|
|
|
|
|
|
|
hexadecimal n. Base 16. Coined in the early 1960s to replace earlier 'sexadecimal', which was too racy and amusing for stuffy IBM, and later adopted by the rest of the industry. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Actually, neither term is etymologically pure. If we take 'binary' to be paradigmatic, the most etymologically correct term for base 10, for example, is 'denary', which comes from 'deni' (ten at a time, ten each), a Latin 'distributive' number; the corresponding term for base-16 would be something like 'sendenary'. 'Decimal' is from an ordinal number; the corresponding prefix for 6 would imply something like 'sextidecimal'. The 'sexa-' prefix is Latin but incorrect in this context, and 'hexa-' is Greek. The word 'octal' is similarly incorrect; a correct form would be 'octaval' (to go with decimal), or 'octonary' (to go with binary). If anyone ever implements a base-3 computer, computer scientists will be faced with the unprecedented dilemma of a choice between two correct forms; both 'ternary' and 'trinary' have a claim to this throne. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
hexit /hek'sit/ n. A hexadecimal digit (09, and AF or af). Used by people who claim that there are only ten digits, dammit; sixteen-fingered human beings are rather rare, despite what some keyboard designs might seem to imply (see space-cadet keyboard). |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
HHOK See ha ha only serious. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
HHOS See ha ha only serious. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
hidden flag n. [scientific computation] An extra option added to a routine without changing the calling sequence. For example, instead of adding an explicit input variable to instruct a routine to give extra diagnostic output, the programmer might just add a test for some otherwise meaningless feature of the existing inputs, such as a negative mass. The use of hidden flags can make a program very hard to debug and understand, but is all too common wherever programs are hacked on in a hurry. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
high bit n. [from 'high-order bit'] 1. The most significant bit in a byte. 2. By extension, the most significant part of something other than a data byte: "Spare me the whole saga, just give me the high bit." See also meta bit, hobbit, dread high-bit disease, and compare the mainstream slang bottom line. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
high moby /h ' mohb'ee/ n. The high half of a 512K PDP-10's physical address space; the other half was of course the low moby. This usage has been generalized in a way that has outlasted the PDP-10; for example, |
|
|
|
|
|