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Dictionary of information technology
NEW BOOKS Dictionary of Information Technology Edited by Michael Shain and Dennis Longley Macmillan Press Ltd, October 1 9 8 2 , 4 5 0 pp., £15.00 With the ever-increasing proliferation of information technology, from automated office systems to satellite TV, it is astonishing that up to now there has been no comprehensive reference book on the subject. More and more people are coming into contact with the new technologies, willingly or otherwise, only to find themselves confronted with a baffling array of jargon. Even the specialists can have problems in relating one field to another since the terminologies are so varied, yet the interdisciplinary nature of information technology often makes that cross-relation necessary. To make matters worse, the same term can have different meanings when used in different contexts, so that 'page', for example, means three different things in word processing, computing and videotex. The Dictionary of Information Technology is designed to overcome such confusion. It gives concise definitions of over 6000 terms used in all branches of information technology, making it clear which area they are used in, and distinguishing between meanings acquired in different contexts. For example, the entry for 'page' reads:
page (1) In word processing, the amount of text designated by the operator to fit onto a sheet of paper. The usually accepted maximum for an A4 sheet is 52 single spaced lines of 80 characters, i.e. 4160. (2) in computing, an area of storage space. (3) In videotex, a screenful of information (24 lines x 40 characters) that can be accessed directly. COMPARE frame In addition to these 6000 entries, there are a number of long e'ssays of 100 words or more which cover the major themes. These include such topics as word processing, viewdata, computer networks, type-setting, micro-electronics, information technology, computer programming, consumer electronics, office systems, microcomputers and educational technology.
Numerical Methods: A Software Approach R. L. Johnston John Wiley. Chichester, 1 9 8 2 , 4 0 0 pp., 533.20/£18.45 ISBN 0471 093971 Demonstrates how to intelligently use software without an extensive numerical analysis background. Using a software approach to teaching numerical methods, it provides thorough treatment of Linear Algebra and an introduction with programming hints and hardware considerations. It includes many examples, illustrations, exercises, and an appendix containing lists of commonly available software.
ADA: A Programmer's Conversion Course M. J. Stratford-Collins Ellis Horwood Ltd, Chichester, 1982, 192 pp. $28.25/ £14.50 ISBN 085312 4167 This book presents an attractive introduction to ADA for all computing professionals, and will give the reader a sound working knowledge of ADA. It is primarily a readable book, which provides the computer programmer with a knowledge of the basic elements of the language, from types to the i n p u t - o u t p u t facilities; and also has the qualities of a reference manual.
The author commences with an analysis of a simple program fragment, giving a 'flavour' for the language. He continues with an investigation of the basic control structures available to the ADA programmer (loop, while, for, exit, if, case, goto and raise) which are used to change the sequence of statement execution from the normal line-byline pattern. The themes of data abstraction and representation are expanded: a chapter is devoted to procedures and functions (known collectively in ADA as subprograms), and there is an exploration of one of ADA's most powerful features, packages, and their effects on the visibility and scoping rules. The characteristics and uses of generic program units are investigated, as are the ADA constructs which support the generation and maintenance of tasks. The book rounds off by drawing together the threads of the previous chapters, and weaving them into an illustration of the structure of ADA program units, and in the interactions between such units and the scope and visibility of identifiers. Appendices conclude, covering language syntax definitions and reserved words.
Feedback Design of Systems with Significant Uncertainty M. J. Ashworth John Wiley, Chichester, 1982, 264 pp., $39.50/£16.75 ISBN 0471 10213X The motivation for this monograph springs from the awareness that there is a real need to establish securely the foundations of the graduate engineer in the s u b j e c t - for him to be fully conscious of the need for and the implications of feedback control in any given situation. The text is based upon a series of lectures on control system design presented to final-year engineering undergraduates at the Royal Naval Engineering College in Plymouth. The principal objective of the author was to present the fundamental principles of sensitivity design and indeed the fundamental need for feedback in a way which was readily understood by engineering students and practising engineers alike and which would engender the proper exploitation of feedback. Additionally, a variety of approaches to reducing the effect of noise disturbance have been brought together. Finally, the practical performance limitations imposed by power drive saturation are discussed and the optimal solution presented in frequency-domain terms. Three very important problems of design have been brought together plant variation, disturbance and saturation.
