The Jargon File by Eric S. Raymond (sites to read books for free .TXT) 📖

(Productivity can

vary from one programmer to another by three orders of magnitude. For

example, one programmer might be able to write an average of 3 lines

of working code in one day, while another, with the proper tools,

might be able to write 3,000. This range is astonishing; it is matched

in very few other areas of human endeavor.) The term `superprogrammer'

is more commonly used within such places as IBM than in the hacker

community. It tends to stress naive measures of productivity and to

underweight creativity, ingenuity, and getting the job done -- and to

sidestep the question of whether the 3,000 lines of code do more or

less useful work than three lines that do the [12846]Right Thing.

Hackers tend to prefer the terms [12847]hacker and [12848]wizard.

Node:superuser, Next:[12849]support, Previous:[12850]superprogrammer,

Up:[12851]= S =

superuser n.

[Unix] Syn. [12852]root, [12853]avatar. This usage has spread to

non-Unix environments; the superuser is any account with all

[12854]wheel bits on. A more specific term than [12855]wheel.

Node:support, Next:[12856]surf, Previous:[12857]superuser, Up:[12858]=

S =

support n.

After-sale handholding; something many software vendors promise but

few deliver. To hackers, most support people are useless -- because by

the time a hacker calls support he or she will usually know the

software and the relevant manuals better than the support people

(sadly, this is not a joke or exaggeration). A hacker's idea of

`support' is a t�te-�-t�te with the software's designer.

Node:surf, Next:[12859]Suzie COBOL, Previous:[12860]support,

Up:[12861]= S =

surf v.

[from the `surf' idiom for rapidly flipping TV channels] To traverse

the Internet in search of interesting stuff, used esp. if one is doing

so with a World Wide Web browser. It is also common to speak of

`surfing in' to a particular resource.

Hackers adopted this term early, but many have stopped using it since

it went completely mainstream around 1995. The passive, couch-potato

connotations that go with TV channel surfing were never pleasant, and

hearing non-hackers wax enthusiastic about "surfing the net" tends to

make hackers feel a bit as though their home is being overrun by

ignorami.

Node:Suzie COBOL, Next:[12862]swab, Previous:[12863]surf, Up:[12864]=

S =

Suzie COBOL /soo'zee koh'bol/

[IBM: prob. from Frank Zappa's `Suzy Creamcheese'] n. A coder

straight out of training school who knows everything except the value

of comments in plain English. Also (fashionable among personkind

wishing to avoid accusations of sexism) `Sammy Cobol' or (in some

non-IBM circles) `Cobol Charlie'. 2. [proposed] Meta-name for any

[12865]code grinder, analogous to [12866]J. Random Hacker.

Node:swab, Next:[12867]swap, Previous:[12868]Suzie COBOL, Up:[12869]=

S =

swab /swob/

[From the mnemonic for the PDP-11 `SWAp Byte' instruction, as

immortalized in the dd(1) option conv=swab (see [12870]dd)] 1. vt. To

solve the [12871]NUXI problem by swapping bytes in a file. 2. n. The

program in V7 Unix used to perform this action, or anything

functionally equivalent to it. See also [12872]big-endian,

[12873]little-endian, [12874]middle-endian, [12875]bytesexual.

Node:swap, Next:[12876]swap space, Previous:[12877]swab, Up:[12878]= S

=

swap vt.

[techspeak] To move information from a fast-access memory to a

slow-access memory (swap out'), or vice versa (swap in'). Often

refers specifically to the use of disks as `virtual memory'. As pieces

of data or program are needed, they are swapped into [12879]core for

processing; when they are no longer needed they may be swapped out

again. 2. The jargon use of these terms analogizes people's short-term

memories with core. Cramming for an exam might be spoken of as

swapping in. If you temporarily forget someone's name, but then

remember it, your excuse is that it was swapped out. To `keep

something swapped in' means to keep it fresh in your memory: "I reread

the TECO manual every few months to keep it swapped in." If someone

interrupts you just as you got a good idea, you might say "Wait a

moment while I swap this out", implying that a piece of paper is your

extra-somatic memory and that if you don't swap the idea out by

writing it down it will get overwritten and lost as you talk. Compare

[12880]page in, [12881]page out.

Node:swap space, Next:[12882]swapped in, Previous:[12883]swap,

Up:[12884]= S =

swap space n.

Storage space, especially temporary storage space used during a move

or reconfiguration. "I'm just using that corner of the machine room

for swap space."

Node:swapped in, Next:[12885]swapped out, Previous:[12886]swap space,

Up:[12887]= S =

swapped in n.

See [12888]swap. See also [12889]page in.

Node:swapped out, Next:[12890]swizzle, Previous:[12891]swapped in,

Up:[12892]= S =

swapped out n.

See [12893]swap. See also [12894]page out.

