教之木铎电脑辞典

簡體傳統

1997.10.01

铎：古时宣布教令用的一种大铃，
金口金舌的叫金铎，金口木舌的叫木铎。
论语八佾篇：
『天下之无道也久矣，天将以夫子为木铎』。

电脑字典到底有什麽用？好像没有什麽用！这样吧，我问：『有电脑字典的资讯人请举手』。举起来的手恐怕是少之又少。

如果它没用，怎麽会有人愿意倾整个出版社之力去做这种字典编纂的劳苦工作呢？如果它有用，又怎麽拥有电脑字典的资讯人却竟是如此之少呢？
我自己一向没有电脑字典，也不觉得字典里头每个专有名词的三两句介绍有什麽大用。直到前阵子，我有一个构想，想在我的擅专领域（Windows 作业系统与程式设计），撰写一本专有名词与术语的深度导游，对这个领域里头的缩写字如 DDE、DLL、MFC、OLE、NE format、PE format，或是作业系统中的Context Switch、Linear Address、Virtual Machine...等等重要观念在 Windows 领域中的实作细节，做详尽的图解式介绍，每一个名词（可能）花上三两页说明，搭配图片，甚至程式码 -- 如果需要的话。说穿了，这其实就是一本电脑字典，但是横向很窄，纵向很深。

既然是本「电脑字典」，写作态度就要更加戒慎恐惧了。我不但需要大量的辅佐资料，同时也怕罗项目不够，所以托纽约的曾铭源为我买「所有买得到的电脑字典」。他为我买了三本。後来我在期刊广告上看到微软公司也出了一本电脑字典，以微软现今在电脑界的地位，这一本可不能漏！於是又补上一本。

一买就是四本！

我自己那本「有点像又不太像」的电脑字典，壮志未酬，但是翻阅电脑字典却也翻出了一些心得。有了这些字典，我才发现，它们其实还是有点作用的，起码一些我自己没有把握的名词，可以先确认後再使用，安心一些。

这一次就为大家介绍我手上的四本英文电脑字典。

做为一本字典，常常被拿来比较的大约就是它的涵盖范围，也就是说它收集的名词个数。不过由於电脑领域（含软硬体）实在太广，有些字典专注在硬体，有些字典专注在软体，有些字典专注在通讯，所以光以罗项目的多寡来比较，不见得理想。如果你说一本涵盖 1000 笔项目的硬体字典比一本涵盖 700 笔项目的软体字典好，那是拿橘子和苹果比，没个准！
除了涵盖范围（罗项目）之外，另一个重要的功能是交叉叁考能力。大凡称得上工具书者，这一点都应该做到。我所举的以下四本书，有的在交叉叁考名词上打星号，有的在名词之後加上 "See Also"，虽然没有超链结（hyperlink）那麽方便，差不多也够方便的了。

注：所谓超链结（hyperlink）是一种资料叁考的形式，表现在软体上就是：把交叉叁考的名词冠以特殊的颜色或字形，并让滑鼠移到该名词上就变化形状，於是当使用者在那个名词上按下滑鼠按钮，就会「跳」到那个名词的解释文字去。一般线上辅助系统都会具备 hyperlink 能力。

除了这些表面上可资比较的统计数字，其实真正代表电脑字典好坏与价值的，是它对各个名词的解释内容。正确性当然是第一要务，详细与否则因读者的程度与需求而异。选购一本电脑字典，最好的方法就是在书店里头翻阅查询你最熟悉的几个名词，看看它的解释深度符不符合你的需要。

为了让你对这四本电脑字典的体质有多一点的了解，我随机选择了几个名词，然後列出各本字典的解释。这几个名词是：

	作业系统类：Windows
	电脑图学类：dithering
	资料结构类：binary tree
	演算法类：Bresenham's algorithm
	程式语言类：Pascal
	物件导向类：object
	电脑硬体类：modem
	流行工具类：Delphi
	流行技术类：Video On Demand
	少见辞汇类：thunk or thunking
	字头缩写类：DLL（Dynamic Link Library）
	通讯类：remote procedure call（RPC）
	系统技术类：context switching
	大公司名称：Borland, Microsoft
	网际网路类：VRML

