Technology Definitions

ADSI

Active Directory Service Interfaces is developed by Microsoft and gives developers access to multiple directory service providers through an open set of interfaces. Applications written to ADSI will work with any directory service that offers an ADSI provider.

AJAX

Asynchronous JavaScript and XML is a web development technique for creating interactive web applications using a combination of web document formats, styles and models to exchange data asynchronously with web servers.

ASP

Active Server Pages (ASP) is the way for programmers to link and build web applications. The scripts are embedded in HTML forms and can be written in any language allowing for versatility for development. The use of ASP allows the pages to be dynamic, which means the page can be completely customizable for the user. The client is not able to see the ASP script because it is executed on the server side.

ASP.NET

ASP.NET is A set of web development technologies that enable programmers to build web applications and XML web services.

ATL

Active Template Library is a set of prepackaged program routines for use when creating Active Server Page code and other Active X program components with C++.

C

C is a low-level standardized programming language for use on the UNIX operating system. It has since spread to many other operating systems, and is one of the most widely used programming languages.

C++

This object-oriented programming (OOP) language is the best language for creating large-scale applications. C++ is a superset of the C language.

C#

C# is an ECMA-compliant programming language deisgned to support .NET development.

CSS

Cascading Style Sheets is a standard stylesheet language for describing the presentation of a document written in a markup language like HTML or XHTML. CSS can be applied to any application of XML as well, such as SVG or XUL. The CSS specifications are maintained by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

COM

Component Object Model is an open standard that specifies how components work together and interoperate. COM is used as the basis for Active X and OLE. The use of the COM API ensures that a software object can be launched within an application using a wide variety of programming languages.

COM+

COM+ is an extension of COM. COM+ introducs an improved version of SPM (In-Memory Database). It also provides an asynchronous event service for generating events in multiple clients. And it uses the MSMQ services more transparently. It also automates load balancing when multiple servers are involved in an application.

Crystal Reports

Crystal Reports is a business intelligence application used to design and generate reports based on a wide scale of data sources like Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Access, MySQL and Oracle, Microsoft Excel, text files, groupware applications and other data source accessible through ODBC or OLAP.

DCOM

Distributed Component Object Model is an addition to COM that facilitates the transparent distribution of objects over networks and over the Internet.

DHTML

Dynamic HTML is a technique of creating web page interaction and design elements by using a combination of the static markup language like HTML, JavaScript, CSS and/or the Document Object Model.

HP Openview

IT os resource management software from Hewlett Packard. It is similar to IBM's Tivoli.

HTML

Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is a coded format language used for creating hypertext documents on the World Wide Web. HTML is a set of ?markup? symbols inserted in a file that tells the web browser how to display a Web page?s format. Almost every Web page is coded with HTML.

HTTPS

Hypertext Transfer Protocol over Secure Socket Layers (HTTPS) is a protocol developed to enable secure e-commerce transactions. High Grade RC4 128 Bit Encryption Technology allows credit card data and other sensitive information to be transferred over the World Wide Web safely.

IBM Lotus Notes

Lotus Notes is a proprietary, client-server collaborative database and email system.

IBM Tivoli

Tivoli is a systems management platform from IBM which allows for remote system administration, configuration, and software installation.

IMAP

Internet Message Access Protocol is an application layer Internet protocol used for accessing email on a remote server from a local client.

Javascript

Javascript is a scripting language from Netscape. It is not the same as Java and was only designed to resemble Java. JavaScript is intended to be a fast and simple language for enhancing Web pages and servers. It is built into the browser to provide a simple means of adding interactivity to web pages. Javascript is supported by recent browsers from Netscape and Microsoft, but sometimes runs into difficulty on other browsers.

JSP

JavaServer Pages (JSP) allows for rapid web development that is dynamic, easily maintainable, and full of information. JSP separates the user interface from content generation, which leaves the ability to change page output while maintaining the underlying dynamic content.

J2EE

The Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) defines the standard for developing multitier enterprise applications.

