Apple IIe User Manual

Page 55

Page 55 of 74

IIe
Printed: Tuesday, March 4, 2003 10:40:15 AM

in the monitor.

industry specific software:

Programs designed for a particular audience doctors, lawyers,

marine biologists.

information service:

A large data base that you can subscribe to for news, stock quotes, and

other services.

initialize:

To prepare a disk so the computer can store information on it.

Another word for

format.

input/output:

Abbreviated I/O.

Refers to the means by which information is sent between the

computer and its peripheral devices.

integrated circuit:

Networks of microfine wire that conduct electrical impulses.

They are

etched on silicon wafers and embedded in black plastic.

integrated software:

A group of application programs, usually on one disk, designed to share

data.

interface:

Hardware or software that links the computer to a device.

interface card:

See peripheral card.

interpreter:

A program that translates the English-like terms in a programming language like

BASIC into a form the computer can understand.

Compare compiler.

inverse characters:

Inverse means opposite.

If characters ordinarily show up as white

characters on a black screen, inverse characters would show up as black characters on a white
screen.

jacket:

A square of plastic that protects a flexible disk.

You don't remove the jacket (and

expect to ever use the disk again). Compare envelope.

joystick:

An accessory that moves creatures and objects in game programs.

Short for kilobyte. It's how computer memory is measured. The Apple IIe has 64K of RAM

(random-access memory) expandable to 128K with an extended 80-column card, and 16K of ROM
(read-only memory).

One K is equal to 1024 bytes.

keyboard:

Your way of communicating with the computer.

It looks like the keyboard on a

typewriter, but programmers can make the keys do anything they want them to.

keypad:

See numeric keypad.

kilobyte:

A measurement of computer memory.

One kilobyte equals

1024 bytes, and it takes one byte to make one character.

label:

A strip of paper you stick on a flexible disk to identify it.

The label is a good

place to put your thumb when you pick up your disks.

LEFT-ARROW:

A key you can use (in most programs) to move the cursor one character to the left.

In some programs, pressing LEFT-ARROW erases characters to the left as the cursor moves to the
left.

LET:

An Applesoft BASIC command used to define variables.