■Dictionary of Computing - 4rd edition

出版公司：OXFORD
出版年份：1996
页数：550 页（精装）
罗名词：6000 个
售价：US$ 45.00

oxford-dictionary.jpg (12844 bytes)

这本字典形象非常典雅，不论是纸张、印刷、深蓝色精装封面、烫金书名（你得把书皮外套拿掉後才看得到），在在曝露出高贵的质感。噢，价格也很高贵！

以下是它的表现（打 * 者表示对该名词另有收录）：

作业系统类：Windows

A ^*graphical user interface developed by Microsoft for the Intel family of microprocessors; it is also known as Microsoft Windows or MS Windows. Versions of Windows prior to ^*Windows 95 ran in conjunction with ^*MS-DOS and concealed many of the innate limitations of MS-DOS by allowing a form of virtual memory, unified management of peripheral devices, and multitasking. Windows permits easy transfer of information between applications, which may be running in separate ^*windows on the screen simultaneously. A style guide for application developers ensures that all Windows applications work in a similar way, markedly reducing the time taken to learn new applications.

电脑图学类：dithering

Reducing the effect of sharp edges in a picture when intensities jump from one discrete value to another. A small random intensity called dither noise is added to the picture intensities at each point. Ordered dithering uses intensities in a matrix that is laid down on the picture in a periodic manner.

资料结构类：binary tree

1. A ^*tree in which each node has at most two subtrees, called the left and right subtrees of the node. At ^*level h of a binary tree there is a maximum of 2^h nodes. A binary tree of ^*depth d thus has at most (2^d+1 - 1) nodes and one with n nodes has a minimum depth of log₂ⁿ.

The term binary tree is also used to describe any (ordered) tree of ^*degree two.

2. Any data structure used to represent a binary tree. Each node is usually represented by pointers to the left and right subtrees as well as to the data value associated with the node. The binary tree can then be represented as a pointer to its root node.

演算法类：Bresenham's algorithm

An algorithm that efficiently calculates the ^*pixel positions needed to define a specified line using only integer arithmetic.

程式语言类：Pascal

A programming language in common though decreasing use. Pascal was designed as a tool to assist the teaching of programming as a systematic discipline. To that end it incorporates the ^*control structures of ^*structured programming - sequence, selection, and repetition - and ^*data structures - arrays, records, files, sets, and user-defined types. It is an austere language, with a minimum of facilities, but what is provided is so well suited to its powerful than its more elaborate competitors.

Pascal was relatively easy to implement on a variety of machines since the Pascal compiler was written in Pascal. Used first as an educational tool, Pascal became a more-or-less standard language for the teaching of computer science. It spread into microcomputing in the form of the UCSD p-System : this is now little used, the dominant version in the micro world now being *Turbo Pascal. In 1982 ISO Standard Pascal was defined, but modern compilers, particularly Turbo Pascal, implement an extended an nonstandard version of the language.

物件导向类：object

A term loosely used to describe an identifiable component of a software system or design, now more commonly applied to a component that is in some sense selfcontained, having an identifiable boundary. In ^*object-oriented design, objects are the basic components from which the model of the system to be implemented is constructed.

In ^*object-oriented programming, the term has a more precise definition. An object is an instance of a component comprising data structures and procedures (called methods) for manipulating the structures. There methods are activated by messages sent to the object, and the interior structure of the object is entirely hidden from any other object (a property called encapsulation). Objects are derived from a template, and the collection of objects that are instances of a particular template are said to form a class. A particularly important feature is ^*inheritance, which allows new classes to be defined in terms of existing classes, inheriting some or all of the properties of an existing class. Some systems implement multiple inheritance, which allow a class to inherit properties from more than one parent class.

See also object-oriented architecture, object-oriented language.

电脑硬体类：modem

Short for modulator and demodulator. A device that can convert a digital bit stream into an analog signal suitable for transmission over some analog communication channel (^*modulation), and can convert incoming analog signals back into digital signals (^*demodulation). Modems are used to connect digital devices across analog transmission lines. Most modems are designed to match specific national or international standards so that data communication equipment from one manufacturer can talk to that of another.

