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PC Glossary

Definitions of Computer and Internet Terms

Computer Terms Beginning with "C"

C++ C is a high-level programming language that was developed in the mid-1970s. It was originally used for writing Unix...
Cable Modem A cable modem is used for connecting to the Internet and is much faster than a typical dial-up modem. While a 56K...
Cache This term is pronounced like "cash" -- not "catch," and definitely not "cashé." There are many different types...
CAD Stands for "Computer-Aided Design." Also known by engineers and architects as the best invention of all time. Today...
Camera RAW Most digital cameras process and compress the pictures you take immediately after capturing the image. This can be...
Caps Lock Caps lock is a feature nearly all keyboards have that, when active, capitalizes each letter typed on the keyboard...
Captcha A captcha is a challenge-response test that determines whether a user is human or an automated bot. A typical captcha...
Card Reader "Card reader" is the generic term for an input device that reads flash memory cards. It can be a standalone device...
Cc Stands for "Carbon Copy." The term comes from carbon copying, in which a piece of carbon paper copies writing from one...
CCD Stands for "Charged Coupled Device." CCDs are sensors used in digital cameras and video cameras to record still and...
CD Stands for "Compact Disc." CDs are circular discs that are 4.75 in (12 cm) in diameter. The CD standard was proposed...
CD-R Stands for "Compact Disc Recordable." CD-R discs are blank CDs that can record data written by a CD burner. The word...
CD-ROM Stands for "Compact Disc Read-Only Memory." A CD-ROM is a CD that can be read by a computer with an optical drive...
CD-RW Stands for "Compact Disc Re-Writable." A CD-RW is a blank CD that can be written to by a CD burner. Unlike a CD-R...
CDMA Stands for "Code Division Multiple Access." CDMA is a wireless transmission technology that was developed during World...
Cell A cell is a location in a spreadsheet defined by the intersection of a row and column. For example, cell C7 is the...
Certificate An SSL certificate, or secure certificate, is a file installed on a secure Web server that identifies a website. This...
CGI CGI stands for "Common Gateway Interface" and is a standard set of rules that define how scripts and programs can be...
Character A character is any letter, number, space, punctuation mark, or symbol that can be typed on a computer. The word...
Checksum A checksum is a calculated sum used to check the integrity of a file. It can be generated from one of many algorithms...
Chip Technically speaking, a computer chip is a piece of silicon with an electronic circuit embedded in it. However, the...
Chipset A chipset describes the architecture of an integrated circuit. This includes the layout of the circuitry, the...
CISC Stands for "Complex Instruction Set Computing." This is a type of microprocessor design. The CISC architecture...
Clean Install A clean install is an operating system (OS) installation that overwrites all other content on the hard disk. Unlike a...
Clean Room A simple definition of this would be "the opposite of my bedroom." But technically speaking, a clean room is a highly...
Client In the real world, businesses have clients. In the computer world, servers have clients. The "client-server...
Clip Art Clip art is a collection of pictures or images that can be imported into a document or another program. The images may...
Clipboard The clipboard is a section of RAM where your computer stores copied data. This can be a selection of text, an image, a...
CLOB CLOB is short for "Character Large Object." It is a data type used to store large amounts of character data. CLOBs...
Clock Cycle A clock cycle, or clock tick, is one increment of the CPU clock, during which the smallest unit of processor activity...
Clock Speed Clock speed is the rate at which a processor can complete a processing cycle. It is typically measured in megahertz or...
Clone What do sheep, droids, and computers all have in common? They can all be cloned! Of the three, computer clones are by...
Cloud Computing Cloud computing is a general term used to describe Internet services. These include social networking services like...
Cluster In the computer world, a cluster can refer to two different things: 1) A group of sectors on a disk. While a sector...
CMOS Stands for "Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor." This technology is typically used in making transistors. The...
CMYK Stands for "Cyan Magenta Yellow Black." These are the four basic colors used for printing color images. Unlike RGB...
