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76 Glossary
CLI
Abbreviation for command line interface. A CLI displays a prompt, the user types
a command on the keyboard and terminates the command (usually with the
Enter key), and the system executes the command, providing textual output.
CMOS
CMOS which stands for complementary metal
-
oxide semiconductor, is a major
class of integrated circuits. CMOS chips include microprocessor, microcontroller,
static RAM, and other digital logic circuits. The central characteristic of the
technology is that it only uses significant power when its transistors are switching
between on and off states. Consequently, CMOS devices use little power and do
not produce as much heat as other forms of logic. CMOS also allows a high density
of logic functions on a chip.
COM
Acronym for Component Object Model which is a Microsoft
®
platform for
software componentry. It is used to enable interprocess communication and
dynamic object creation in any programming language that supports the
technology. The term COM is often used in the software development world as
an umbrella term that encompasses the OLE, OLE Automation, ActiveX, COM+
and DCOM technologies. Although it has been implemented on several
platforms, it is primarily used with Microsoft Windows
®
.
DCOM
Acronym for Distributed Component Object Model which is a Microsoft
proprietary technology for software components distributed across several
networked systems to communicate with each other. It extends Microsoft's COM,
and provides the communication substrate under Microsoft's COM+ application
server infrastructure.
device driver
A program that allows the operating system or some other program to interface
correctly with a peripheral device, such as a printer. Some device drivers—such
as network drivers—must be loaded from the
config.sys
file (with a device=
statement) or as memory-resident programs (usually from the
autoexec.bat
file).
Others—such as video drivers—must load when you start the program for which
they were designed.