ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line)

See DSL

ASP (Active Server Pages)

A Web server technology from Microsoft that enables dynamic content and interaction within web pages.

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Bandwidth

The amount of data that can be transmitted through an electronic line. Bandwidth is usually measured in bits/second, bytes per second, or Hertz. When measured in Hertz, bandwidth is the difference between the lowest and highest transmitted frequencies

Bit (b)

A bit is a binary digit - a single digit with a value of either 0 or 1.

Broadband

Generally, broadband refers to high-speed data transmission. Many people use the term broadband to refer to transmission at or above T1 bandwidth (1.5 Mb/s), however it is also used to refer to DSL Internet access, which has a lower transmission rate.

Byte (B)

A byte is a binary table - eight binary digits.

C/C++

C is an extremely flexible high-level programming language capable of low level manipulation. Written as a series of functions C can be compiled into a broad range of machine languages.

C++ is an object oriented programming language closely based on C.

Database

A database is a means of storing data. Various forms of data can be stored, employee and product information for example. Databases are widely used on the internet. Ryland Technology use databases in their clients sites to store user updated information. This may include product lists or site subscriber information.

DSL (Digital Subscriber Line)

DSL is a technology used to transfer digital signals along ordinary telephone lines at much higher bandwidths. The most commonly used type of DSL is Asymmetric DSL (ADSL), which is used for Internet connection. ADSL is particularly suitable for Internet access as it shares the same line as the telephone, while maintaining fast downstream data transfer.

Domain Name

The Domain Name identifies the web site, www.ryltech.net for example.

Encryption

Encryption codes information in a file so that it can be decoded by only those who have the decoding information. Encryption is used in data transfer such as E-Mail so that if intercepted, it would be unreadable.

FLASH

Macromedia Flash is used to develop animations and interactive graphics for Web Sites and other applications.

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Giga (G) (Gig)

1,000,000,000. Often used to quantify bits or bytes where it is taken to mean 1,073,741,824, since these are binary numbers.

HTML (HyperText Markup Language)

HTML is a file format based on SGML, used predominantly for documents on the Web.

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Internet

The Internet is the interconnected system of networks that connects computers around the world via the TCP/IP protocol.

Java

Java is an interpreted programming language designed to create cross platform compatible applications. Java is used particularly in Web applications and can be run on a Web server (a Java servlet) or called from within an HTML file (a Java applet).

Kilo (K)

1,000. Often used to quantify bits or bytes where it is taken to mean 1,024, since these are binary numbers.

LAN (Local Area Network)

A LAN is a data communications network made up of servers and workstations, which is usually limited to an office or building.

Mega (M)

1,000,000. Often used to quantify bits or bytes where it is taken to mean 1,048,576, since these are binary numbers.

NT (Windows New Technology)

Windows NT is a 32-bit operating system from Microsoft with dual boot and multi-processing capabilities. NT provides the core technology for the Windows 2000 and Windows XP operating systems.

Object Oriented Programming (OOP)

Object Oriented Programming is a form of modular programming involving the creation of self-sufficient modules (objects) containing data and the functions used to process the data - a notion termed encapsulation. The other main features of OOP are inheritance and polymorphism. Inheritance refers to the fact that classes of objects are created in hierarchies; an object class can inherit the properties and methods of the class it is based on. Polymorphism describes the way that objects can be created with methods the exact type of which is not specified until the program is run.

PHP (Perl Hypertext Preprocessor)

Like ASP, PHP is a server side scripting language used to create dynamic Web pages. As the name suggests the syntax is derived from Perl, as well as from C and Java. PHP is embedded within HTML pages to generate dynamic content, commonly to extract data from a database, (it is often used in conjunction with the MYSQL database).

PHP is supported by all the major NT and UNIX Web servers.

PHP was originally used as an acronym for "Personal Home Page".

QBasic

QBasic is a DOS based programming language from Microsoft.

Router

A device that forwards data packets from one local area network (LAN) to another.

SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language)

SGML is a language used for formatting text documents. Each SGML document requires a separate Document Type Definition (DTD) file, in which the format codes, or tags, that describe the SGML formatting are defined. See also HTML, XML.

T1

A T1 connection is a digital communication line between to points with a bandwidth of 1.544 Mb/s. Generally, T1 lines are used in private networks and to connect LANs to telephone companies.

TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol)

TCP/IP is the communications standard of the Internet and most other networks. It is a set of rules that determines how computers 'talk' to each other.

URL (Uniform Resource Locator)

A URL is the unique address that defines the route to a particular file on the Internet.

Visual Basic (VB)

VB is a specialised version of the BASIC programming language from Microsoft used for developing Windows applications. Objects and compononents can be dragged and dropped from a 'toolbox' to create user interfaces. It can also be used to create ActiveX Controls for Web servers.

Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is a derivative of VB that provides a common macro language included in Microsoft applications such as Excel and Word.

WAP (Wireless Application Protocol)

WAP is a communication protocol for handheld devices such as mobile phones and pagers. It is a set of rules that determines how these devices access email and webpages on the internet.

XML (Extensible Markup Language)

XML is an open standard for describing data. Just as HTML uses tags to structure the layout of a webpage, XML uses tags structure data. Unlike HTML the tags used in XML are not predefined, but are defined by the developer for the page. XML webpages function like database records and make for an extremely versatile way of publishing data.

Year 2038 Bug

The Year 2038 Bug is date problem in 32-bit operating systems. Many C applications define times to be the number of seconds from January 1, 1970. The variable that stores this number overflows in the year 2038 and becomes January 1, 1970.

ZIP File

The ZIP File format is a way of compressing files so that they take up less memory. Being able to compress files is particularly useful when sending files across the internet. The files can then be decompressed to replicate the original files.