Basic Computer Terminology- C

C

Card: A printed circuit board that adds some feature to a computer.

Cartridge drive: A storage device, like a hard drive, in which the medium is a cartridge that can be removed.

CD-ROM: An acronym for Compact Disc Read-Only Memory.

Chooser: A desk accessory used to select a printer, or other external device, or to log onto a network.

Clipboard: A portion of memory where the Mac temporarily stores information. Called a Copy Buffer in many PC applications because it is used to hold information which is to be moved, as in word processing where text is "cut" and then "pasted".

Clock Rate (MHz): The instruction processing speed of a computer measured in millions of cycles per second (i.e., 200 MHz).

Command: The act of giving an instruction to your Mac either by menu choice or keystroke.

Command (Apple) key: A modifier key, the Command key used in conjunction with another keystroke to active some function on the Mac.

Compiler: A program the converts programming code into a form that can be used by a computer.

Compression: It is a technique that reduces the size of a saved file by elimination or encoding redundancies (i.e., JPEG, MPEG, LZW etc.)

Control key: Seldom used modifier key on the Mac.

Control panel: A program that allows you to change settings in a program or change the way a Mac looks and/or behaves.

CPU: The Central Processing Unit. The processing chip that is the "brains" of a computer.

Crash: It is a system malfunction in which the computer stops working and has to be restarted.

Click: To select an object by pressing the mouse button when the cursor is

pointing to the required menu option, icon or hypertext link.

Close: To close a window that has been opened for viewing and / or editing.

Crash: Your computer or application no longer works correctly and so you "loose" all the work you've done since the last time you saved.

Creating a File Storing data as a file with an assigned file name that is unique within the directory it resides in.

Cursor: The pointer, usually arrow or cross shaped, which is controlled by the mouse.

C: A programming language named because Dennis Ritchie improved on the B language and called it New B. He later called it C. (See also D).

C++: An object-oriented programming language and a successor to the C

programming language.

C++ creator Bjarne Stroustrup called his new language "C with Classes" and then "new C". Because of which the original C began to be called "old C" which was considered insulting to the C community. At this time Rick Mascitti suggested the name C++ as a successor to C. In C the '++' operator increments the value of the variable it is appended to, thus C++ would increment the value of C.

COBOL: Common Business Oriented Language

Cookie: A packet of information that travels between a browser and the web server.

The term was coined by web browser programmer Lou Montulli after the term "magic cookies" used by Unix programmers.

CSV: The comma-separated values file format is a set of file formats used to store tabular data in which numbers and text are stored in plain textual form that can be read in a text editor.

Cell: The intersection of each row and column in a spreadsheet. Example: Cell B5, Cell A202

Cell range: A continuous group of connected cells in a spreadsheet

Clip art: Drawings you can add to your documents, including cartoons, maps, symbols, and flags. Clip art comes with some programs or can be purchased separately.

Communication Software: It provides the tools for connecting one computer with another to enable sending and receiving information and sharing files and resources.

Compact Disc: A disc on which a laser has digitally recorded information such as audio, video or computer data is called Compact Disc.

Copy: To make an exact duplicate of information in your document, so you can place the copy in another location of your document.

Copyright Laws: Law that exist to protect those who create a new idea or product