Glossary of Computer Terms—B

Glossary of Computer Terms—B

B

BACKPLANE: A part of a computer into which the system’s PC boards are plugged to provide a common voltage supply, reference, and SYSTEM BUS for all computer sections. A backplane is often called a MOTHERBOARD.

BACKBONE: Well, all of these computers have to come together somewhere. There are many “backbones” on the Internet. Think of the backbone as the next larger grouping of computers you connect with to get included in the Web. You’re at the end of a rib coming off of the backbone—get the picture? The main backbone of the Internet here in the U.S. is the NSFNet. It stands for National Science Foundation Net.

BANDWIDTH: The capacity of a networked connection. Bandwidth determines how much data can be sent along the networked wires. Bandwidth is particularly important for Internet connections, since greater bandwidth also means faster downloads.

BASIC: The acronym for Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code. BASIC is an easy to use programming language, originally intended for educational purposes; it is available for personal computers in varying degrees of complexity.

BAUD RATE: (i) This is a measurement of the amount of data that can be transferred in one second. (ii) This is an industry-accepted method of measuring modem speed. Baud rate divided by eight equals transmission speed in bytes per second.

BAUDOT CODE: A 5-bit digital code having 32 possible combinations of binary “0” and “1”; for Teletype (Telex) communications systems.

BENCHMARK: The specifications for measuring the characteristics of a computer system, or parts of the system, under clearly-defined conditions.

BIOS: Stands for Basic Input/Output System. This is the little set of programs that lets all the different parts of the computer talk to each other.

BINARY CODE: The most basic language a computer understands, it is composed of a series of 0s and 1s. The computer interprets the code to form numbers, letters, punctuation marks, and symbols.

BINARY CODED DECIMAL (BCD): A coding system in which each decimal system numeral (0 to 9) is represented by a 4-digit (4-bit) binary code.

BINARY SYSTEM (BASE 2): A numbering system consisting of only two digits (0 and 1), as contrasted with a DECIMAL SYSTEM that uses ten digits (0 to 9). In electronics, “binary” and “two-state” are synonymous.

BINARY DIGIT (BIT): The term “BIT” is the contraction of Binary Digit and is part of a binary WORD that consists of combinations of “0” and/or “1”. There are only two numerals in binary arithmetic (base 2) and is the basis for binary code (Machine Language), the language of the computer. A “bit” has the same significance in binary arithmetic that a decimal digit has in the more familiar decimal (base 10) arithmetic system.

BISTABLE MULTIVIBRATOR: A digital circuit having two stable electrical states. The output signal of this circuit will remain in either state (0 or 1) indefinitely until an external input signal causes the circuit to switch to its other output state. This circuit is generally called a FLIP-FLOP.

BINHEX: Converts a Macintosh program into ASCII text for transmission over the Internet. Files with a .hqx extension are BinHex. Aladdin’s Stuffit Expander converts BinHex documents back into their true form.

BLACK BOX: A term that refers to an electronic circuit or system within an enclosure without necessarily providing details of its internal elements. The black box concept often offers a useful approach in the design of a system or in the interconnect between two circuits or systems.

BLOG: (Slang term for a Weblog) A blog is a person journal that can be accessed publicly and allow people to comment on the previously posted comments. When someone posts a comment to a blog this is called “blogging”. The person that owns the blog is called a “blogger”. Most typically, blogs are updated on a daily basis and use the most basic of formats so that a person with very little background in computing can easily figure out how the blogging system works.

BLU RAY: Also known as Blu-ray Disc. This is an optical disc format that was developed to enable recording, playback, and rewriting of high-definition (HD) video. This technology has a storage capacity far greater than that of traditional DVDs. A single-layer disc can hold up to 25GB while a dual-layer disc can hold up to 50GB. DVD disc technologies use a red laser to read and write data. Blu-ray uses a blue-violet laser (hence the name). The benefit of the blue-violet laser over the red laser is its ability to focus the laser spot with greater precision because of its shorter wavelength.

BLUETOOTH: Radio technology that connects electronic devices without using a cable. Data and voice can be exchanged at ranges of up to 10 meters without the need for devices to be lined up together.

BMP: (pronounced “bimp”): It is a Microsoft Windows image file made up of little dots.

BOOLEAN ALGEBRA: Named after George Boole, a 19th century English mathematician, who first formulated theorems that included a mathematical analysis of the laws of human logic. It uses algebraic-like notation to describe the interaction of variables having only two states: “true” and “false”. In electronics, the states are often referred to as “1” and “0” or, “high” and “low”.

BOOTSTRAP (BOOT): A software program for initiating the operation of a computer. The function of the program is to set up the input and output (I/O) devices and load the OPERATING SYSTEM from a disk, cassette, or built-in READ ONLY MEMORY (ROM).

BOOT: To start up a computer. Cold boot—restarting computer after having turned off the power. Warm boot—restarting computer without having turned off the power.

BREAKPOINT: Location of a place in a program where program execution can be stopped to permit a visual test, printing, or other performance analyses.

BROWSER: User’s software program for viewing & browsing information on the Internet. Software that enables users to browse through the cyberspace of the World Wide Web. Netscape Navigator and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer are the two primary Web browsers today.

BUBBLE MEMORY: A high-density memory medium upon which a magnetic film is grown on a gadolinium-gallium garnet substrate. A small permanent magnet is mounted inside its package, perpendicular to the surface of the substrate. When an external magnetic field is created with an external coil, magnetic “bubble” domains are formed on the internal magnetic film which represent patterns of “1s”. The absence of magnetic bubbles will represent patterns of “0s”.

BUFFER: The buffer is a section of the computer where data is stored before being used. This buffering allows time for an application to fix differences in bit rates among other things. It creates a space of time for compensation.

BUNDLED: A term describing a computer system that includes all necessary hardware and software that will allow the system to operate as advertised.

BUS (BUSS): There are wires between all the parts of your computer. There is a wire from the memory to the brain, and from the brain to the printer, etc., etc. Those wires are called busses. They differ from one another by the amount of data they will transfer at one time.

BUS CONTROLLER: A circuit that generates commands and control signals for sequencing and timing of the data transmitted on a bus.

BURST: Most people know this from “pipeline burst cache.” Burst means to send data in a large package all at one time rather than small bits over a longer time.

BUG: A malfunction due to an error in the program or a defect in the equipment. 
BYTE: A byte is a computer data transfer or data storage measurement. One byte equals 8 bits.