D
DA: design automation
D/A: digital/analog
DAC: digital-analog converter; Design Automation Conference
DAG: directed acyclic graph; a data structure for representing computer graphics
daisy chain (n), daisy-chained (adj)
daisywheel
DAML: DARPA Agent Markup Language
DAML+OIL: DARPA Agent Markup Language + ontology inference layer; spell out on first use
*DARPA: US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
DASD: direct-access storage device
DASH: Design Aid Schematic Helpmate
data: Follow author preference for use as singular or plural, but maintain consistency within an article (unless context clearly demands inconsistency).
database
data-entry (adj): as in data-entry switch
data flow (n), data-flow (adj)
Data General: The Westboro, Mass.-based company’s products include Eclipse MV/8000, Eclipse MV/1000 superminicomputer, Eclipse S130, and GW/4000 graphics workstation.
data mining (n, adj)
data path, data set, data type; some publications use datapath, dataset, datatype
daughter: One of several family words used in computer-based relationships. Although preferred usage is the gender-neutral “child,” the term is legitimate; do not edit out.
Davic: Digital Audio Video Interactive Council
dB: decibels (40 dB)
dBase II, dBase III, dBase III+: database products produced by Ashton-Tate
DBMS: database management system; plural form is DBMSs
*DC: direct current
DCE: Distributed Computing Environment
DCFL: direct coupled field-effect transistor logic
DCOM: Distributed Component Object Model
DCT: discrete cosine transform
DDL: document-description language
DDN: Defense Data Network
DDN PMO: Defense Data Network Program Management Office
DEC: Use Digital Equipment Corp. on first reference in text; DEC or Digital is acceptable for subsequent references.
DEC 10: The DEC 10 is the same computer as the PDP-10. Digital Equipment Corp. changed the name to DEC 10 around 1973.
decimals: See the Numbers and Symbols section.
decision-maker (n), decision making (n), decision-making (adj)
DECnet: A Digital Equipment Corp. facilities’ network
DECsystem-10
DECUS: Digital Equipment Corp. Users Society; absorbed into Encompass, an HP users group
deep-submicron (adj)
degrees: spell out in text when used as a unit of measure; educational degrees: see academic degrees; use symbol for temperatures
Denelcor: a defunct company famous for making the HEP, a parallel processor no longer in production
denial-of-service (adj): abbreviation is DoS
depth buffer: see z-buffer
DES: Data Encryption Standard
design by contract (n)
desktop
device-independent (adj): capable of making I/O requests without regard for the characteristics of I/O equipment
DFM: design for manufacturability
DFT: discrete Fourier transform; design for testability
Dhrystone: a benchmark
dialog: as in dialog box
dialogue: a conversation. Be consistent regarding spelling if dialogue and dialog appear in proximity.
dial-up (adj)
Diffserv: differentiated services
Digital Equipment Corp.: spell out on first reference in text; use DEC or Digital for subsequent references
dimensions: Whether you spell out the term or use abbreviations, be consistent: 8 ft. x 5 ft. or eight feet by five feet. See the Numbers and Symbols section.
DIMM: dual inline memory module
DIP: dual in-line package; also, MiniDIP with no hyphen
disk: preferred, as in floppy disk; however, disc is the standard in optics, farming, and medical applications
display-list (adj)
Disspla: initial cap. only; product of Computer Associates Int’l
distributed computing system: A system in which storage and processing facilities are dispersed and loosely coupled by transmission media; also a system in which many processors perform a computation in parallel
DIVE: Distributed Interactive Virtual Environment
DLL: dynamic linked library
DMA: direct memory access
DNS: Domain Name System
doctorate: preferred over doctor’s degree
DoD: Use Department of Defense on first reference; consider using Defense Department instead; add US if context isn’t clear.
DoD-Std: Department of Defense standard; not the same as Mil-Std
DoE: Use Department of Energy on first reference; consider using Energy Department instead; add US if context isn’t clear.
DOF: degrees of freedom
DOI: digital object identifier
DoJ: Use Department of Justice on first reference; consider using Justice Department instead; add US if context isn’t clear.