Modems can be packaged in many ways : as ^*add-in cards or ^*PCMCIA cards allowing personal computers to communicate over ordinary phone lines, as small external units, or as rack-mounted sets for large applications requiring many simultaneous connections.

流行工具类：Delphi

未收录

流行技术类：Video On Demand

未收录

少见辞汇类：thunk or thunking

未收录

字头缩写类：DLL (dynamic link library)

Abbrev. for dynamic link library. A file of procedures residing on disk that is available to an executing program so that relevant procedures can be read into memory and executed at run time. The advantage is that the executables are smaller, the link libraries can be shared, and providing the interface remains unchanged, can be updated without recompiling the application. Although extra time is spent in disk input/output, ^*disk chching and faster disk subsystems make this a valuable technique. See also overlay.

通讯类：RPC (remote procedure call)

Abbrev. for remote procedure call.

remote procedure call (RPC) : A procedure call in which the actual execution of the body of the ^*procedure takes place on a physically distinct processor from that on which the procedure cal takes place. In general the system invoking the procedure call is separate from the one executing it. Further the two systems and the communication channel linking them are all liable to fail in the period between the start of the procedure call and the final completion of execution and return of any result from the processor executing the procedure body to that executing the procedure call.

These factors have given rise to a number of different proposals for the course of action to be followed in the event of one or other of the systems failing; essentially to have the procedure body executed either at least one (by ^*retry) or at most once. These proposals tend to reflect the different priorities attached to the effect on the total system in the event of part of it failing.

系统技术类：context switching

A general term covering the situation in which a ^*process initiates a new type of activity. Any process functions in some form of environment, which defines the currently valid ^*variables that the process can manipulate, and their actual values, including the “undefined” value in the case where a variable has been created but has as yet had no value assigned to it. These remarks apply equally if the process being considered is one that is being dealt with by a person rather than a machine. A context switch occurs when the environment for the currently active process is replaced by a new environment.

大公司名称：Borland, Microsoft

Borland : A US-based producer of PC software. Its best-known offerings are Quattro Pro (acquired by Novell in 1994) and Paradox; it also produces Turbo Pascal and similar development systems. In 19991 it bought Ashton-Tate and thus acquired dBASE.

Microsoft : The wunderkind of the software industry : the largest independent software producer in the world, founded by Bill Gates in 1982. Microsoft produces, among other products, ^*MS-DOS, ^*Windows, ^*Word, ^*Excel, ^*Access, ^*Visual Basic, and ^*Visual C++. As a software producer it is second only to IBM in terms of revenue and is ranked as number 19 by revenue in the list of the world＇ top IT companies (1993 figures)

网际网路类：VRML

未收录

总评：在电脑科学里头，比较基本教义的、传统的、理论的、古典的词汇，在这本书中获得的重视比较多些；时髦工业技术用语或hacker的词汇，收录比较少。整本字典的组织与营造，给人信心而专业的感觉，一如我所说，「洋溢着古典的芬芳」。

■Computer & Internet Dictionary - 6rd Edition

出版公司：QUE
出版年份：1995
页数：574 页（平装口袋型）
罗名词：??? 个
售价：US$ 14.99

这本书的学术味比较淡，应用性比较浓。连 VxD 都找得到。它的封面有一个副标题：

que-dictionary.jpg (16306 bytes)

这本书的学术味比较淡，应用面比较浓，连Win32的 VxD和 Registry都找得到。书中有不少关於应用软体的执行画面。它的封面有一个副标题，应该可以点出其特色：

Contains the Most Complete and Up-to-Date Definitions Including :

	Windows 95
	Windows NT
	The Internet
	Mac/PowerMac

也就是说，它相当贴近工业界。我们来看看它的表现：

作业系统类：Windows

See Microsoft Windows 95.

