Glossary Of Terms

RAM:

Random-access memory (RAM /ræm/) is a form of computer data storage. A random-access memory device allows data items to be read and written in roughly the same amount of time regardless of the order in which data items are accessed.[1] In contrast, with other direct-access data storage media such as hard disks, CD-RWs, DVD-RWs and the older drum memory, the time required to read and write data items varies significantly depending on their physical locations on the recording medium, due to mechanical limitations such as media rotation speeds and arm movement delays.

“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Random-access_memory”

CPU:

A central processing unit (CPU) (formerly also referred to as a central processor unit[1]) is the hardware within a computer that carries out the instructions of a computer program by performing the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The term has been in use in the computer industry at least since the early 1960s.[2] The form, design, and implementation of CPUs have changed over the course of their history, but their fundamental operation remains much the same.

“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cpu”

Graphics Processor:

GeForce 6600GT (NV43) GPU

A graphics processing unit (GPU), also occasionally called visual processing unit (VPU), is a specialized electronic circuit designed to rapidly manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display. GPUs are used in embedded systems, mobile phones, personal computers, workstations, and game consoles. Modern GPUs are very efficient at manipulating computer graphics, and their highly parallel structure makes them more effective than general-purpose CPUs for algorithms where processing of large blocks of data is done in parallel. In a personal computer, a GPU can be present on a video card, or it can be on the motherboard or—in certain CPUs—on the CPU die

“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphics_processing_unit”

Video Display/Output ( LCD, Monochrome, Colour):

2-dimensional displays that cover a full area (usually a rectangle) are also called video displays, since it's the main modality of presenting video.

“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_display#video_display”

Sound/Audio:

Digital audio is technology that can be used to record, store, generate, manipulate, and reproduce sound using audio signals encoded in digital form. Following significant advances in digital audio technology during the 1970s, it rapidly replaced analog audio technology in most areas of sound production, sound engineering and telecommunications.

“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_audio”

Storage Media:

A data storage device is a device for recording (storing) information (data). Recording can be done using virtually any form of energy, spanning from manual muscle power in handwriting, to acoustic vibrations in phonographic recording, to electromagnetic energy modulating magnetic tape and optical discs.

“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storage_media”

Power Supply:

A power supply is an electronic device that supplies electric power to an electrical load. The primary function of a power supply is to convert one form of electrical energy to another and, as a result, power supplies are sometimes referred to as electric power converters. Some power supplies are discrete, stand-alone devices, whereas others are built into larger devices along with their loads. Examples of the latter include power supplies found in desktop computers and consumer electronics devices.

“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_supply”

Software Kernel (operating system):

In computing, the kernel is a computer program that manages input/output requests from software and translates them into data processing instructions for the central processing unit and other electronic components of a computer. The kernel is a fundamental part of a modern computer's operating system.

“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernel_(operating_system)”

HCI:

Short for human-computer Interaction, a discipline concerned with the study, design, construction and implementation of human-centric interactive computer systems. A user interface, such as a GUI, is how a human interacts with a computer, and HCI goes beyond designing screens and menus that are easier to use and studies the reasoning behind building specific functionality into computers and the long-term effects that systems will have on humans.

“http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/H/HCI.html”

LAN:

A local area network (LAN) is a computer network that interconnects computers within a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, or office building, using network media.[1] The defining characteristics of LANs, in contrast to wide area networks (WANs), include their smaller geographic area, and non-inclusion of leased telecommunication lines.

“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LAN”

GPRS:

General packet radio service (GPRS) is a packet oriented mobile data service on the 2G and 3G cellular communication system's global system for mobile communications (GSM). GPRS was originally standardized by European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) in response to the earlier CDPD and i-mode packet-switched cellular technologies. It is now maintained by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project

“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gprs”

WAP:

In computer networking, a wireless Access Point (AP) is a device that allows wireless devices to connect to a wired network using Wi-Fi, or related standards. The AP usually connects to a router (via a wired network) as a standalone device, but it can also be an integral component of the router itself.

