G l o s s a r y

Address

A number or name that identifies the location where information is stored in a computer’s memory.

Analog monitor

A monitor that generates, responds to, or acts upon analog data. Analog data is transmitted by varying the voltage levels in a continuous current.

Application program

A software program designed to perform a specific task, such as a word processing or spreadsheet program.

ASCII

American Standard Code for Information Interchange. A standardized coding system for representing characters, such as numbers, letters, and graphic symbols. An ASCII character occupies one byte of storage. Many different computers, printers, and programs can use files transmitted in ASCII code.

Asynchronous

A method of data transmission in which one machine sends data one character at a time to another machine at irregular intervals that do not need to be synchronized to a timing device.

AUTOEXEC.BAT file

The batch file that is executed automatically when you load MS-DOS. See also Batch file.

Glossary 1