National Teaching and Learning Change ProgrammeInformation and Communication Technology:
Dictionary

• Home
• Data representation
• General
• Hardware
• Internet/web
• Managing data
• Multimedia
• Networks and communications technology
• Programming
• Security
• Software
• Systems design
• My downloads

Search results

• label
  An identifier (normally a name) which identifies a particular statement in a program. Labels are normally only needed to indicate the destination of a jump, which is the next instruction to be used after the jump instruction.
• 
• landscape orientation
  Landscape orientation is when a document or image is wider than it is high.
• 
• language
  A computer program, which must be written in a very precise way, is written in a programming language. Programming languages have a vocabulary of a limited number of words with precise rules describing how they may be combined.
• 
• laptop
  A laptop computer runs off battery power as well as mains electricity. It is normally between 2kg and 3kg in weight, and it is about the size of an A4 sheet of paper so it can fit into a briefcase easily. They are also called notebook computers.
• 
• laser disk
  A laser disk, sometimes called a videodisk, is an early form of optical storage, usually 12 inches in diameter.
• 
• laser printer
  A page printer which uses a laser beam to
• 
• last in, first out (LIFO) (1)
  A stack is a list where items are added or deleted from the same end. The operation of a stack is Last In First Out (LIFO). The most recent item to arrive is dealt with first.
• 
• last in, first out (LIFO) (2)
  A list where items are added or deleted from the same end, such as, last in first out.
• 
• latency
  The time delay before a component in the computer responds to an instruction, e.g. the time between data being requested from a memory device and the time when the data is returned.
• 
• latency
  In a network, the time it takes for a package or packet of data to move across a network connection.
• 
• launch
  To make publicly available a program or other software.
• 
• layering
  Layering is a technique used in graphics in which an image is built up in layers.
• 
• layout
  In desk top publishing and related applications, the arrangement of text, pictures etc. on a page.
• 
• legend
  In a chart, e.g. in a spreadsheet, the legend identifies the patterns or colours that represent the data or categories.
• 
• licence
  When software is purchased there will be a software licence (also known as the licence agreement or end user licence agreement, EULA) which gives conditions for the use of the software. These conditions vary considerably between products. Any use of the software not allowed by its licence is illegal.
• 
• light emitting diode (LED)
  Some semiconductor diodes emit light when voltage is applied to them. They use little power and they give off no heat. They are commonly used as indicator lights on devices such as disk drives.
• 
• line
  A row of text or characters on a page.
• 
• line art
  Images which consist of black and white only, and have no shades of grey.
• 
• line break
  The place where a line of printed text ends.
• 
• line feed
  In a printer, the paper feed mechanism is the means of making the paper move through the printing process. Many printers require line feed, where the paper is moved after a line (or sometimes half a line) has been printed, compared with, for example, laser printers which eject one page at a time, known as page feed.