The New Hacker's Dictionary
.pdf1031
See [12893]swap. See also [12894]page out.
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Node:swizzle, Next:[12895]sync, Previous:[12896]swapped out, Up:[12897]= S =
swizzle v.
To convert external names, array indices, or references within a data structure into address pointers when the data structure is brought into main memory from external storage (also called `pointer swizzling'); this may be done for speed in chasing references or to simplify code (e.g., by turning lots of name lookups into pointer dereferences). The converse operation is sometimes termed `unswizzling'. See also [12898]snap.
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Node:sync, Next:[12899]syntactic salt, Previous:[12900]swizzle, Up:[12901]= S =
sync /sink/ n., vi.
(var. `synch') 1. To synchronize, to bring into synchronization. 2. [techspeak] To force all pending I/O to the disk; see [12902]flush, sense 2. 3. More generally, to force a number of competing processes or agents to a state that would be `safe' if the system were to crash; thus, to checkpoint (in the database-theory sense).
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Node:syntactic salt, Next:[12903]syntactic sugar, Previous:[12904]sync, Up:[12905]= S =
syntactic salt n.
1032
The opposite of [12906]syntactic sugar, a feature designed to make it harder to write bad code. Specifically, syntactic salt is a hoop the programmer must jump through just to prove that he knows what's going on, rather than to express a program action. Some programmers consider required type declarations to be syntactic salt. A requirement to write end if, end while, end do, etc. to terminate the last block controlled by a control construct (as opposed to just end) would definitely be syntactic salt. Syntactic salt is like the real thing in that it tends to raise hackers' blood pressures in an unhealthy way. Compare [12907]candygrammar.
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Node:syntactic sugar, Next:[12908]sys-frog, Previous:[12909]syntactic salt, Up:[12910]= S =
syntactic sugar n.
[coined by Peter Landin] Features added to a language or other formalism to make it `sweeter' for humans, features which do not affect the expressiveness of the formalism (compare [12911]chrome). Used esp. when there is an obvious and trivial translation of the `sugar' feature into other constructs already present in the notation. C's a[i] notation is syntactic sugar for *(a + i). "Syntactic sugar causes cancer of the semicolon." -- Alan Perlis.
The variants `syntactic saccharin' and `syntactic syrup' are also recorded. These denote something even more gratuitous, in that syntactic sugar serves a purpose (making something more acceptable to humans), but syntactic saccharin or syrup serve no purpose at all. Compare [12912]candygrammar, [12913]syntactic salt.
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Node:sys-frog, Next:[12914]sysadmin, Previous:[12915]syntactic sugar, Up:[12916]= S =
1033
sys-frog /sis'frog/ n.
[the PLATO system] Playful variant of `sysprog', which is in turn short for `systems programmer'.
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Node:sysadmin, Next:[12917]sysape, Previous:[12918]sys-frog,
Up:[12919]= S =
sysadmin /sis'ad-min/ n.
Common contraction of `system admin'; see [12920]admin.
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Node:sysape, Next:[12921]sysop, Previous:[12922]sysadmin, Up:[12923]=
S =
sysape /sys'ayp/ n.
A rather derogatory term for a computer operator; a play on [12924]sysop common at sites that use the banana hierarchy of problem complexity (see [12925]one-banana problem).
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Node:sysop, Next:[12926]system, Previous:[12927]sysape, Up:[12928]= S
=
sysop /sis'op/ n.
[esp. in the BBS world] The operator (and usually the owner) of a bulletin-board system. A common neophyte mistake on [12929]FidoNet is to address a message to `sysop' in an international [12930]echo, thus sending it to hundreds of sysops around the world.
1034
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Node:system, Next:[12931]systems jock, Previous:[12932]sysop, Up:[12933]= S =
system n.
