet Language will work together with XML and XLL to change the way information is exchanged over the Web. The XSL standard has two parts, XSLT (the transformation standard) and XSL-FO (the part that covers formatting objects, also known as flow objects). |
| XSL-FO | Extensible Stylesheet Language-Flow Object for formatting objects gives you the ability to define multiple areas on a page and then link them together. When a text stream is directed at the collection, it fills the first area and then "flows" into the second when the first area is filled. Such objects are used by newsletters, catalogs, and periodical publications. |
| XSLT | The Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformation standard is essentially a translation mechanism that lets you specify what to convert an XML tag into so that it can be displayed -- for example, in HTML. Different XSL formats can then be used to display the same data in different ways, for different uses. (The XPATH standard is an addressing mechanism that you use when constructing transformation instructions, in order to specify the parts of the XML structure you want to transform.) |
| zip | 1) zip file: A popular data compression format. Files that have been compressed with the ZIP format are called ZIP files and usually end with a.ZIP extension. 2) zip drive: A high-capacity floppy disk drive. Zip disks are slightly larger than conventional floppy disks, and about twice as thick. They can hold 100, 250 or 750 MB of data. |
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Links to these and more definitions:
Webopedia,
Wikipedia,
Merriam-Webster,
Abbreviations,
or for Lynch's Grammar,
Common Errors in English,
Blue Book of Grammar and Punction
