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23-letter words containing t, a, i, l, s

  • function point analysis — (programming)   (FPA) A standard metric for the relative size and complexity of a software system, originally developed by Alan Albrecht of IBM in the late 1970s. Functon points (FPs) can be used to estimate the relative size and complexity of software in the early stages of development - analysis and design. The size is determined by identifying the components of the system as seen by the end-user: the inputs, outputs, inquiries, interfaces to other systems, and logical internal files. The components are classified as simple, average, or complex. All of these values are then scored and the total is expressed in Unadjusted FPs (UFPs). Complexity factors described by 14 general systems characteristics, such as reusability, performance, and complexity of processing can be used to weight the UFP. Factors are also weighted on a scale of 0 - not present, 1 - minor influence, to 5 - strong influence. The result of these computations is a number that correlates to system size. Although the FP metric doesn't correspond to any actual physical attribute of a software system (such as lines of code or the number of subroutines) it is useful as a relative measure for comparing projects, measuring productivity, and estimating the amount a development effort and time needed for a project. See also International Function Point Users Group.
  • functional requirements — (specification)   What a system should be able to do, the functions it should perform. This term is used at both the user requirements analysis and software requirements specifications phases in the software life-cycle. An example of a non-functional requirement is an initialisation sequence incorporated into the software that is specific to a given customer.
  • galilean transformation — the equations in classical mechanics that relate position and time in two frames of reference that are moving uniformly with respect to each other. Compare inertial system, relativity (def 2).
  • gastrointestinal series — GI series.
  • grant-maintained school — a school funded directly by central government
  • graphical kernel system — (graphics, standard)   (GKS) The widely recognised standard ANSI X3.124 for graphical input/output. GKS is worked on by the ISO/IEC group JTC1/SC24. It provides applications programmers with standard methods of creating, manipulating, and displaying or printing computer graphics on different types of computer graphics output devices. It provides an abstraction to save programmers from dealing with the detailed capabilities and interfaces of specific hardware. GKS defines a basic two-dimensional graphics system with: uniform input and output primitives; a uniform interface to and from a GKS metafile for storing and transferring graphics information. It supports a wide range of graphics output devices including such as printers, plotters, vector graphics devices, storage tubes, refresh displays, raster displays, and microfilm recorders.
  • guest relations manager — A guest relations manager at a hotel is responsible for the relationships that the hotel has with its guests and the way in which it treats them.
  • hang out your/a shingle — If you hang out your shingle or hang out a shingle, you start your own business.
  • have bats in the belfry — to be mad or eccentric; have strange ideas
  • have tickets on oneself — to be conceited
  • heterogeneous catalysis — Heterogeneous catalysis is catalysis in which the catalyst does not take part in the reaction that it increases.
  • hexagonal cross-section — If a kelly has a hexagonal cross-section, it has a surface area with six equal sides, when looked at as if has been sliced through.
  • horsehair-blight fungus — a fungal parasite, Marasmius equicrinis, that causes a disease of certain tropical plants, especially tea.
  • hunter-killer satellite — a satellite designed to seek out and destroy a nearby enemy satellite by exploding itself into a cloud of high-speed metal fragments.
  • hunter-killer submarine — a submarine designed and equipped to pursue and destroy enemy craft
  • in sack cloth and ashes — sacking.
  • incontestability clause — a clause in a life-insurance or health-insurance policy stating that the insurer cannot contest the policy after a stated period of time.
  • industrial psychologist — a person who studies human behaviour and cognitive processes in relation to the working environment
  • inherently safer design — Inherently safer design is when a lot of consideration is given to safety when designing a process.
  • installable file system — (operating system)   (IFS or "File System Driver", "FSD") An API that allows you to extend OS/2 to access files stored on disk in formats other than FAT and HPFS, and access files that are stored on a network file server. For example an IFS could provide programs running under OS/2 (including DOS and Windows programs) with access to files stored under Unix using the Berkeley fast file system. The other variety of IFS (a "remote file system" or "redirector") allows file sharing over a LAN, e.g. using Unix's Network File System protocol. In this case, the IFS passes a program's file access requests to a remote file server, possibly also translating between different file attributes used by OS/2 and the remote system. Documentation on the IFS API has been available only by special request from IBM. An IFS is structured as an ordinary 16-bit DLL with entry points for opening, closing, reading, and writing files, the swapper, file locking, and Universal Naming Convention. The main part of an IFS that runs in ring 0 is called by the OS/2 kernel in the context of the caller's process and thread. The other part that runs in ring 3 is a utility library with entry points for FORMAT, RECOVER, SYS, and CHKDSK.
