V
V: volts. Examples: 45 V (n); 45-V (adj) power supply
v.: abbreviation for versus in a legal context (Smith v. Jones); see also vs.
Vac: volts of alternating current (25 Vac)
validation: testing a product or product specification to ensure that it meets the requirements (that it has the specified functions); compare with verification
VAR: value-added reseller
variable-length field
VAX: a mainframe made by Digital Equipment Corp.; plural is VAXs; VAX reportedly comes from virtual address extension (to the PDP-11)
VAX 11/725, 11/730, 11/750, 11/780, 11/782, 11/785, 8600: note slash, not hyphen
VAX/VMS: operating system for VAX computers; VMS stands for VAX Management System
VCCS: voltage-controlled current source
*VCR: videocassette recorder
Vdc: volts of direct current (25 Vdc)
VDT: video display terminal, a generic term; not interchangeable with CRT
verification: determining whether a product meets its requirements (whether it does what it is supposed to); compare with validation
Versabus
VersaDOS
version: capitalize only when used with the name of a product (Microsoft Word Version 6.0). An acceptable informal abbreviation (except at the beginning of a sentence) is lowercase v, closed up next to a number: “Macsyma v2.0.” The word version or its abbreviation is not always necessary: “Word 6.0 is a major release.”
versus: see v. and vs.
vertices: plural of vertex
*VGA: video graphics adapter (or array); an IBM color-display standard allowing 256 colors
VHDL: very high density logic; also VHSIC Hardware Description Language
VHSIC: very high speed integrated circuit
VIC: video interface chip
vice president: see CMS 8.21; capitalize when referring to the Vice President of the United States
videocassette, videocassette recorder
videoconference, videoconferencing
videodisk; videogame: Note—some publications use video game
video on demand (n), video-on-demand (adj), VoD (abbreviation)
videotape (n, v)
videotex: interactive text/graphics communications system; also known as viewdata
video over IP
viewport
virtual memory
VisiCalc: a financial spreadsheet program from now-defunct Software Arts Products
Visual Basic, Visual J++
*VLSI: very large-scale integration. VLSI can be used as a stand-alone noun when referring to the concept but not to physical objects—for example, VLSI circuit, VLSI chip; VLSI also is acceptable for VLSI Technology Inc.
VM: virtual machine; also JVM or Java virtual machine
VMEbus
VMS: VAX Management System, an operating system for DEC VAX computers
Vnet: an IBM internal network
VoD: video on demand (n)
voice over IP (n), voice-over-IP (adj), VoIP (abbreviation)
von Neumann (adj): refers to the concept of storing data and the instructions that apply to that data together; the stored-program concept (von Neumann sort; non–von Neumann architecture); note that the second example takes an en-dash, not a hyphen
voxel: loosely speaking, a 3D pixel
VPE: visual programming environment
VPL: visual programming language
VPN: virtual private network
VRAM: video random-access memory
Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam: Free University, Amsterdam. Commonly used acronym (VU University Amersterdam) doesn't work—it's redundant
VRML: Virtual Reality Modeling Language
vs.: normal abbreviation for versus, except in legal context, see v.; spell out in text; abbreviation is acceptable elsewhere
VT52, VT100, VT101, VT102, VT131, VT220: Digital Equipment Corp. video display terminals
W
W: watts (25-W dissipation)
W.: “west” in addresses
W3C: World Wide Web Consortium
wafer-scale integration
WAN: wide area network
WAP: Wireless Application Protocol
Washington, D.C.
