Glossary of Business, Computer and Internet Terms

There are 14 glossary records beginning with A.

Access Provider:

A company or organization that provides access to the internet.  Usually an internet service provider (ISP).

Active X:

A technology developed by Microsoft for sharing information among different applications.  ActiveX supports new features that enable it to take advantage of the Internet.  For example, an ActiveX control can be automatically downloaded and executed by a Web browser.  ActiveX is not a programming language, but rather a set of rules for how applications should share information.  It allows you to create cross-platform, language-independent controls.

Algorithm:

A step-by-step problem-solving procedure, especially an established, recursive computational procedure for solving a problem in a finite number of steps.

Alphanumeric:

Letters, numbers and special symbols found on the keyboard, excluding graphic characters.

Analog:

Pertaining to data represented by continuously variable, measurable physical quantities.  An information form that is represented by a continuous and smoothly varying amplitude or frequency changes over a certain range such as voice or music.

Animation:

The use of computer instructions to simulate motion of an object on the screen through gradual, progressive movements.

Apache Server:

An open source Web server package, mostly used on Linux and Solaris platforms.

ASCII:

Acronym for American Standard Code for Information Interchange.  A seven-bit code used to represent alphanumeric characters. It is useful for such things as sending information from a keyboard to the computer, and from one computer to another.

ASP:

Active Server Pages technology generates HTML and passes the dynamically created HTML to the browser to be displayed to the user.  Microsoft created Active Server Pages to make it easier for developers to create dynamic Web sites in a Windows environment.  Web pages created with ASP usually have an .asp suffix.

Assembler:

A program that translates assembly-language instructions into machine-language instructions.  An assembler program is unique to a particular CPU.

Assembly Language:

A machine-orientated language in which mnemonics are used to represent each machine-language instruction.  Each CPU has its own specific assembly language.

ATA:

Advanced Technology Attachment, a disk drive implementation that integrates the controller on the disk drive itself.

Attachment:

A file that has been attached to an e-mail. It could be almost any type of file, picture, document or even a harmful file like a virus.

Auto Responder:

An email message that is sent automatically in response to a message from another email address.  Also known as Autobot or Infobot.