|
|
Java Glossary
- accessor method
- A public method defined in a bean that reads or
writes the value of a property.
- ActiveX
- A family of technologies developed by Microsoft to combine
computing ability with Internet connectivity.
- ActiveX control
- A software module with OLE capabilities that can
easily be embedded in Web pages or programs.
- anchor
- A part of a hypertext document that is either the source or
destination of a hypertext link. A link can extend from an anchor to another
document, or from another document to an anchor. When anchors are the starting
points of these links, they are typically highlighted or otherwise identified
in the hypertext browser as hotspots.
- API
- Application Programming Interface. The set of Java packages and
classes--included in the Java Development Kit (JDK)--that programmers use
to create applets.
- applet
- A Java program that can be included in an HTML page with the
APPLET element and observed in a Java-enabled browser.
- application (Java)
- A computer program, written in Java, that executes
independently of a Java-enabled browser through the Java interpreter included
in the Java Development Kit.
- ASCII
- American Standard Code for Information Interchange. A 7-bit
character code that can represent 128 characters, some of which are control
characters used for communications control and cannot be printed.
- attribute
- A property of an HTML element, specified in the start tag of
the element. The attribute list of the APPLET element is used to identify the
location of applet source code (with the Codebase attribute) and the name of
the Java class (with the Code attribute).
- bean
- A compact, portable, reusable, serializable, Java software component
that includes support for automatic integration with visual application builder tools.
- block (Java)
- The code between matching curly braces { and }.
- boolean
- A data type that has a value of true or false.
- bound property
- A JavaBeans property that provides notifications to an
interested party based on changes in its value.
- browser
- A software program used to observe the Web. Also a synonym for
a Web client.
- bytecode
- The machine-readable code created as the result of compiling a
Java language source file. This is the code distributed across the network to
run an applet. Bytecodes are architecture neutral; the Java-capable browser
ported to a particular platform interprets them.
- cast (verb)
- To change an expression from one data type to another.
- CERN
- Centre European pour la Recherche Nucleaire. The European laboratory
for particle physics, where the World Wide Web originated in 1989.
(See http://www.cern.ch/.)
- CGI
- Common Gateway Interface. A standard for programs to interface
with Web servers.
- child class
- A subclass of a class (its parent class). It inherits
public and protected data and methods from the parent class.
- class
- A template for creating objects. A class defines data and
methods and is a unit of organization in a Java program. It can pass its
public data and methods to its subclasses.
- client
- A software program that requests information or services
from another software application (server) and displays this information
in a form required by its hardware platform.
- COM
- Component Object Model. A binary standard developed by Microsoft
for representing software components in a distributed environment.
- compiler
- A software program that translates human-readable source
code into machine-readable code.
- constrained property
- A JavaBeans property that allows an interested
party to perform a validation on a new property value before accepting the
modification.
- constructor
- A method named after its class. A constructor method is
invoked when an object of that class is made.
- container
- A context in which components can be grouped together and
interacted with.
- content handler
- A program loaded into the user's HotJava browser that
interprets files of a type defined by the Java programmer. The Java programmer
provides the necessary code for the user's HotJava browser to display and
interpret this special format.
- CORBA
- Common Object Request Broker Architecture. The industry standard
for representing distributed objects.
- CPU
- Central Processing Unit.
- cross-platform
- A term used to indicate that a piece of software can
run on any operating system platform.
- customizer
- A user interface that provides a specialized way of
visually editing bean properties.
- design patterns
- Rules used to determine information about a bean from
its reflected method names and signatures.
- digital signature
- A security technique that involves the attachment of
a code to a software component that identifies the vendor of the component.
- domain name
- The alphanumeric name for a computer host; this name is mapped
to the computer's numeric Internet Protocol (IP) address.
- DTD
- Document Type Definition. A specification for a markup language
such as HTML.
- element
- A unit of structure in an HTML document. Many elements have
start and stop tags; some have just a single tag, and some can contain
other elements.
- event
- Something that happens within a component that an application
or other component may want to know about and possibly react to.
- event adapter
- An intermediary placed between an event source and a
listener that provides additional event delivery behavior.
- event listener
- An applet, application, or JavaBeans component
capable of responding to events.
- event source
- A component capable of generating events.
- event state object
- An object used to store information associated
with a particular event.
