Assembly Language
)A programming language that is once removed from a computer’s machine language. Machine languages consist entirely of numbers and are almost impossible for humans to read and write. Assembly languages have the same structure and set of commands as machine languages, but they enable a programmer to use namesinstead of numbers.
Each type of CPU has its own machine language and assembly language, so an assembly language program written for one type of CPU won’t run on another. In the early days of programming, all programs were written in assembly language. Now, most programs are written in a high-level language such as FORTRAN or C. Programmers still use assembly language when speed is essential or when they need to perform an operation that isn’t possible in a high-level language.
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- assign
To give a value to a variable. In programming, you assign a value to a variable with a special symbol called an assignment operator. In many languages, the assignment operator is the equal sign (=). For example, the following C language statement assigns the value 5 to the variable x: x = 5 Such a […]
- Assistive Technology
Assistive technology (AT) is a generic term used to refer to a group of software or hardware devices by which people with disabilities can access computers. They can be specially developed and marketed devices or off-the-shelf products that have been modified. Assistive technology can include devices such as alternate keyboards and mice, voice recognition software, […]
- associate
(1) To link a certain type of file to a specific application. In MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows environments, the file’s type is specified by its three-character extension. For example, the.DOC extension identifies Microsoft Word documents. Once a file type has been associated with an application, selecting any file of that type automatically starts its associated […]
- associate program
Synonymous with affiliate program.
- asterisk
(1) Also called a star, a punctuation mark denoted by a 5- or 6-pointed snowflake shape (*). In many operating systems and applications, the asterisk is used as a wildcard symbol to represent any string of characters. (2) When capitalized as , an open source PBX daemon that runs on Linux. Asterisk is a complete […]