:deckle: /dek'l/ /n./ [from dec- and {nybble}; the original
spelling seems to have been `decle'] Two {nickle}s; 10
bits. Reported among developers for Mattel's GI 1600 (the
Intellivision games processor), a chip with 16-bit-wide RAM but
10-bit-wide ROM. See {nybble} for other such terms.
:DED: /D-E-D/ /n./ Dark-Emitting Diode (that is, a burned-out
LED). Compare {SED}, {LER}, {write-only memory}. In the
early 1970s both Signetics and Texas instruments released DED spec
sheets as {AFJ}s (suggested uses included "as a power-off
indicator").
:deep hack mode: /n./ See {hack mode}.
:deep magic: /n./ [poss. from C. S. Lewis's "Narnia"
books] An awesomely arcane technique central to a program or
system, esp. one neither generally published nor available to
hackers at large (compare {black art}); one that could only have
been composed by a true {wizard}. Compiler optimization
techniques and many aspects of {OS} design used to be {deep
magic}; many techniques in cryptography, signal processing,
graphics, and AI still are. Compare {heavy wizardry}. Esp.
found in comments of the form "Deep magic begins here…".
Compare {voodoo programming}.
:deep space: /n./ 1. Describes the notional location of any
program that has gone {off the trolley}. Esp. used of
programs that just sit there silently grinding long after either
failure or some output is expected. "Uh oh. I should have gotten
a prompt ten seconds ago. The program's in deep space somewhere."
Compare {buzz}, {catatonic}, {hyperspace}. 2. The
metaphorical location of a human so dazed and/or confused or caught
up in some esoteric form of {bogosity} that he or she no longer
responds coherently to normal communication. Compare {page
out}.
:defenestration: /n./ [from the traditional Czechoslovakian method of assassinating prime ministers, via SF fandom] 1. Proper karmic retribution for an incorrigible punster. "Oh, ghod, that was *awful*!" "Quick! Defenestrate him!" 2. The act of exiting a window system in order to get better response time from a full-screen program. This comes from the dictionary meaning of `defenestrate', which is to throw something out a window. 3. The act of discarding something under the assumption that it will improve matters. "I don't have any disk space left." "Well, why don't you defenestrate that 100 megs worth of old core dumps?" 4. Under a GUI, the act of dragging something out of a window (onto the screen). "Next, defenestrate the MugWump icon." 5. [proposed] The requirement to support a command-line interface. "It has to run on a VT100." "Curses! I've been defenestrated!"
:defined as: /adj./ In the role of, usually in an organization-chart sense. "Pete is currently defined as bug prioritizer." Compare {logical}.
:dehose: /dee-hohz/ /vt./ To clear a {hosed} condition.
:delint: /dee-lint/ /v. obs./ To modify code to remove problems detected when {lint}ing. Confusingly, this process is also referred to as `linting' code. This term is no longer in general use because ANSI C compilers typically issue compile-time warnings almost as detailed as lint warnings.
:delta: /n./ 1. [techspeak] A quantitative change, especially a small or incremental one (this use is general in physics and engineering). "I just doubled the speed of my program!" "What was the delta on program size?" "About 30 percent." (He doubled the speed of his program, but increased its size by only 30 percent.) 2. [Unix] A {diff}, especially a {diff} stored under the set of version-control tools called SCCS (Source Code Control System) or RCS (Revision Control System). 3. /n./ A small quantity, but not as small as {epsilon}. The jargon usage of {delta} and {epsilon} stems from the traditional use of these letters in mathematics for very small numerical quantities, particularly in `epsilon-delta' proofs in limit theory (as in the differential calculus). The term {delta} is often used, once {epsilon} has been mentioned, to mean a quantity that is slightly bigger than {epsilon} but still very small. "The cost isn't epsilon, but it's delta" means that the cost isn't totally negligible, but it is nevertheless very small. Common constructions include `within delta of —-', `within epsilon of —-': that is, `close to' and `even closer to'.