 |
 |
| |
Glossary
of Software Development |
| |
|
| |
AutoSave and Backups / Partitioning
and Booting |
| |
|
| |
Assembly
- BIOS - Binary Programs
- Disassembly - Instructions
(Processor) |
| |
|
| |
Assembly
- A language used to write software programs. It has a one-to-one
relationship with specific processor instructions. Most other computer
languages are considered higher-level, such as C and C++. These often
have a little or no clear connection to a specific processor. Higher
level languages are often easier to understand and write, but often
at the cost of performance and binary compactness. |
| |
|
| |
BIOS
- Basic Input/Output System - The BIOS is a collection of small programs
that allows programs to converse with the hardware of the PC. Normally
this includes support for the keyboard, hard disk, diskette drive,
timers, simple video, serial ports, and other parts of a standard
PC.
For example, the keyboard interface inside the PC is often quite different
from system to system. The BIOS provides a common layer of access
to the different types of hardware used. A program that looks at the
keyboard through the BIOS code, does not need to be concerned with
different hardware implementations. |
| |
|
| |
Binary
Programs - These are the result of the assembly process on source
code to create a file that will run on a specific computer family.
An assembly or C source code file, for example, is converted by various
tools, such as a compiler, to end up with a binary file. Binary programs,
on the PC, typically have an extension of EXE, COM, or SYS. Windows
binary programs commonly use the extensions EXE, DLL, and VXD. |
| |
|
| |
Disassembly
- This is the process of converting a binary program, such as an EXE
program file, back into assembly language. All DOS and Windows operating
systems include a crude disassembler in the DEBUG utility. Sourcer
is an advanced disassembler that adds comments and simulates the code
to construct a listing closer to what an assembly programmer might
write. |
| |
|
| |
Instructions
(Processor) - Every processor has a list of elemental instructions
to perform various tasks. These are often very simple, such as add
two integer numbers together, or jump to a specific code location.
In assembly language, a programmer will create a list of these instructions
to have the processor perform some task. |
| |
|
| |
 |
| |
|
|
 |
|