DOM: document object model
*DOS: disk operating system
DoS: see denial-of-service
dot-com: Internet-based business
dot matrix printer: no hyphen
double-buffer (adj): as in a double-buffer scheme
double buffering
download (v)
downtime (n)
DPA attack: differential power analysis
dpi: dots per inch
DPMA: Data Processing Management Association
DPMI: DOS protected-mode interface
DRAM: dynamic RAM (pronounced “dee-ram”)
DRAM module: a group of dynamic RAM chips packaged together
DRM: digital rights management
*DSL: digital subscriber line
DSP: digital signal processor (chips); digital signal processing (applications, systems)
DSS: decision support system
DSSS: direct sequence spread spectrum
DTD: document type definition; an SGML term
DTF: dielectric thin film (filters)
DTR: data terminal ready
DUT: device under test
*DVD: digital video disc or digital versatile disc
DXF: data exchange file (format)
E.: “east” in addresses
e-: prefix denoting “electronic,” as in e-commerce, e-publishing. When using in an article title, capitalize the "e" but not the word that follows the hyphen, as in "E-commerce in Asia."
eBay
EBCDIC: extended binary-coded decimal-interchange code; compare with ASCII
ECC: error-correcting code
ECL: emitter-coupled logic
e-commerce: electronic commerce
E/D: enhancement/depletion mode
EDI: electronic data interchange
editor in chief (n), editor-in-chief (adj): Editor in Chief Bill Smith; Bill Smith, the magazine’s editor in chief; editor-in-chief position
EDSAC: Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator
EDVAC: Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer
Eeprom: electrically erasable programmable read-only memory
e.g.: exempli gratia; substitute such as or for example
EGA: extended graphics adapter or array; an IBM color-display standard allowing 16 colors
EIA: Electronic Industries Alliance
EIAJ: Electronic Industries Association of Japan
eigen-: prefix meaning “characteristic”
EISA: extended international standard architecture
Eispack: benchmark
EJB: Enterprise JavaBeans
E-JFET: n-channel enhancement mode junction field-effect transistor
e-learning
electron beam (n), electron-beam (adj)
ellipsis: See the Punctuation section or CMS 11.51-11.66.
e-mail: electronic mail; use curly brackets to list multiple persons at the same e-mail address, for example, {jsmith, pjones, abrown}@computer.org; some publications use the email format
EMI: electromagnetic interference
EMS: Expanded Memory Specification; a standard developed by Lotus Development, Intel, Microsoft, and AST Research for configuring and addressing memory above the MS-DOS direct-address 640-Kbyte limit. Also known as LIM EMS, from the companies’ names. AST became a development partner after the acronym was coined.
end-fire coupling
end point (n): two words except in geometric context; endpoint in a geometric context
end user (n), end-user (adj): the ultimate user or customer. Use just user unless distinguishing different types of users, such as testing user, support user. Consider substituting customer.
*ENIAC: Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer; an early-generation computer
Eprom: erasable programmable read-only memory
*EPS
Equation 1: uppercase “E” in text. When numbering equations, use (1) flush right opposite and centered vertically on equation. In sidebars, letter the equations A, B, and so on sequentially throughout.
ERP: enterprise resource planning
e-Science
Esprit: European Strategic Programme for Research and Development; retain the spelling of Programme
et al.: et alia; use for more than three authors in a bibliography, including a period after al.; okay to substitute and colleagues or and coauthors in text
etc.: et cetera; substitute and so forth
Ethernet: LAN technology; also, Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet
*EU: European Union, formerly the European Community
euclidean
Euler: (pronounced “oiler;” takes an as its article); adjective describing a mathematical concept
Euler-Poincaré formula: a graphics algorithm
euro: European monetary unit
EuroASIC: European Conference on Application Specific Integrated Circuits
EuroDAC: European Design Automation Conference
European Federation of National Engineering Associations
EuroVHDL: European Conference on VHSIC Hardware Description Language
EUUG: European Unix Users Group; now known as EurOpen
*Extensible Markup Language: XML; okay to use acronym on first use
F
fail-soft-features
fan-in, fan-out (adj): types of logic networks
fan in, fan out (v)
*FAQ
farad: unit of capacitance
Fastbus: an IEEE standard
Fast Ethernet
fast Fourier transform (FFT): (not hyphenated) decoding algorithm
father: One of several family words used to describe relationships among nodes in databases. Although preferred usage is the gender-neutral parent, both terms are legitimate; do not edit out.