Codec No, this is not just a cheap rip-off of Kodak. The name "codec" is short for "coder-decoder," which is pretty much...
Command Prompt A command prompt is used in a text-based or "command-line" interface, such as a Unix terminal or a DOS shell. It is a...
Commercial Software Computer software comes in three different flavors: freeware, shareware, and commercial software. Freeware is free to...
Compact Flash Often abbreviated as simply "CF," Compact Flash is a type of flash memory. Compact flash cards are most commonly used...
Compile When programmers create software programs, they first write the program in source code, which is written in a specific...
Compiler A compiler is a software program that compiles program source code files into an executable program. It is included as...
Component Computers are made up of many different parts, such as a motherboard, CPU, RAM, and hard drive. Each of these parts...
Computer Technically, a computer is a programmable machine. This means it can execute a programmed list of instructions and...
Computer Ethics Ethics is a set of moral principles that govern the behavior of a group or individual. Therefore, computer ethics is a...
Configuration In the computing world, when people talk about their computer configuration, they are referring to the technical...
Contextual Menu A contextual menu is a pop-up menu that appears when you right-click on a certain area of the screen. It is...
Control Panel The Control Panel is a feature of the Windows operating system that allows the user to modify system settings and...
Controller Card The controller card, or simply "controller," is a piece of hardware that acts as the interface between the motherboard...
Cookie It seems like everyone who tries to explain what a cookie is just has to make a joke out of it (because of the name...
Copy Many software programs allow you to copy data, such as text in Microsoft Word or an image in Adobe Photoshop. To copy...
Copyright Copyright protects an author's original work from being copied and republished by others. It gives the author...
CPA Stands for "Cost Per Action," and is used in online advertising. CPA defines how much revenue a publisher receives...
CPC Stands for "Cost Per Click," and is used in online advertising. CPC defines how much revenue a publisher receives each...
CPL Stands for "Cost Per Lead," and is used in online advertising. CPL defines how much revenue a publisher receives when...
CPM Stands for "Cost Per 1,000 Impressions," and is used in online advertising. CPM defines the cost an advertiser pays...
CPS Stands for "Classroom Performance System." CPS refers to a technology system that is used for educational purposes...
CPU Stands for "Central Processing Unit." This is the pretty much the brain of your computer. It processes everything...
CRM Stands for "Customer Relationship Management." This is a business term that started somewhere in the deep abyss of the...
Cron Also known as a "cron job," a cron is a process or task that runs periodically on a Unix system. Some examples of...
Crop When you crop an image or photo, you remove part of the image. This may involve cutting some of the image from the...
Cross-Browser Cross-browser means that a website is compatible with multiple Web browsers. This means the Web pages show up...
Crossplatform Software that can run on multiple types of computer systems. For example, the graphics program Adobe Photoshop and the...
CRT Stands for "Cathode Ray Tube." CRT is the technology used in traditional computer monitors and televisions. The image...
CSS Stands for "Cascading Style Sheet." Cascading style sheets are used to format the layout of Web pages. They can be...
CTP Stands for "Composite Theoretical Performance." CTP is used to measure the performance of computer processors. The...
CTR Stands for "Click-Through Rate," and is used in online advertising. Web publishers typically generate revenue from...
Cursor The cursor on your screen can indicate two things: 1) where your mouse pointer is, or 2) where the next character typed...
Cut The Cut command removes a selected object and copies it to the clipboard. It performs both a Delete and Copy operation...
Cyberbullying Cyberbullying involves harassing, embarrassing, or threatening a young person via cyberspace. It encompasses several...
Cybercrime Cybercrime is criminal activity done using computers and the Internet. This includes anything from downloading illegal...
Cyberspace Unlike most computer terms, "cyberspace" does not have a standard, objective definition. Instead, it is used to...
Cybersquatter A cybersquatter, or "domainer," is someone who registers a domain name without intending to create a website for it...

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