“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_access_point”

Cache:

A CPU cache is a cache used by the central processing unit (CPU) of a computer to reduce the average time to access memory. The cache is a smaller, faster memory which stores copies of the data from frequently used main memory locations. Most CPUs have different independent caches, including instruction and data caches, where the data cache is usually organized as a hierarchy of more cache levels

“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPU_cache”

MCP (Media Communications Processor):

The nForce is a motherboard chipset created by Nvidia for AMD Athlon and Duron microprocessors. The chipset shipped in 3 varieties; 220, 415, and 420. 220 and 420 are very similar with each having the integrated GPU, but the 220 only has a single channel of memory available whereas 420 has the 128-bit TwinBank design. The 415 variant again has the dual-channel memory interface, but has no integrated graphics.“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_Communications_Processor”

2D v 3D graphics processing:

A 2D graphics processor will only process, images and/or videos of low quality and low quality games

While 3D processor will do almost anything, including all the functions of a 3D processor, with upgraded capitates.

Subscription TV:

Subscription TV, is where you pay a certain amount of money every week or month so you can watch extra TV stations like Sky, Virgin Media and 3. If you do not pay you will have around 160 channels instead of the thousands, many TV’s come with some free channels anyway.

ETV (Enhanced Television):

Enhanced TV (ETV) is one example of interactive TV. It is used in particular in reference to Two-Screen Solutions TV + PC services. Generally users of these ETV services have their TV and computer in the same room, and navigate their web browser to a particular program-specific Web site that is synchronized to the live program by the broadcast TV network. Alternatively, some computers have TV tuner cards, or some television receivers, for example those with Google TV, offer web browsers.“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_TV”

API (Graphical and Sound):

In computer programming, an application programming interface (API) specifies how some software components should interact with each other.

In addition to accessing databases or computer hardware, such as hard disk drives or video cards, an API can be used to ease the work of programming graphical user interface components. In practice, many times an API comes in the form of a library that includes specifications for routines, data structures, object classes, and variables. In some other cases, notably for SOAP and REST services, an API comes as just a specification of remote calls exposed to the API consumers.

“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/API”

Interpreted programming languages for games:

An interpreted language is a programming language for which most of its implementations execute instructions directly, without previously compiling a program into machine-language instructions. The interpreter executes the program directly, translating each statement into a sequence of one or more subroutines already compiled into machine code.

The terms "interpreted language" and Compiled language are not well defined because, in theory, any programming language can be both interpreted or compiled. In modern programing language implementation it is increasingly popular for a platform to provide both options.

“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpreted_language”

Compiled programming languages for games:

A compiled language is a programming language whose implementations are typically compilers (translators that generate machine code from source code), and not interpreters (step-by-step executors of source code, where no pre-runtime translation takes place).

The term is somewhat vague; in principle any language can be implemented with a compiler or with an interpreter. A combination of both solutions is also increasingly common: a compiler can translate the source code into some intermediate form (often called bytecode), which is then passed to an interpreter which executes it.

“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compiled_language”

Object-oriented programming:

Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a programming paradigm that represents the concept of "objects" that have data fields (attributes that describe the object) and associated procedures known as methods. Objects, which are usually instances of classes, are used to interact with one another to design applications and computer programs.[1][2] C++, Objective-C, Smalltalk, Delphi, Java, C#, Perl, Python, Ruby and PHP are examples of object-oriented programming languages.

“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object-oriented_programming”

Scripting Languages for Games:

Many games use scripting languages for animation and game play logic. This has the advantage of quick prototyping, and better organization of code. Almost every non-trivial game engine uses some scripting language.

There are many scripting languages suited to such a task. Lua is perhaps the most popular game scripting language. Other choices include: AngelScript, GameMonkey, Io, Pawn, Squirrel, and

Scheme. Sometimes heavy-weight languages are also used, like Python or Ruby. These languages are usually quite a bit harder to embed, and aren’t know for their speed.

“http://codeplea.com/game-scripting-languages”