1. Assignment 2 – Task 3
Glossary of Terms
RAM- RAM is made up of small memory chips that form a memory module. These modules
are installed in the RAM slots on the motherboard of your computer. Every time you open a
program, it gets loaded from the hard drive into the RAM. This is because reading data from
the RAM is much faster than reading data from the hard drive.
CPU- Stands for "Central Processing Unit." This is the pretty much the brain of your
computer. It processes everything from basic instructions to complex functions. Any time
something needs to be computed, it gets sent to the CPU.
Graphics Processor- Stands for "Graphics Processing Unit." Like the CPU (Central Processing
Unit), it is a single-chip processor. However, the GPU is used primarily for computing 3D
functions. This includes things such as lighting effects, object transformations, and 3D
motion.
Video Display/Output- Video output is the type of output that a TV uses to show a picture.
There are a number of different types of video output currently available including; LCD,
Plasma and LED.
Sound/Audio- Sound or Audio on a console is how someone is able to hear what is
happening in a game. This sound can come from different methods including; a Scart lead or
surround sound.
Storage Media- Computer data storage, often called storage or memory, is a technology
consisting of computer components and recording media used to retain digital data. It is a
core function and fundamental component of computers. The central processing unit (CPU)
of a computer is what manipulates data by performing computations.
Power Supply- The power supply is what powers the console, it can vary in size and place for
example on the PlayStation 4 the power supply is located within the console but on the
Xbox one the power supply is located externally.
Software Kernel- In computing, the kernel is a computer program that manages
input/output requests from software and translates them into data processing instructions
for the central processing unit and other electronic components of a computer. The kernel is
a fundamental part of a modern computer's operating system.
HCI- Human–computer interaction (HCI) involves the study, planning, design and uses of the
interaction between people (users) and computers. It is often regarded as the intersection
of computer science, behavioral sciences, design and several other fields of study.

2. LAN- A local area network (LAN) is a group of computers and associated devices that share a
common communications line or wireless link. Typically, connected devices share the
resources of a single processor or server within a small geographic area (for example, within
an office building). Usually, the server has applications and data storage that are shared in
common by multiple computer users.
GPRS- Short for General Packet Radio Service, a standard for wireless communications
which runs at speeds up to 115 kilobits per second, compared with current GSM (Global
System for Mobile Communications) systems' 9.6 kilobits.
WAP- Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is a technical standard for accessing information
over a mobile wireless network. A WAP browser is a web browser for mobile devices such as
mobile phones that uses the protocol.
Cache- In computing, a cache is a component that transparently stores data so that future
requests for that data can be served faster. The data that is stored within a cache might be
values that have been computed earlier or duplicates of original values that are stored
elsewhere.
MCP- NVidia’s Media Communications Processor (MCP) for nforce 6 offers six Serial
ATA/300 ports with NCQ and a total of 10 USB 2.0 ports. The fact that the nforce 680i SLI
chipset offers the best feature set of all the core logic products for Core 2 Duo does not
necessarily mean that it does everything best as well.
2D v 3D Graphics Processing- 2D computer graphics are the computer-based generation of
digital images mostly from models, such as digital image, and by techniques specific to
them. 3D graphics compared to 2D graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional
representation of geometric data. For the purpose of performance this is stored in the
computer. This includes images that may be for later display or for real-time viewing.
Subscription TV- Subscription TV is a type of TV service where the customer must pay a
monthly bill in order to use the service. Subscription TV can vary in price depending on what
the subscription package entails.
ETV- Enhanced Television (ETV) is a collection of specifications developed under the
OpenCable project of CableLabs (Cable Television Laboratories, Inc.) that define an ETV
Application consisting of resources (files) adhering to the Enhanced TV Binary Interchange
Format (EBIF).
API- Application programming interface
Interpreted programming languages for games- An interpreted language is a kind of
programming language that relies on another piece of software called an interpreter to run.
Most programming languages rely on a compiler, which changes the code into a set of

3. instructions that are specifically designed for a particular type of machine and operating
system.
Compiled Programming languages for games- A compiled language is a programming
language whose implementations are typically compilers (translators that generate machine
code from source code), and not interpreters (step-by-step executors of source code, where
no pre-runtime translation takes place).
Object-oriented programming- Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a programming
paradigm that represents the concept of "objects" that have data fields (attributes that
describe the object) and associated procedures known as methods. Objects, which are
usually instances of classes, are used to interact with one another to design applications and
computer programs.
Scripting languages for games- There are many scripting languages suited to such a
task. Lua is perhaps the most popular game scripting language. Other choices include:
AngelScript, GameMonkey, Io, Pawn, Squirrel, and Scheme. Sometimes heavy-weight
languages are also used, like Python or Ruby. These languages are usually quite a bit harder
to embed, and aren’t know for their speed.