Jargon File

Jargon File

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umber-crunching n. [common] Computations of a numerical nature, esp.
hose that make extensive use of floating-point numbers....
umbers n. [scientific computation] Output of a computation that may not be significant results but at least indicate that the program is running.
May be used to placate management, grant ...
NUXI problem /nuk'see pro'bl*m/ n. Refers to the problem of transferring data between machines with differing byte-order.
The string `UNIX' might look like `NUXI' on a machine with a diff...
ybble /nib'l/ (alt. `nibble') n. [from v. `nibble' by analogy with `bite' =&g
`byte'] Four bits; one hex digit; a half-byte....
yetwork /nyet'werk/ n. [from Russian `nyet' = no] A network, when it is acting flaky or is down.
Compare notwork....
Ob- /ob/ pref. Obligatory. A piece of netiquette acknowledging that the author has been straying from the newsgroup's charter topic.
For example, if a posting in alt.sex is a response to...
Obfuscated C Contest n. (in full, the `International Obfuscated C Code Contest', or IOCCC) An annual contest run since 1984 over Usenet by Landon Curt Noll and friends.
The overall winne...
obi-wan error /oh'bee-won` er'*r/ n. [RPI, from `off-by-one' and the Obi-Wan Kenobi character in "Star Wars"] A loop of some sort in which the index is off by 1.
Common when the index sho...
Objectionable-C n.
obscure adj. Used in an exaggeration of its normal meaning, to imply total incomprehensibility.
The reason for that last crash is obscure." "The find(1) command's syntax is obscure!" T...

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