watts
waveform
wave front
wave function
WCGA: World Computer Graphics Association
WDM: wavelength-division multiplexing
WDP: World Data Processing
Web: short name for the World Wide Web; Net is the short name for the Internet
Web browser, Web services
webcam, webcast, weblog, webmaster, webpage, webserver, website; note: some publications use Web page, Web site
well: a well-defined concept; the concept is well defined (don’t hyphenate “well” words following being verbs)
WG: see working group
Whetstone: benchmarks
whiteboard
white list, white pages
-wide (suffix): see CMS 7.85, Table 3
wideband (adj)
Wi-Fi: wireless products certified by the Wi-Alliance to be interoperable
wiki: computer software for creating, editing, and linking webpages
Wikipedia: a multilingual, web-based encyclopedia project operated by the Wikipedia Foundation
wild cards
John Wiley & Sons
WiMax
WIMP: windows, icons, menus, pointing devices
Windows 95/98/NT/2000/Me
WinZip: file compression program
wireframe (adj): refers to a line drawing of a 2D or 3D object (a wireframe image)
wire wrap (n): a method of making an electrical connection in a circuit by wrapping wires around terminals
wire-wrapping (adj): as in wire-wrapping techniques
WISC: writable-instruction-set computing
WLAN: wireless local area network
word: a sequence of bits that a processor can act on simultaneously. More bits per word let the processor work on more data simultaneously. A word can be defined in terms of bytes (a two-byte word equals a 16-bit word), but bits are the more common unit; also Mword, Kword.
word-slice processor
workaround
working group: initial capitals if in a title, for example, “Working Group on Posix Definitions”; lowercase if generic
workflow, workload, workplace, worksheet
workspace: the amount of memory a program requires, over and above the amount necessary to store the program itself
workstation
worldwide
World Wide Web: abbreviated WWW; see Web, WWW
WORM: write-once, read-many (times)
WoZ
wrap-up (n), wrap up (v)
WSCI: Web service choreography interface
WSDL: Web Services Description Language; pronounced “whizdle”
WSN: wireless sensor network
WWW: see World Wide Web; Web; depending on context, abbreviated form acceptable on first reference
WYSIWYG: stands for what you see is what you get; acceptable on first reference in departments, but spell out on first reference in feature articles
X
9/07 Xen: open source virtualization software
X.25: the network layer protocol in the ISO protocol suite
X.400: an ISO mail protocol
x-axis (n, adj)
Xbox
X client (n), X-client (adj): see also X Window System
XDR: External Data Representation; a protocol
Xenix: an operating system similar to Unix from Microsoft for PCs based on the Intel 8088, 80286, and 80386 chips
XGA: extended graphics array; a high-resolution graphics standard introduced by IBM in 1990
XLANG
XLink: XML Linking Language
XMI: XML Metadata Interchange
Xmodem: abbreviated term for cross-modem, an error-free file-transfer protocol
*XML: Extensible Markup Language
XMPP: Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol
XMS: extended memory specification; used to address memory above 1 Mbyte in the 80286 and later CPUs
XMT: extensible MPEG-4 textual format
XNS: Xerox Network Services
XOR: exclusive-OR operation used in cryptography
XPath,: XML Path Language
XPointer: XML Pointer Language
x-ray (n, adj, v)
XHTTP, XHTML, XML
XT: see IBM PC
XScale: an Intel processor
X Window System, X Windows (no hyphens): a graphics environment from MIT for Unix workstations
X11 Windows
xy-plane, also yz-, xz-planes
XSL: Extensible Style Sheet Language
XSLT: Extensible Style Sheet Language Transformation
Y
Y2K Problem: the crisis that didn’t happen in 2000
YACC: a compiler compiler; a Unix tool
Yahoo
y-axis: (n, adj)
years: to form plural, add an “s”: 1990s; when referring to just the decade, spell out, for example, nineties
yellow pages
Ymodem: file transfer protocol
Z
0-day: refers to the timing of viruses released the same day as a patch
z-axis: (n, adj)
z-buffer: storage for z-axis values for 3D images, sometimes called the “depth buffer”
Z80: a microprocessor from Zenith Data Systems
Z80-A
Zadeh, Lotfi: a pioneer in fuzzy logic; note the first name, often misspelled
ZIP: zigzag in-line package; a file-compression technique; ZIP code
Zmodem: successor to Xmodem and Ymodem
* OK to use acronym or abbreviation on first reference.