Node:swizzle, Next:[12895]sync, Previous:[12896]swapped out,

Up:[12897]= S =

swizzle v.

To convert external names, array indices, or references within a data

structure into address pointers when the data structure is brought

into main memory from external storage (also called `pointer

swizzling'); this may be done for speed in chasing references or to

simplify code (e.g., by turning lots of name lookups into pointer

dereferences). The converse operation is sometimes termed

`unswizzling'. See also [12898]snap.

Node:sync, Next:[12899]syntactic salt, Previous:[12900]swizzle,

Up:[12901]= S =

sync /sink/ n., vi.

(var. `synch') 1. To synchronize, to bring into synchronization. 2.

[techspeak] To force all pending I/O to the disk; see [12902]flush,

sense 2. 3. More generally, to force a number of competing processes

or agents to a state that would be `safe' if the system were to crash;

thus, to checkpoint (in the database-theory sense).

Node:syntactic salt, Next:[12903]syntactic sugar,

Previous:[12904]sync, Up:[12905]= S =

syntactic salt n.

The opposite of [12906]syntactic sugar, a feature designed to make it

harder to write bad code. Specifically, syntactic salt is a hoop the

programmer must jump through just to prove that he knows what's going

on, rather than to express a program action. Some programmers consider

required type declarations to be syntactic salt. A requirement to

write end if, end while, end do, etc. to terminate the last block

controlled by a control construct (as opposed to just end) would

definitely be syntactic salt. Syntactic salt is like the real thing in

that it tends to raise hackers' blood pressures in an unhealthy way.

Compare [12907]candygrammar.

Node:syntactic sugar, Next:[12908]sys-frog, Previous:[12909]syntactic

salt, Up:[12910]= S =

syntactic sugar n.

[coined by Peter Landin] Features added to a language or other

formalism to make it `sweeter' for humans, features which do not

affect the expressiveness of the formalism (compare [12911]chrome).

Used esp. when there is an obvious and trivial translation of the

`sugar' feature into other constructs already present in the notation.

C's a[i] notation is syntactic sugar for *(a + i). "Syntactic sugar

causes cancer of the semicolon." -- Alan Perlis.

The variants syntactic saccharin' andsyntactic syrup' are also

recorded. These denote something even more gratuitous, in that

syntactic sugar serves a purpose (making something more acceptable to

humans), but syntactic saccharin or syrup serve no purpose at all.

Compare [12912]candygrammar, [12913]syntactic salt.

Node:sys-frog, Next:[12914]sysadmin, Previous:[12915]syntactic sugar,

Up:[12916]= S =

sys-frog /sis'frog/ n.

[the PLATO system] Playful variant of `sysprog', which is in turn

short for `systems programmer'.

Node:sysadmin, Next:[12917]sysape, Previous:[12918]sys-frog,

Up:[12919]= S =

sysadmin /sis'ad-min/ n.

Common contraction of `system admin'; see [12920]admin.

Node:sysape, Next:[12921]sysop, Previous:[12922]sysadmin, Up:[12923]=

S =

sysape /sys'ayp/ n.

A rather derogatory term for a computer operator; a play on

[12924]sysop common at sites that use the banana hierarchy of problem

complexity (see [12925]one-banana problem).

Node:sysop, Next:[12926]system, Previous:[12927]sysape, Up:[12928]= S

=

sysop /sis'op/ n.

[esp. in the BBS world] The operator (and usually the owner) of a

bulletin-board system. A common neophyte mistake on [12929]FidoNet is

to address a message to `sysop' in an international [12930]echo, thus

sending it to hundreds of sysops around the world.

Node:system, Next:[12931]systems jock, Previous:[12932]sysop,

Up:[12933]= S =

system n.

The supervisor program or OS on a computer. 2. The entire computer

system, including input/output devices, the supervisor program or OS,

and possibly other software. 3. Any large-scale program. 4. Any method

or algorithm. 5. `System hacker': one who hacks the system (in senses

1 and 2 only; for sense 3 one mentions the particular program: e.g.,

`LISP hacker')

Node:systems jock, Next:[12934]system mangler, Previous:[12935]system,

Up:[12936]= S =

systems jock n.

See [12937]jock, sense 2.

Node:system mangler, Next:[12938]SysVile, Previous:[12939]systems

jock, Up:[12940]= S =

system mangler n.

Humorous synonym for `system manager', poss. from the fact that one

major IBM OS had a [12941]root account called SYSMANGR. Refers

specifically to a systems programmer in charge of administration,

software maintenance, and updates at some site. Unlike [12942]admin,

this term emphasizes the technical end of the skills involved.

Node:SysVile, Next:[12943]T, Previous:[12944]system mangler,

Up:[12945]= S =

SysVile /sis-vi:l'/ n.

See [12946]Missed'em-five.

