< previous page page_114 next page >

Page 114

Classic C /klas'ik C/ [a play on 'Coke Classic'] n. The C programming language as defined in the first edition of K&R, with some small additions. It is also known as 'K&R C'. The name came into use while C was being standardized by the ANSI X3J11 committee. Also 'C Classic'.
An analogous construction is sometimes applied elsewhere: thus, 'X Classic', where X = Star Trek (referring to the original TV series) or X = PC (referring to IBM's ISA-bus machines as opposed to the PS/2 series). This construction is especially used of product series in which the newer versions are considered serious losers relative to the older ones.
clean 1. adj. Used of hardware or software designs, implies 'elegance in the small', that is, a design or implementation that may not hold any surprises but does things in a way that is reasonably intuitive and relatively easy to comprehend from the outside. The antonym is 'grungy' or crufty. 2. v. To remove unneeded or undesired files in a effort to reduce clutter: "I'm cleaning up my account." "I cleaned up the garbage and now have 100 Meg free on that partition."
CLM /C-L-M/ [Sun: 'Career Limiting Move'] 1. n. An action endangering one's future prospects of getting plum projects and raises, and possibly one's job: "His Halloween costume was a parody of his manager. He won the prize for 'best CLM'." 2. adj. Denotes extreme severity of a but, discovered by a customer and obviously missed earlier because of poor testing: "That's a CLM bug!"
clobber vt. To overwrite, usually unintentionally: "I walked off the end of the array and clobbered the stack." Compare mung, scribble, trash, and smash the stack.
clocks n. Processor logic cycles, so called because each generally corresponds to one clock pulse in the processor's timing. The relative execution times of instructions on a machine are usually discussed in clocks rather than absolute fractions of a second; one good reason for this is that clock speeds for various models of the machine may increase as technology improves, and it is usually the relative times one is interested in when discussing the instruction set. Compare cycle.
clone n. 1. An exact duplicate: "Our product is a clone of their product." Implies a legal reimplementation from documentation or by reverse-engineering. Also connotes lower price. 2. A shoddy, spurious copy: "Their product is a clone of our product." 3. A blatant ripoff, most likely violating copyright, patent, or trade secret protections: "Your product is a clone of my

 
< previous page page_114 next page >

If you like this book, buy it!