fault tolerance (n), fault-tolerant (adj): a system’s capability to keep executing in the presence of a limited number of faults
*fax: document facsimile, document facsimile telecommunications equipment
FDDI: Fiber Distributed Data Interface
FDM: frequency-division multiplexing
FEA: finite-element analysis; also acronym for Fast Ethernet Alliance
Fellow: uppercase in “IEEE Fellow” and other similar titles
FEM: finite-element method
femtosecond: one quadrillionth of a second
FET: field-effect transistor; also occurs in combinations, such as MESFET
ff: femtofarad
FF: flip-flop; spell out in text
FFT: fast Fourier transform
Fhourstone: a benchmark
FHSS: frequency hopping spread spectrum
Fibre Channel: computer communications protocol for high-performance information transfer
fiber optic (n), fiber-optic (adj)
field testing (n); field-testing (adj, v); field-test (v)
FIFO (adj): first-in, first-out; for example, first-in, first-out accounting
filename: can be used as two words when not relevant to computers
file system
finite-element analysis
FIPA: Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents
FIPS: federal information-processing standard
FIR: finite-length impulse response
FireWire: trademarked name for IEEE 1394, an external bus standard
fixed-bubble memory
fixed-length field
fixed point (n): notation in which the position of the point is fixed in relation to the numerals, according to some convention
fixed-point (adj): as in fixed-point arithmetic
fJ: femtojoule
flash memory
flat-panel display
Flex/32: system from Flexible Computer Corp.
flip-flop (n): circuit or device capable of assuming one of two states at a given time, abbreviated FF
flits: flow-control digits
floating point (n); floating-point (adj): notation in which the location of a point is not fixed but is regularly recalculated; the location is usually expressed as a power of the base
floorplan
flops: floating-point operations per second; never flop, except when quoting the use of this incorrect form. For example, the 1993 Branscomb Report is titled “From Desktop to Teraflop ...” Don’t change the title, but the report talks about building a teraflops, not teraflop, computer.
flowchart
flow control (n), flow-control (adj): the sequence of operations performed in the execution of an algorithm
flowgraph
flowtime
FOAF: Friend-of-a-Friend Protocol
focused, focusing
follow-up (n, adj), follow up (v)
footprint: loosely defined as the amount of space a machine takes on a surface (usually a floor or desktop) or as the system resources an application uses in a computer
foreign: Because the IEEE is an international society, “foreign” is not truly applicable in our publications when referring to nationalities; use “non-US” or “international” instead. Italicize terms that are not commonly accepted in English, but use such terms only when there is no suitable English equivalent. See the Non-English Words and Phrases section and CMS 7.51-7.56.
formulas: not formulae
Forth: a programming language
Fortran: for formula translator, a programming language; dialects include Fortran 77
FOTS: fiber-optics transmission system
FPGA: field-programmable gate array
fps: frames per second
fractions: Use slash notation (1/1000) for a general, rounded-off measurement; use decimals (0.001) for a specific, precise measurement. See the Numbers and Symbols section and appropriate sections in CMS.
frame buffer (n)
Free Software Foundation: supports GNU Linux
front end (n): usually refers to a small computer that serves as an interface between the host system and its peripherals
front-end (adj): as in front-end processing
FSM: finite-state machine
FTAM: file transfer and management
*FTP: File Transfer Protocol
full-scale (adj)
Futurebus (n): IEEE Standard 896 bus
fuzzy set (n), fuzzy-set (adj)
* Denotes entries for which it is okay to use acronym or abbreviated term on first use