- externalization mechanism
- A way to store and retrieve an object
through some type of customized, externally defined format.
- FTP
- File Transfer Protocol. A way to exchange files across a network.
- garbage collection
- The process by which memory allocated for objects
in a program is reclaimed. Java automatically performs this process.
- getter method
- An accessor method that reads, or gets, the value
of a property.
- Gopher
- A protocol for disseminating information on the Internet
using a system of menus.
- home page
- An entry page for access to a local web. Also, a page
that a person or company defines as a principal page, often containing
links to other pages containing personal or professional information.
- HotJava
- A Web browser designed to execute applets written in the
Java programming language.
- hotspot
- An area on a hypertext document that a user can click to
retrieve another resource or document.
- HTML
- HyperText Markup Language. The mechanism used to create Web
pages. Web browsers display these pages according to a browser-defined
rendering scheme.
- HTTP
- HyperText Transfer Protocol. The native protocol of the
Web, used to transfer hypertext documents.
- hypermedia
- Hypertext that includes multimedia: text, graphics,
images, sound, and video.
- hypertext
- Text that is not constrained to a single sequence for
observation; Web-based hypertext is not constrained to a single server
for creating meaning.
- imagemap
- A graphic inline image on an HTML page that potentially
connects each pixel or region of an image to a Web resource. The user
retrieves the resources by clicking the image.
- indexed properties
- A property that represents an array of values.
- inner class
- A Java class defined as a member of another class,
locally within a block of statements or anonymously within an expression.
- instance
- An object.
- interface
- A set of methods that Java classes can implement.
- Internet
- The cooperatively run, globally distributed collection of
computer networks that exchange information using the TCP/IP protocol suite.
- introspection
- The mechanism that exposes the functionality of
a component to the outside world.
- Java
- An object-oriented programming language for creating secure,
distributed, platform-independent applications.
- Java-enabled browser
- A World Wide Web browser that can display
Java applets.
- language-independent
- A term used to indicate that a piece of
software can be developed in any programming language.
- link
- A connection between one hypertext document and another.
- LiveConnect
- A technology included with Netscape Navigator that
provides a way of interconnecting different types of executable content.
- low-level events
- Events that correspond to a low-level input or
visual interface interaction.
- Matrix
- The set of all networks that can exchange electronic mail
either directly or through gateways--including the Internet, BITNET,
FidoNet, UUCP, and commercial services such as America Online, CompuServe,
Delphi, and Prodigy. This term was coined by John S. Quarterman in his book
The Matrix (Digital Press, 1990).
- method
- A function that can perform operations on data.
- MIME
- Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions. A specification for
multimedia document formats.
- Mosaic
- A graphical Web browser originally developed by the
National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). It now includes
a number of commercially licensed products.
- multicast event source
- An event source capable of generating
events for retrieval by any number of listeners.
- native methods
- Class methods declared in a Java class but
implemented in C.
- navigating
- The act of observing the content of the Web
for some purpose.
- NCSA
- National Center for Supercomputing Applications.
Developers and distributors of NCSA Mosaic at the University of
Illinois at Champaign-Urbana.
- Net
- An informal term for the Internet or a subset (or a
superset) of the Matrix in context. For example, a computerized
conference using e-mail may take place on a BITNET host that has
an Internet gateway, thus making the conference available to anyone
on either of these networks. In this case, the developer might say,
"Our conference will be available on the Net." Although you may even
consider discussion forums on commercial online services to be
"on the Net," these forums are not accessible from the Internet.
- newsgroup
- Internet message bases that provide forums for
exchanging ideas, information, and opinions.
- object
- A variable defined as being a particular class type.
An object has the data and methods as specified in the class definition.
- object-oriented
- A term specifying that a piece of software is
composed of objects, which are self-contained modules that contain
both data and procedures that act on the data.
- OLE
- Object Linking and Embedding. A COM-based technology
developed by Microsoft that provides a wide range of services,
including application automation, reusable controls, version management,
standardized drag-and-drop, documents, object linking and embedding,
and visual editing.
- OpenDoc
- An open, multiplatform, component software architecture
heavily backed by Apple and IBM.
- overload (verb)
- To use the same name for several items in
the same scope; Java methods can be overloaded.
- package (Java)
- A set of classes with a common high-level
function declared with the package keyword.
- packet
- A set of data handled as a unit in data transmission.