1. The supervisor program or OS on a computer. 2. The entire computer system, including input/output devices, the supervisor program or OS, and possibly other software. 3. Any large-scale program. 4. Any method or algorithm. 5. `System hacker': one who hacks the system (in senses 1 and 2 only; for sense 3 one mentions the particular program: e.g., `LISP hacker')
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Node:systems jock, Next:[12934]system mangler, Previous:[12935]system, Up:[12936]= S =
systems jock n.
See [12937]jock, sense 2.
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Node:system mangler, Next:[12938]SysVile, Previous:[12939]systems jock, Up:[12940]= S =
system mangler n.
Humorous synonym for `system manager', poss. from the fact that one major IBM OS had a [12941]root account called SYSMANGR. Refers specifically to a systems programmer in charge of administration, software maintenance, and updates at some site. Unlike [12942]admin, this term emphasizes the technical end of the skills involved.
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1035
Node:SysVile, Next:[12943]T, Previous:[12944]system mangler, Up:[12945]= S =
SysVile /sis-vi:l'/ n.
See [12946]Missed'em-five.
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Node:= T =, Next:[12947]= U =, Previous:[12948]= S =, Up:[12949]The Jargon Lexicon
= T =
*[12950]T:
*[12951]tail recursion:
*[12952]talk mode:
*[12953]talker system:
*[12954]tall card:
*[12955]tanked:
*[12956]TANSTAAFL:
*[12957]tape monkey:
*[12958]tar and feather:
*[12959]tarball:
*[12960]tardegy:
1036
*[12961]taste:
*[12962]tayste:
*[12963]TCB:
*[12964]TCP/IP:
*[12965]TechRef:
*[12966]TECO:
*[12967]tee:
*[12968]teergrube:
*[12969]teledildonics:
*[12970]Telerat:
*[12971]TELNET:
*[12972]ten-finger interface:
*[12973]tense:
*[12974]tentacle:
*[12975]tenured graduate student:
*[12976]tera-:
*[12977]teraflop club:
*[12978]terminak:
1037
*[12979]terminal brain death:
*[12980]terminal illness:
*[12981]terminal junkie:
*[12982]terpri:
*[12983]test:
*[12984]TeX:
*[12985]text:
*[12986]thanks in advance:
*[12987]That's not a bug that's a feature!:
*[12988]the literature:
*[12989]the network:
*[12990]the X that can be Y is not the true X:
*[12991]theology:
*[12992]theory:
*[12993]thinko:
*[12994]This can't happen:
*[12995]This time for sure!:
*[12996]thrash:
1038
*[12997]thread:
*[12998]three-finger salute:
*[12999]throwaway account:
*[13000]thud:
*[13001]thumb:
*[13002]thundering herd problem:
*[13003]thunk:
*[13004]tick:
*[13005]tick-list features:
*[13006]tickle a bug:
*[13007]tiger team:
*[13008]time bomb:
*[13009]time sink:
*[13010]time T:
*[13011]times-or-divided-by:
*[13012]TINC:
*[13013]Tinkerbell program:
*[13014]TINLC:
1039
*[13015]tip of the ice-cube:
*[13016]tired iron:
*[13017]tits on a keyboard:
*[13018]TLA:
*[13019](TM):
*[13020]TMRC:
*[13021]TMRCie:
*[13022]TMTOWTDI:
*[13023]to a first approximation:
*[13024]to a zeroth approximation:
*[13025]toad:
*[13026]toast:
*[13027]toaster:
*[13028]toeprint:
*[13029]toggle:
*[13030]tool:
*[13031]toolsmith:
*[13032]toor:
1040
*[13033]topic drift:
*[13034]topic group:
*[13035]TOPS-10:
*[13036]TOPS-20:
*[13037]tourist:
*[13038]tourist information:
*[13039]touristic:
*[13040]toy:
*[13041]toy language:
*[13042]toy problem:
*[13043]toy program:
*[13044]trampoline:
*[13045]trap:
*[13046]trap door:
*[13047]trash:
*[13048]trawl:
*[13049]tree-killer:
*[13050]treeware: