:atomic: [from Gk. `atomos', indivisible] adj. 1. Indivisible;
cannot be split up. For example, an instruction may be said to do
several things `atomically', i.e., all the things are done
immediately, and there is no chance of the instruction being
half-completed or of another being interspersed. Used esp. to
convey that an operation cannot be screwed up by interrupts.
"This routine locks the file and increments the file's semaphore
atomically." 2. [primarily techspeak] Guaranteed to complete
successfully or not at all, usu. refers to database transactions.
If an error prevents a partially-performed transaction from
proceeding to completion, it must be "backed out," as the database
must not be left in an inconsistent state.
Computer usage, in either of the above senses, has none of the
connotations that `atomic' has in mainstream English (i.e. of
particles of matter, nuclear explosions etc.).
-- The AI Hackers Dictionary
cannot be split up. For example, an instruction may be said to do
several things `atomically', i.e., all the things are done
immediately, and there is no chance of the instruction being
half-completed or of another being interspersed. Used esp. to
convey that an operation cannot be screwed up by interrupts.
"This routine locks the file and increments the file's semaphore
atomically." 2. [primarily techspeak] Guaranteed to complete
successfully or not at all, usu. refers to database transactions.
If an error prevents a partially-performed transaction from
proceeding to completion, it must be "backed out," as the database
must not be left in an inconsistent state.
Computer usage, in either of the above senses, has none of the
connotations that `atomic' has in mainstream English (i.e. of
particles of matter, nuclear explosions etc.).
-- The AI Hackers Dictionary
Related:
- atomic adj.
[from Gk. `atomos', indivisible]
1.
Indivisible; cannot be split up. For example, an instruction... - wedged: adj. 1. To be stuck, incapable of proceeding without
help.
This is different from having crashed. If the system... - wedged adj.
1. To be stuck, incapable of proceeding
without help.
This is different from having crashed. If the system... - go flatline: [from cyberpunk SF, refers to flattening of EEG
traces upon brain-death] vi.
also adjectival `flatlined'. 1. To {die}, terminate... - DWIM /dwim/
[acronym, `Do What I Mean'] 1. adj. Able
to guess,
sometimes even correctly, the result intended when... - GC: /G-C/ [from LISP terminology; `Garbage Collect']
1.
vt. To clean up and throw away useless things. "I... - random adj.
1. Unpredictable (closest to mathematical
definition);
weird. "The system's been behaving pretty randomly... - bit bucket n.
[very common] 1. The universal data sink
(originally,
the mythical receptacle used to catch bits when they... - EOF: /E-O-F/ [abbreviation, `End Of File'] n. 1. [techspeak] The
{out-of-band} value returned by C's sequential character-input
functions (and their equivalents in other environments) when end of
file has been reached.
This value is -1 under C libraries postdating V6...