Microsoft Windows 95 : An operating system for Intel-based 80386DX, 486, and Pentium microprocessors. Windows 95 is designed for running Windows applications, including multimedia applications, in homes and offices. A completely redesigned graphical user interface (GUI) enhances ease of learning as well as day-to-day usability. Additional innovations include long file names, 32-bit disk and file systems, preemptive multitasking, improved handling of system resource problems and general protection faults (GPF), built-in support for the Microsoft Network and the Internet. Combining 16-bit and 32-bit source code to ensure reliable operation of existing 16-bit applications, Windows 95 is not a true 32-bit operating system (like OS/2 Warp or Microsoft's own Windows NT); nevertheless, users appreciate not having to upgrade their applications. For corporate environments, Windows 95 includes built-in network support, offering a consistent interface for accessing network resources on a variety of physical media. To aid in the often arduous task of installing new hardware components, Windows 95 incorporates Plug and Play capabilities, which allow nearly automatic installation and configuration of compatible accessories (such as sound cards and CD-ROM drives. See fig. M.3

电脑图学类：dithering

In color or grayscale printing and displays, the mingling of dots of several colors to produce what appears to be a new color. With dithering, you can combine 256 colors to produce what appears to be a continuously variable color palette, but at the cost of sacrificing resolution; the several colors of dots tend to be mingled in patterns rather than blended well.

资料结构类：binary tree

未收录

演算法类：Bresenham's algorithm

未收录

程式语言类：Pascal

A high-level, procedural programming language that encourages programmers to write well-structured, modular programs that take advantage of modern control structures and lack spaghetti code. Pascal has gained wide acceptance as a teaching and application development language, though most professional programmers prefer C or C++. Pascal is available in interpreted and compiled versions

A major disadvantage of Pascal is that its standard version (Standard Pascal) contains many shortcomings. The language's inventor, Nicklaus Wirth, has offered a new language, Modula-2, as a successor to Pascal, that fixes some of the language's problems, and Borland International's Turbo Pascal makes Pascal easy for personal computer owners to use. See BASIC and FORTRAN.

物件导向类：object

In object linking and embedding (OLE), a document or portion of a document that has been pasted into another document using the Paste Link, Paste Special, or Embed Object command. See dynamic object and static object.

电脑硬体类：modem

A device that converts the digital signals generated by the serial port to the modulated analog signals required for transmission over a telephone line and, likewise, transforms incoming analog signals to their digital equivalents. People frequently use modems to exchange programs and data with other computers or on-line information services.

The speed at which a modem (short for modulator / demodulator) transmits data is measured in units called bits per second, or bps (technically not the same as baud, although the terms are often used interchangeably). Modems come in various speeds and use various modulation protocols. Most 2400 bps modems use the V.22bis protocol, while 9600 bps modems use the V.32 protocol, 14,400 bps modems the V.32bis standard, and 28,800 bps modems use the V.34. Faster modems are usually backward compatible with slower ones.

Two common standards for error-correcting protocols eliminate errors attributable to noise and other glitches in the telephone system : MNP-4 and V.42. For data-compression, two standards predominate: V.42bis and MNP-5. See acoustic coupler, auto-dial/auto-answer modem, Bell 103A, Bell 212A, CCITT protocol, direct connect modem, dirty, echoplex, external modem, full duplex, half duplex, Hayes command set, Hayes-compatible modem, internal modem, MNP-4, MNP-5, reliable link, and Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter (UART).

流行工具类：Delphi

DELPHI : A full-service on-line information service, established in 1982 as an online encyclopedia. ┅ （不是我们想像中的 Borland Delphi）

流行技术类：Video On Demand

未收录

少见辞汇类：thunking

The means by which a 32-bit operating system, such as Microsoft Windows 95 or Operating System/2 (OS/2), communicates with a 16-bit application program. A computer system slows significantly when it must pause to thunk, which is why 32-bit application programs will soon become the norm.

字头缩写类：DLL

.DLL : The MS-DOS file name extension attached to a collection of library routines.

通讯类：remote procedure call (RPC)

未收录

系统技术类：context switching

Changing from one program to another without exiting either program. A multiple-loading program enables context switching

Unlike the true multitasking possible with Microsoft Windows 95 and DESQview, a multiple-loading program doesn't allow background programs to continue executing, but does allow you to switch rapidly from one program to another. When combined with a graphical user interface (GUI) and cut-and-paste facilities provided by a clipboard, context switching lets you move data rapidly and easily from one application to another. See multiple program loading.

