116 lines
7.1 KiB
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116 lines
7.1 KiB
HTML
<HTML>
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<center>
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<A HREF="../tlk-toc.html"> Table of Contents</A>,
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<A href="../tlk.html" target="_top"> Show Frames</A>,
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<A href="../appendices/glossary.html" target="_top"> No Frames</A>
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</center>
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<hr>
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<META NAME="TtH" CONTENT="1.03">
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<p>
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<H1><A NAME="tth_chAp19">Chapter 19 <br>Glossary</H1>
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<A NAME="glossary-chapter"></A>
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<p>
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<img src="../logos/sit3-bw-tran.1.gif"><br>
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<DL compact> <dt><b>Argument</b></dt><dd> Functions and routines are passed arguments to process.
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<dt><b>ARP</b></dt><dd> Address Resolution Protocol. Used to translate IP addresses into
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physical hardware addresses.
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<dt><b>Ascii</b></dt><dd> American Standard Code for Information Interchange. Each letter
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of the alphabet is represented by an 8 bit code. Ascii is most often
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used to store written characters.
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<dt><b>Bit</b></dt><dd> A single bit of data that represents either 1 or 0 (on or off).
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<dt><b>Bottom Half Handler</b></dt><dd> Handlers for work queued within the kernel.
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<dt><b>Byte</b></dt><dd> 8 bits of data,
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<dt><b>C</b></dt><dd> A high level programming language. Most of the Linux kernel is written
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in C.
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<dt><b>CISC</b></dt><dd> Complex Instruction Set Computer. The opposite of <em>RISC</em>, a processor
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which supports a large number of often complex assembly instructions. The X86
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architecture is a CISC architecture.
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<dt><b>CPU</b></dt><dd> Central Processing Unit. The main engine of the computer, see also
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<em>microprocessor</em> and <em>processor</em>.
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<dt><b>Data Structure</b></dt><dd> This is a set of data in memory comprised of fields,
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<dt><b>Device Driver</b></dt><dd> The software controlling a particular device, for example the
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NCR 810 device driver controls the NCR 810 SCSI device.
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<dt><b>DMA</b></dt><dd> Direct Memory Access.
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<dt><b>ELF</b></dt><dd> Executable and Linkable Format. This object file format designed
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by the Unix System Laboratories is now firmly established as the most
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commonly used format in Linux.
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<dt><b>EIDE</b></dt><dd> Extended IDE.
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<dt><b>Executable image</b></dt><dd> A structured file containing machine instructions and data.
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This file can be loaded into a process's virtual memory and executed.
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See also <em>program</em>.
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<dt><b>Function</b></dt><dd> A piece of software that performs an action. For example, returning
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the bigger of two numbers.
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<dt><b>IDE</b></dt><dd> Integrated Disk Electronics.
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<dt><b>Image</b></dt><dd> See <em>executable image</em>.
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<dt><b>IP</b></dt><dd> Internet Protocol.
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<dt><b>IPC</b></dt><dd> Interprocess Communiction.
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<dt><b>Interface</b></dt><dd> A standard way of calling routines and passing data structures.
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For example, the interface between two layers of code might be expressed
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in terms of routines that pass and return a particular data structure.
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Linux's VFS is a good example of an interface.
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<dt><b>IRQ</b></dt><dd> Interrupt Request Queue.
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<dt><b>ISA</b></dt><dd> Industry Standard Architecture. This is a standard, although now rather
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dated, data bus interface for system components such as floppy disk
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drivers.
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<dt><b>Kernel Module</b></dt><dd> A dynamically loaded kernel function such as a filesystem or a
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device driver.
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<dt><b>Kilobyte</b></dt><dd> A thousand bytes of data, often written as Kbyte,
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<dt><b>Megabyte</b></dt><dd> A million bytes of data, often written as Mbyte,
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<dt><b>Microprocessor</b></dt><dd> A very integrated <em>CPU</em>.
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Most modern CPUs are <em>Microprocessors</em>.