How to Patent Computer Programs S. Pal Asi/a Research Press Inc. This is a book explaining how to patent a computer program. Like all patentable inventions, not every program will be patentable. It must be genuinely unusual - a program that is not obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art of computer programming. But if a program has the unique qualities of an otherwise patentable invention, it is no longer excluded from patent consideration merely because it is a computer program. This unique 'How To' guide should be a necessary reference in the library of every company that develops any type of proprietary computer program, every attorney who is involved in copyright or patent law, and attorneys or accountants who are involved with research and developed ventures.
Adv. Eng. Software, 1983, Vol. 5, No. 2
119
page (1) In word processing, the amount of text designated by the operator to fit onto a sheet of paper. The usually accepted maximum for an A4 sheet is 52 single spaced lines of 80 characters, i.e. 4160. (2) in computing, an area of storage space. (3) In videotex, a screenful of information (24 lines x 40 characters) that can be accessed directly. COMPARE frame In addition to these 6000 entries, there are a number of long e'ssays of 100 words or more which cover the major themes. These include such topics as word processing, viewdata, computer networks, type-setting, micro-electronics, information technology, computer programming, consumer electronics, office systems, microcomputers and educational technology.
Numerical Methods: A Software Approach R. L. Johnston John Wiley. Chichester, 1 9 8 2 , 4 0 0 pp., 533.20/£18.45 ISBN 0471 093971 Demonstrates how to intelligently use software without an extensive numerical analysis background. Using a software approach to teaching numerical methods, it provides thorough treatment of Linear Algebra and an introduction with programming hints and hardware considerations. It includes many examples, illustrations, exercises, and an appendix containing lists of commonly available software.
ADA: A Programmer's Conversion Course M. J. Stratford-Collins Ellis Horwood Ltd, Chichester, 1982, 192 pp. $28.25/ £14.50 ISBN 085312 4167 This book presents an attractive introduction to ADA for all computing professionals, and will give the reader a sound working knowledge of ADA. It is primarily a readable book, which provides the computer programmer with a knowledge of the basic elements of the language, from types to the i n p u t - o u t p u t facilities; and also has the qualities of a reference manual.
The author commences with an analysis of a simple program fragment, giving a 'flavour' for the language. He continues with an investigation of the basic control structures available to the ADA programmer (loop, while, for, exit, if, case, goto and raise) which are used to change the sequence of statement execution from the normal line-byline pattern. The themes of data abstraction and representation are expanded: a chapter is devoted to procedures and functions (known collectively in ADA as subprograms), and there is an exploration of one of ADA's most powerful features, packages, and their effects on the visibility and scoping rules. The characteristics and uses of generic program units are investigated, as are the ADA constructs which support the generation and maintenance of tasks. The book rounds off by drawing together the threads of the previous chapters, and weaving them into an illustration of the structure of ADA program units, and in the interactions between such units and the scope and visibility of identifiers. Appendices conclude, covering language syntax definitions and reserved words.
Feedback Design of Systems with Significant Uncertainty M. J. Ashworth John Wiley, Chichester, 1982, 264 pp., $39.50/£16.75 ISBN 0471 10213X The motivation for this monograph springs from the awareness that there is a real need to establish securely the foundations of the graduate engineer in the s u b j e c t - for him to be fully conscious of the need for and the implications of feedback control in any given situation. The text is based upon a series of lectures on control system design presented to final-year engineering undergraduates at the Royal Naval Engineering College in Plymouth. The principal objective of the author was to present the fundamental principles of sensitivity design and indeed the fundamental need for feedback in a way which was readily understood by engineering students and practising engineers alike and which would engender the proper exploitation of feedback. Additionally, a variety of approaches to reducing the effect of noise disturbance have been brought together. Finally, the practical performance limitations imposed by power drive saturation are discussed and the optimal solution presented in frequency-domain terms. Three very important problems of design have been brought together plant variation, disturbance and saturation.
How to Patent Computer Programs S. Pal Asi/a Research Press Inc. This is a book explaining how to patent a computer program. Like all patentable inventions, not every program will be patentable. It must be genuinely unusual - a program that is not obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art of computer programming. But if a program has the unique qualities of an otherwise patentable invention, it is no longer excluded from patent consideration merely because it is a computer program. This unique 'How To' guide should be a necessary reference in the library of every company that develops any type of proprietary computer program, every attorney who is involved in copyright or patent law, and attorneys or accountants who are involved with research and developed ventures.
Adv. Eng. Software, 1983, Vol. 5, No. 2
119