- page
- A single file of HyperText Markup Language.
- parameter (HTML)
- A name and value pair identified by the
Name and Value attributes of the PARAM element used inside an
APPLET element.
- parameter list (Java)
- The set of values passed to a method.
The definition of the method describes how these values are manipulated.
- parent class
- The originating class of a given subclass.
- persistence
- The means by which a component is stored to
and retrieved from a nonvolatile location such as a hard disk.
- platform
- A term referring to a particular operating system
and runtime environment, such as Windows 95 or Solaris.
- property
- A discrete, named attribute of a JavaBeans component
that determines its appearance and behavior.
- property editor
- A user interface that enables the visual
editing of a particular property type.
- property sheet
- A user interface containing property editors
for all the exported properties of a JavaBeans component.
- protocol handler
- A program loaded into the user's HotJava
browser that interprets a protocol. These protocols include standards
such as HTTP, as well as programmer-defined protocols.
- reflection
- The process of studying a bean to determine
information about its functionality and public facilities.
- RMI
- Remote Method Invocation. The execution of methods on
remote Java objects located on other Java virtual machines ...
and sometimes on different hosts.
- robot
- A term for software programs that automatically explore
the Web for a variety of purposes. Robots that collect resources for
later database queries by users are sometimes called spiders.
- scope
- The program segment in which a reference to a variable
is valid.
- semantic events
- Events that correspond to high-level visual
interface actions based on the semantics of a bean.
- serialization
- The process of storing or retrieving information
through a standard protocol.
- server
- A software application that provides information or
services based on requests from client programs.
- setter method
- An accessor method that writes, or sets,
the value of a property.
- SGML
- Standard Generalized Markup Language. A standard for
defining markup languages; HTML is an instance of SGML.
(See http://www.sgmlopen.org/.)
- site
- The file section of a computer on which Web documents
(or other documents served in another protocol) reside--for example,
a Web site, a Gopher site, or an FTP site.
- software component
- A piece of software isolated into a
discrete, easily reusable structure.
- Solaris
- Sun Microsystem's software platform for networked
applications. Solaris includes the operating system, SunOS.
- Sparc
- Scalable Processor ARChitecture. A microprocessor
architecture based on very efficient handling of a small set of
instructions. (See http://www.sparc.com/.)
- spider
- A software program that traverses the Web to collect
information about resources for later queries by users who want to
find resources. Major species of active spiders include Lycos and WebCrawler.
- surfing
- The act of navigating the Web, typically using
techniques for rapidly traversing content, to find subjectively
valuable resources.
- tag
- The code used to make up part of an HTML element.
For example, the TITLE element has a start tag, , and
an end tag, .
- TCP/IP
- Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol.
The set of protocols used for network communication on the Internet.
- unicast event source
- An event source capable of generating
events for retrieval by only one listener.
- Unicode
- A 16-bit character set that supports many world languages.
- URL
- Uniform Resource Locator. The scheme for addressing
on the Web. A URL identifies a resource on the Web.
- Usenet
- A system for disseminating asynchronous text
discussion among cooperating computer hosts. The Usenet discussion
space is divided into newsgroups, each concerned with a particular
topic or subtopic.
- versioning
- The inevitable tendency for an object to evolve
over time and gain new functionality.
- virtual machine
- The hypothetical microprocessor on which
Java bytecodes execute.
- visual component
- A type of software component that has a
visual representation requiring physical space on the display
surface of a parent application.
- VRML
- Virtual Reality Modeling Language. A specification
for three-dimensional rendering used in conjunction with Web browsers.
- web
- A set of hypertext pages that are considered a single
work. Typically, a single web is created by one author or cooperating
authors and is deployed on a single server with links to other servers ...
that is, it is a subset of the Web.
- Web
- World Wide Web. A hypertext information and communication
system popularly used on the Internet computer network with data
communications operating according to a client/server model.
Web clients (browsers) can access multiprotocol and hypermedia
information using an addressing scheme.
- Web server
- Software that provides services to Web clients.
- white paper
- A technical document outlining the goals
of a new technology.
- wizard
- A user interface that uses multiple-step
questionnaires to gather information from the user.
- WWW
- The World Wide Web.
- X
- X Window System. A windowing system that supports
graphical user interfaces to applications.
There have been 
visitors since 11/26/2003
|
