jiffy n.
1. The duration of one tick of the system clock on
your computer (see tick). Often one AC cycle time (1/60 second
in the U.S. and Canada, 1/50 most other places), but more recently
1/100 sec has become common. "The swapper runs every 6 jiffies"
means that the virtual memory management routine is executed once
for every 6 ticks of the clock, or about ten times a second.
2. Confusingly, the term is sometimes also used for a 1-millisecond
wall time interval. 3. Even more confusingly, physicists
semi-jokingly use `jiffy' to mean the time required for light to
travel one foot in a vacuum, which turns out to be close to one
nanosecond. 4. Indeterminate time from a few seconds to
forever. "I'll do it in a jiffy" means certainly not now and
possibly never. This is a bit contrary to the more widespread use
of the word. Oppose nano. See also Real Soon Now.
1. The duration of one tick of the system clock on
your computer (see tick). Often one AC cycle time (1/60 second
in the U.S. and Canada, 1/50 most other places), but more recently
1/100 sec has become common. "The swapper runs every 6 jiffies"
means that the virtual memory management routine is executed once
for every 6 ticks of the clock, or about ten times a second.
2. Confusingly, the term is sometimes also used for a 1-millisecond
wall time interval. 3. Even more confusingly, physicists
semi-jokingly use `jiffy' to mean the time required for light to
travel one foot in a vacuum, which turns out to be close to one
nanosecond. 4. Indeterminate time from a few seconds to
forever. "I'll do it in a jiffy" means certainly not now and
possibly never. This is a bit contrary to the more widespread use
of the word. Oppose nano. See also Real Soon Now.
Related:
- jiffy: n. 1. The duration of one tick of the system clock on the
computer (see {tick}).
Often one AC cycle time (1/60 second in the U.... - wall time: n. (also `wall clock time') 1. `Real world' time (what
the clock on the wall shows), as opposed to the system clock's idea
of time.
2. The real running time of a program, as opposed to the number of {tick}s required to execute it (on a timesharing system these always differ, as no one program gets all the ticks, and on multiprocessor systems with good thread support one may get more processor time than real time).... - quantifiers
In techspeak and jargon, the standard metric
prefixes used in the SI (Systè
me International) conventions for scientific measurement have dual uses.... - wall time n.
(also `wall clock time') 1. `Real world'
time (what the clock on the wall shows), as opposed to the system
clock's idea of time.
2. The real running time of a program, as opposed to the number of ticks required to execute it (on a timesharing system these always differ, as no one program gets all the ticks, and on multiprocessor systems with good thread support one may get more processor time than real time).... - cycle
1. n. The basic unit of computation. What every
hacker wants more of (noted hacker Bill Gosper described himself as
a "cycle junkie").
One can describe an instruction as taking so many `clock cycles'.... - cycle: 1. n. The basic unit of computation. What every hacker
wants more of (noted hacker Bill Gosper describes himself as a
"cycle junkie").
One can describe an instruction as taking so many `clock cycles'.... - epoch: [UNIX: prob. from astronomical timekeeping] n.
The time and date corresponding to 0 in an operating system's clock and timestamp values.... - moby /moh'bee/
[MIT: seems to have been in use among
model railroad fans years ago.
Derived from Melville's "Moby Dick" (some say from `Moby Pickle').... - ano: /nan'oh/ [CMU: from `nanosecond'] n. A brief period of
time.
Be with you in a nano" means you really will be free shortly, i....