大公司名称：Borland, Microsoft

未收录

网际网路类：VRML

未收录

总评：比较接近新新人类的风格，轻松、律动、激进。工业界新词汇收录比较多些，再加上少量软体执行硬拷画面，使得全书压迫感降低。口袋型大小，在「轻松」这一项目上再加10分（但必须超大型口袋才容纳得下）。

■Dictionary of PC Hardware and Data Communications Terms

出版公司：O'Reilly
出版年份：1996
页数：513 页（平装）
罗名词：900 个以上
售价：US$ 19.95

comm-dictionary.jpg (17252 bytes)

我对 O'Reilly 出版公司向来怀有一种特殊的敬意，因为他们愿意出版一些主题非常细微甚至非常奇怪的书籍，细到甚至连 Windows NT Backup & Restore，怪到甚至连 "sed & awk" 或是 "csh & tcsh" 他们都愿意出。诸君大概不知道什麽是 "sed & awk" 什麽又是 "csh & tcsh" 吧？呵呵，我也不甚清楚。这类主题还多咧：Progrmming Python、Exploring Expect、Learning The Bash Shell、Learn The Korn Shell、Learn GNU Emacs、Learn GNU Emacs Extensions、Applying RCS and SCCS...。

出好书的公司令人佩服；出好书又赚大钱的公司令人佩服又羡慕；出好书但赔钱的公司令人佩服又惋息；出好书但赔钱而却锲而不舍的公司，蠃得所有人的尊敬。

既然这是一本比较偏重硬体和通讯的电脑字典，我先前挑选的一些名词未收录进来的情况也就比较多些，不足为奇。我们来看看它的表现：

作业系统类：Windows

这本字典分别介绍了Windows 3.1，Windows 95和Windows NT。（先前数本字典也都是如此。）

电脑图学类：dithering

未收录

资料结构类：binary tree

未收录

演算法类：Bresenham's algorithm

未收录

程式语言类：Pascal

未收录

物件导向类：object

未收录

电脑硬体类：modem

要把这个字的全部解释抄录下来，就着实太辛苦些了。总共有将近三页的篇幅，图文并茂，介绍数据机各种协定的传输速率，传真机功能，压缩功能┅，非常深入。

流行工具类：Delphi

未收录

流行技术类：Video On Demand

未收录

少见辞汇类：thunk or thunking

未收录

字头缩写类：DLL

Software (executable code or data, such as icons or fonts) used by Microsoft＇s Windows and IBM＇s OS/2 to provide services (such as a LAN driver or a distributed filing system) to applications.

One memory-resident copy of the DLL can be simultaneously shared by all applications.

DLLs with only data are called resource-only DLLs.

DLLs may have (for example) a .dll, .exe, .drv, or .fon extension. They may have no extension. Some DLLs can be automatically loaded when needed by a program, and others (usually drivers) must be loaded at system startup.

See WinSock.（侯捷发问：奇怪，DLL 为什麽和 WinSock 有关？）

通讯类：remote procedure call (RPC)

A method of program-to-program communications, usually for implementing cross-platform distributed computing.

Generically, RPC is an inter-process communication API whose strength is communication between different computing platforms, using multiple protocol stacks simultaneously. Most often used with TCP/IP, in which there are (unfortunately) two incompatible standard RPC implements :

1. OSF＇s DCE

2. Sun＇s ONC+ (probably the more widely implemented of the two)

To an application program, RPCs are local procedure calls that happen to start processes on remote machines. Communication is synchronous (sometimes called blocking), in that the requester must wait for a response before continuing.

An alternative to this concept is called messaging. See API, DCE, Messaging, ONC, OSF, and Sun.

系统技术类：context switching

未收录

大公司名称：Borland, Microsoft

Microsoft : What can be said? Microsoft is big, hires enthusiastic programmers who work around the clock, and has a WWW server at http://www.microsoft.com

Borland : 未收录

网际网路类：VRML

A possible future extension of HTML to support simulation and modeling. See HTML.