The J2EE platform simplifies enterprise applications by basing them on standardized, modular components, by providing a complete set of services to those components, and by handling many details of application behavior automatically, without complex programming. The J2EE platform takes advantage of many features of the Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition (J2SE), such as "Write Once, Run Anywhere" portability, JDBC API for database access, CORBA technology for interaction with existing enterprise resources, and a security model that protects data even in internet applications. Building on this base, the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition adds full support for Enterprise JavaBeans components, Java Servlets API, JavaServer Pages and XML technology. The J2EE standard includes complete specifications and compliance tests to ensure portability of applications across the wide range of existing enterprise systems capable of supporting the J2EE platform. In addition, the J2EE specification now ensures Web services interoperability through support for the WS-I Basic Profile.

LDAP

LDAP is the IETF designed and specified the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol makes use of X.500 directories and defines a relatively simple protocol for updating and searching directories running over TCP/IP.

Lotus Notes API

Provides a platform and version independent method of accessing Notes data and services.

Macromedia Flash

Macromedia Flash is an application published by the Macromedia Company. It is a popular authoring software and is used to create vector graphics-based animation programs with full-screen navigation interfaces and illustrations. Macromedia Flash gives much more creative room than HTML, but requires a Flash plug-in on the computer running it. Most newer browsers automatically come with Flash.

MAPI

Messaging Application Programming Interface allows client programs to become (electronic mail) messaging-enabled, -aware, or -based by calling MAPI subsystem routines that interface with certain messaging systems and message stores.

MFC

Microsoft Foundation Class Library is a collection of generalized definitions used in object-oriented programming that can be used in building application programs.

Microsoft Exchange

Microsoft Exchange Server is a collaborative software server. The use of Microsoft Exchange is very widespread in large corporations using Microsoft infrastructure solutions.

Microsoft Access

Access is a database software provided by Microsoft and is the bestselling database in the world because it comes bundled in Microsoft Office? Products. Access is noted for its friendly user interface and ease of use. It is great for working on small to medium size applications.

MIME

Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions is an Internet Standard for the format of e-mail. Virtually all Internet e-mail is transmitted via SMTP in MIME format.

MySQL

MySQL or ?My Structured Query Language? is a relational database language. MySQL is the most popular open source language in the world for adding, accessing, and processing data in a database. It is extremely fast, easy to customize and reliable due to its structure though most agree that it works best when managing content and not executing transactions.

.NET

Microsoft® .NET is a set of Microsoft software technologies for connecting information, people, systems, and devices. It enables a high level of software integration through the use of Web services?small, discrete, building-block applications that connect to each other as well as to other, larger applications over the Internet.

.NET is infused into the products that make up the Microsoft platform, providing the ability to quickly and reliably build, host, deploy, and utilize connected solutions using Web services, all with the protection of industry-standard security technologies.

Active X

Active X is a Microsoft technology for software componentry. It is used to enable cross-software communication.

Oracle

Oracle is a relational database management system developed and copyrighted by the Oracle Corporation. An Oracle database, is a collection of data managed by an Oracle database management system or DBMS.

POP

Post Office Protocol is an application layer Internet standard protocol used to retrieve email from a remote server to a local client over a TCP/IP connection. Nearly all individual Internet service provider email accounts are accessed via POP3.

RDBMS

Relational Database Management System that is based on the relational model as introduced by Edgar F. Codd.

SMTP

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol is the de facto standard for email transmission across the Internet.

SQL

Structured Query Language is a standard interactive and programming language for getting information from and updating a database.

Windows API

Windows API is a set of application programming interfaces available in the Microsoft Windows operating systems.

XML

Extensible Markup Language is a simple, very flexible text format derived from SGML (ISO 8879). Originally designed to meet the challenges of large-scale electronic publishing, XML is also playing an increasingly important role in the exchange of a wide variety of data on the Web and elsewhere.

XSD

XML Schema Definition is an instance of an XML schema written in the XML Schema language. An XSD defines a type of XML document in terms of constraints upon what elements and attributes may appear, their relationship to each other, what types of data may be in them, and other things.

XSL

Extensible Style Language is a style sheet language aimed at activities such as rearranging the document that are not supported by CSS, though XSL and CSS share the same underlying concepts. XSL can be used to style XML documents u sing sets of rules and definitions of actions to be applied. XSL is a specification from the W3C.

XSLT

Extensible Style Language Transformations is an XML-based language used in conjunction with specialized processing software, for the transformation of XML documents.