Node:= T =, Next:[12947]= U =, Previous:[12948]= S =, Up:[12949]The

Jargon Lexicon

= T =

[12950]T:

[12951]tail recursion:

[12952]talk mode:

[12953]talker system:

[12954]tall card:

[12955]tanked:

[12956]TANSTAAFL:

[12957]tape monkey:

[12958]tar and feather:

[12959]tarball:

[12960]tardegy:

[12961]taste:

[12962]tayste:

[12963]TCB:

[12964]TCP/IP:

[12965]TechRef:

[12966]TECO:

[12967]tee:

[12968]teergrube:

[12969]teledildonics:

[12970]Telerat:

[12971]TELNET:

[12972]ten-finger interface:

[12973]tense:

[12974]tentacle:

[12975]tenured graduate student:

[12976]tera-:

[12977]teraflop club:

[12978]terminak:

[12979]terminal brain death:

[12980]terminal illness:

[12981]terminal junkie:

[12982]terpri:

[12983]test:

[12984]TeX:

[12985]text:

[12986]thanks in advance:

[12987]That's not a bug that's a feature!:

[12988]the literature:

[12989]the network:

[12990]the X that can be Y is not the true X:

[12991]theology:

[12992]theory:

[12993]thinko:

[12994]This can't happen:

[12995]This time for sure!:

[12996]thrash:

[12997]thread:

[12998]three-finger salute:

[12999]throwaway account:

[13000]thud:

[13001]thumb:

[13002]thundering herd problem:

[13003]thunk:

[13004]tick:

[13005]tick-list features:

[13006]tickle a bug:

[13007]tiger team:

[13008]time bomb:

[13009]time sink:

[13010]time T:

[13011]times-or-divided-by:

[13012]TINC:

[13013]Tinkerbell program:

[13014]TINLC:

[13015]tip of the ice-cube:

[13016]tired iron:

[13017]tits on a keyboard:

[13018]TLA:

13019:

[13020]TMRC:

[13021]TMRCie:

[13022]TMTOWTDI:

[13023]to a first approximation:

[13024]to a zeroth approximation:

[13025]toad:

[13026]toast:

[13027]toaster:

[13028]toeprint:

[13029]toggle:

[13030]tool:

[13031]toolsmith:

[13032]toor:

[13033]topic drift:

[13034]topic group:

[13035]TOPS-10:

[13036]TOPS-20:

[13037]tourist:

[13038]tourist information:

[13039]touristic:

[13040]toy:

[13041]toy language:

[13042]toy problem:

[13043]toy program:

[13044]trampoline:

[13045]trap:

[13046]trap door:

[13047]trash:

[13048]trawl:

[13049]tree-killer:

[13050]treeware:

[13051]trit:

[13052]trivial:

[13053]troff:

[13054]troglodyte:

[13055]troglodyte mode:

[13056]Trojan horse:

[13057]troll:

[13058]Troll-O-Meter:

[13059]tron:

[13060]true-hacker:

[13061]tty:

[13062]tube:

[13063]tube time:

[13064]tunafish:

[13065]tune:

[13066]turbo nerd:

[13067]Turing tar-pit:

[13068]turist:

[13069]Tux:

[13070]tweak:

[13071]tweeter:

[13072]TWENEX:

[13073]twiddle:

[13074]twiddle:

[13075]twilight zone:

[13076]twink:

[13077]twirling baton:

[13078]two pi:

[13079]two-to-the-N:

[13080]twonkie:

Node:T, Next:[13081]tail recursion, Previous:[13082]SysVile,

Up:[13083]= T =

T /T/

[from LISP terminology for `true'] Yes. Used in reply to a question

(particularly one asked using [13084]The -P convention). In LISP, the

constant T means true', among other things. Some Lisp hackers useT'

and NIL' instead ofYes' and `No' almost reflexively. This sometimes

causes misunderstandings. When a waiter or flight attendant asks

whether a hacker wants coffee, he may absently respond `T', meaning

that he wants coffee; but of course he will be brought a cup of tea

instead. Fortunately, most hackers (particularly those who frequent

Chinese restaurants) like tea at least as well as coffee -- so it is

not that big a problem. 2. See [13085]time T (also [13086]since time T

equals minus infinity). 3. [techspeak] In transaction-processing

circles, an abbreviation for the noun `transaction'. 4. [Purdue]

Alternate spelling of [13087]tee. 5. A dialect of [13088]LISP

developed at Yale. (There is an intended allusion to NIL, "New

Implementation of Lisp", another dialect of Lisp developed for the

[13089]VAX)

Node:tail recursion, Next:[13090]talk mode, Previous:[13091]T,

Up:[13092]= T =

tail recursion n.

If you aren't sick of it already, see [13093]tail recursion.

Node:talk mode, Next:[13094]talker system, Previous:[13095]tail

recursion, Up:[13096]= T =

talk mode n.

A feature