在硬体和通讯方面，这本字典的表现很强，例如它以两页半的篇幅介绍T1，三页的篇幅介绍TCP/IP，三页的篇幅介绍UTP（Unshielded Twisted Pair），两页的篇幅介绍HTML，三页的篇幅介绍Enhanced IDE，四页半的篇幅介绍CATV┅。辞汇收录量虽少，但量少质精。

■Microsoft Press Computer Dictionary (3rd edition)

出版公司：Microsoft Press
出版年份：1997
页数： 539 页（平装）
罗名词： 7,600 个以上
售价：US$ 29.99 含光碟片一

ms-dictionary.jpg (18875 bytes)

如果你要一本贴近现代软体工业的电脑字典，那麽这一本应该会很吸引你的目光，因为它是由软体霸主微软公司麾下的 Microsoft Press 所编纂。不谈名头，事实上它的内涵还真是不错，图片的比例比前两本多许多，一些硬体设备，或软体执行画面，或甚至如 B-tree index structure、Bubble chart 的示意图都有。书附一张光碟片，是本书的电子版；我个人认为电子版没有什麽用，不过反正光碟片很薄，多这一张不碍事儿。

我们来瞧瞧它的表现。

作业系统类：Windows

An operating system introduced by Microsoft Corporation in 1983. Windows is a multitasking graphical user interface environment that runs on both MS-DOS-based computers (Windows and Windows for Workgroups) and as a self-contained operating system (Windows 95, Windows NT). Windows provides a standard interface based on drop-down menus, windowed regions on the screen, and a pointing device such as a mouse.

电脑图学类：dithering

A technique used in computer graphics to create the illusion of varying shades of gray on a monochrome display or printer, or additional colors on a color display or printer. Dithering relies on treating areas of an image as groups of dots that are colored in different patterns. Akin to the print images called halftones, dithering takes advantage of the eye＇s tendency to blur spots of different colors by averaging their effects and merging them into a single perceived shade or color. Depending on the ratio of black dots to white dots within a given area, the overall effect is of a particular shade of gray. Dithering is used to add realism to computer graphics and to soften jagged edges in curves and diagonal lines at low resolutions. See the illustration. See also aliasing, halftone. （含图解）

资料结构类：binary tree

In programming, a specific type of tree data structure in which each node has at most two subtrees, one left and one right. Binary trees are often used for sorting information; each node of the binary search tree contains a key, with values less than that key added to one subtree and values greater than that key added to the other. See the illustration. See also binary search, tree. （含图解）

演算法类：Bresenham's algorithm

未收录

程式语言类：Pascal

A concise procedural language designed between 1967 and 1971 by Niklaus Wirth. Pascal, a compiled, structured language built upon ALGOL, simplifies syntax while adding data types and structures such as subranges, enumerated data types, files, records, and sets. See also ALGOL, compiled language. Compare C.

物件导向类：object

1. Short for object code (machine-readable code). 2. In object-oriented programming, a variable comprising both routines and data that is treated as a discrete entity. See also abstract data type, module (definition 1), object-oriented programming. 3. In graphics, a distinct entity. For example, a bouncing ball might be an object in a graphics program.

电脑硬体类：modem

Short for modulator/demodulator. A communications device that enables a computer to transmit information over a standard telephone line. Because a computer is digital (works with discrete electrical signals representing binary 1 and binary 0) and a telephone line is analog (carries a signal that can have any of a large number of variations), modems are needed to convert digital to analog and vice versa. When transmitting, modems impose (modulate) a computer＇s digital signals onto a continuous carrier frequency on the telephone line. When receiving, modems sift out (demodulate) the information from the carrier and transfer it in digital form to the computer. Sophisticated modems are also capable of such functions as automatic dialing, answering, and redialing in addition to transmitting and receiving. Without appropriate communications software, however, modems cannot perform any useful work. See also baud rate.