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<dt><b>Module</b></dt><dd> A file containing CPU instructions in the form of either assembly
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language instructions or a high level language like C.
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<dt><b>Object file</b></dt><dd> A file containing machine code and data that has not yet been linked
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with other object files or libraries to become an <em>executable image</em>.
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<dt><b>Page</b></dt><dd> Physical memory is divided up into equal sized pages.
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<dt><b>Pointer</b></dt><dd> A location in memory that contains the address of another location
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in memory,
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<dt><b>Process</b></dt><dd> This is an entity which can execute <em>programs</em>. A process could
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be thought of as a <em>program</em> in action.
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<dt><b>Processor</b></dt><dd> Short for Microprocessor, equivalent to <em>CPU</em>.
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<dt><b>PCI</b></dt><dd> Peripheral Component Interconnect. A standard describing how the peripheral
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components of a computer system may be connected together.
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<dt><b>Peripheral</b></dt><dd> An intelligent processor that does work on behalf of the system's
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CPU. For example, an IDE controller chip,
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<dt><b>Program</b></dt><dd> A coherent set of CPU instructions that performs a task, such as
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printing ``hello world''. See also <em>executable image</em>.
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<dt><b>Protocol</b></dt><dd> A protocol is a networking <em>language</em> used to transfer application data
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between two cooperating processes or network layers.
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<dt><b>Register</b></dt><dd> A location within a chip, used to store information or instructions.
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<dt><b>Register File</b></dt><dd> The set of registers in a processor.
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<dt><b>RISC</b></dt><dd> Reduced Instruction Set Computer. The opposite of <em>CISC</em>, that is a processor
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with a small number of assembly instructions, each of which performs simple operations.
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The ARM and Alpha processors are both RISC architectures.
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<dt><b>Routine</b></dt><dd> Similar to a function except that, strictly speaking, routines do not
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return values.
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<dt><b>SCSI</b></dt><dd> Small Computer Systems Interface.
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<dt><b>Shell</b></dt><dd> This is a program which acts as an interface between the operating system and
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a human user. Also called a <em>command shell</em>, the most commonly used shell in
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Linux is the <font face="helvetica">bash</font> shell.
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<dt><b>SMP</b></dt><dd> Symmetrical multiprocessing. Systems with more than one processor which fairly
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share the work amongst those processors.
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<dt><b>Socket</b></dt><dd> A socket represents one end of a network connection, Linux supports the
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BSD Socket interface.
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<dt><b>Software</b></dt><dd> CPU instructions (both assembler and high level languages like C)
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and data. Mostly interchangable with <em>Program</em>.
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<dt><b>System V</b></dt><dd> A variant of Unix <sup><font size=-4><tt>T</tt>M</font></sup> produced in 1983, which included, amongst other things,
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<em>System V IPC mechanisms</em>.
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<dt><b>TCP</b></dt><dd> Transmission Control Protocol.
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<dt><b>Task Queue</b></dt><dd> A mechanism for deferring work in the Linux kernel.
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<dt><b>UDP</b></dt><dd> User Datagram Protocol.
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<dt><b>Virtual memory</b></dt><dd> A hardware and software mechanism for making the physical
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memory in a system appear larger than it actually is.
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</DL>
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<p>
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<p><hr><small>File translated from T<sub><font size=-1>E</font></sub>X by <a href="http://hutchinson.belmont.ma.us/tth/tth.html">T<sub><font size=-1>T</font></sub>H</a>, version 1.0.</small>
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<hr>
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<center>
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<A HREF="../appendices/glossary.html"> Top of Chapter</A>,
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<A HREF="../tlk-toc.html"> Table of Contents</A>,
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<A href="../tlk.html" target="_top"> Show Frames</A>,
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<A href="../appendices/glossary.html" target="_top"> No Frames</A><br>
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<EFBFBD> 1996-1999 David A Rusling <A HREF="../misc/copyright.html">copyright notice</a>.
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