  • interfascicular cambium — cambium that develops between the vascular bundles.
  • internal reconstruction — the hypothetical reconstruction of an earlier stage of a language or of some part of it, as its phonology, by deductions from irregularities in its present structure, as the reconstruction of a stage in English when certain instances of r were related to s in a systematic way by comparing the pair was:were to other pairs, as lose:forlorn.
  • international relations — a branch of political science dealing with the relations between nations.
  • islamic fundamentalists — Muslims who believe in, advocate or support a conservative adherence to literal or traditional interpretations of the Qu'ran and the Sunnah
  • juvenile-onset diabetes — diabetes (def 3).
  • large-scale integration — LSI.
  • last will and testament — law: instructions for after death
  • least significant digit — the digit farthest to the right in a number. Abbreviation: LSD.
  • lesser antillean iguana — a large tropical American arboreal herbivorous lizard (iguana delicatissima) native to the Lesser Antilles
  • light and shade surface — (in architectural shades and shadows) a surface in a plane tangent to the parallel rays from the theoretical light source, treated as a shade surface.
  • lingual protrusion lisp — a speech defect consisting in pronouncing s and z like or nearly like the th- sounds of thin and this, respectively.
  • liquefied petroleum gas — a mixture of various petroleum gases, esp propane and butane, stored as a liquid under pressure and used as an engine fuel
  • lymphoblastic leukaemia — a severe blood disorder in which abnormal leukocytes are identified as immature forms of lymphocytes
  • magnetic field strength — that part of the magnetic induction that is determined at any point in space by the current density and displacement current at that point independently of the magnetic or other physical properties of the surrounding medium. Symbol: H.
  • magnetic susceptibility — the coefficient or set of coefficients of the magnetic intensity in any expression giving the components of magnetization as linear combinations of the components of magnetic intensity.
  • martha washington table — a sewing table of the 18th century having an oval top that can be lifted and a central compartment of drawers with semicircular bins at each end.
  • meaningful relationship — a romantic relationship based upon mutual respect and supportiveness and marked by a sense of commitment and fulfillment.
  • message handling system — (messaging, standard)   (MHS) The standard defined by ITU-T as X.400 and by ISO as Message-Oriented Text Interchange Standard (MOTIS). MHS is the X.400 family of services and protocols that provides the functions for global electronic mail transfer among local mail systems and MTAs. It is used by CompuServe, among others.
  • multimedia compact disc — (storage)   (MMCD) A CD-ROM standard for storing 4.7 GB of data including video. MMCD is being developed by a large numer of computer manufacturers and is expected to be shipped in late 1996 or early 1997. Initially it will be aimed at the consumer market, then perhaps in CD-ROM format for computers, and maybe later on erasble CD.
  • multiple-risk insurance — insurance that covers several risks
  • national health service — In Britain, the National Health Service is the state system for providing medical care. It is paid for by taxes.
  • national safety council — a non profit organization that promotes and ensures health and safety standards
  • national superannuation — a means-related pension paid to elderly people
  • netherlands east indies — a former name of the Republic of Indonesia.
  • netherlands west indies — a Netherlands overseas territory in the Caribbean Sea, N and NE of Venezuela; includes the islands of Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, and St. Eustatius, and the S part of St. Martin: considered an integral part of the Dutch realm. 366 sq. mi. (948 sq. km). Capital: Willemstad.
  • netscape public license — Open source license
  • new year's honours list — an Honour's List published at the beginning of a new year
  • newton's laws of motion — three laws of mechanics describing the motion of a body. The first law states that a body remains at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless acted upon by a force. The second law states that a body's rate of change of momentum is proportional to the force causing it. The third law states that when a force acts on a body due to another body, then an equal and opposite force acts simultaneously on that body
  • nondisclosure agreement — a legal contract in which one or more parties agree to keep information, as a trade secret, confidential and protected for a specific amount of time. Abbreviation: NDA.
  • nonessential amino acid — an amino acid that can be synthesized in the body
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