流行工具类：Delphi

Delphi Information Service : An online information service and Internet access provider based in Boston. （不是我们想像中的 Borland Delphi）

流行技术类：Video On Demand

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少见辞汇类：thunk or thunking

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字头缩写类：DLL

A feature of the Microsoft Windows family of operating systems and OS/2 that allows executable routines to be stored separately as files with DLL extensions and to be loaded only when needed by a program. A dynamic-link library has several advantages. First it does not consume any memory until it is used. Second, because a dynamic-link library is separate file, a programmer can make corrections or improvements to only that module without affecting the operation of the calling program or any other dynamic-link library. Finally, a programmer can use the same dynamic-link library with other programs. Acronym : DLL.

通讯类：remote procedure call (RPC)

In programming, a call by one program to a second program on a remote system. The second program generally performs a task and returns the results of that task to the first program.

系统技术类：context switching

A type of multitasking; the act of turning the central processor＇s “attention” from one task to another, rather than allocating increments of time to each task in turn. See also multitasking, time slice.

大公司名称：Borland, Microsoft

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网际网路类：VRML

Acronym for Virtual Reality Modeling Language. A scene description language for creating 3-D interactive Web graphics similar to those found in some video games, allowing the user to “move around” within a graphic image and interact with objects. VRML, a subset of Silicon Graphics＇ Inventor File Format (ACII), was created by Mark Pesce and Tony Parisi in 1994. VRML files can be created in a text editor, although CAD packages, modeling and animation packages, and VRML authoring software are the tools prefered by most VRML authors. VRML files reside on an HTTP server; links to these files can be embedded in HTML documents, or users can access the VRML files directly. To view VRML Web pages, users need a VRML-enabled browser, such as WebSpace from Silicon Graphics, or a VRML plug-in for Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator. See also 3-D graphic, HTML document, HTTP server (definition 1).

■ 另类字典 The New Hacker's Dictionary

The New Hacker's Dictionary

出版公司：MIT Press
出版年份：1993
页数：505 页（平装）
罗名词：??? 个以上
售价：US$ 14.95

中规中榘的电脑字典之外，有一本满有趣的字典，离经叛道，名为The New Hacker's Dictionary，也值得提一提。这本字典收录有像这样的恐怖字眼：

RTFM：Acronym for "Read The Fucking Manual".

RTFB：Acronym for "Read The Fucking Binary". Used when neither documentation nor source for the problem at hand exists, and the only thing to dot is use some debugger or monitor and directly analyze the assembler or even the machine code. "No source for the buggy port driver? Aaargh! I hate proprietary operating systems, Time to RTFB."

RTFS：Acronym for "Read The Fucking Source". Variant form of RTFM, used when the problem at hand is not necessarily obvious and not answerable from the manuals -- or the manuals are not yet written and maybe never will be.

UTSL：On-line acronym for "Use the Source, Luke" (a pun on Obi-Wan Kenobi's "Use the Force, Luke!" in Star Wars) -- analogous to RTFS, but more polite. This is a common way of suggesting that someone would be better off reading the source code that supports whatever feature is causing confusion, rather than making yet another futile pass through the manuals, or broadcasting questions on USENET that haven't attracted wizards to answer them.

外国的 hacker 和台湾的 hacker 习惯用语当然不会一样，我们也感受不到他们的「幽默」。本国的 hackers 如果也编一本「黑客物语」，可能有卖点唷。

我向来鼓励我的学生，面对术语要用原文，总不要说：「我的视窗函式是一个回呼函式，你可以递送或张贴讯息给它」，应该说：「我的 window procedure 是一个 callback function，你可以 send 或 post 讯息给它」。因着这个缘故，对於原文专有名词，我鼓励大家多多接受并使用。

■ 给我报报

像电脑字典这麽工程浩大又意义非比寻常的东西，说实在，我不太敢看好国内的产品。国内没有一家电脑图书出版社愿意花大批人力以团队方式来做这样的书籍（成本与利益的考量，怪不得他们）。最近我看到BBS上热烈探讨一本新出版的电脑字典，名为「最新电脑辞典/ 峰」，很觉有趣，其内容简直到了「给我报报」的水准，可列入荒谬名人堂，特择之搏君一哂：