WhatIs

/en/

quant. 1. A large and indeterminate number of objects:

"There were N bugs in that crock!"

Also used in its original sense of a variable name:

"This crock has N bugs, as N goes to infinity."

(The true number of bugs is always at least N + 1.)

/ˌmaɪˌɛs kjuːˈɛl/

MySQL, pronounced as /ˌmaɪˌɛs kjuːˈɛl/, is an open-source relational database management system (RDBMS) that has gained widespread popularity for its efficiency, reliability, and ease of use. It is commonly used to store, manage, and retrieve data in various applications, from small-scale projects to large enterprise systems.

/mə-tər/

vt. To quietly enter a command not meant for the ears, eyes, or fingers of ordinary mortals. Often used in 'mutter an incantation'.

See also wizard.

/myü-zik/

n. A common extracurricular interest of hackers (compare science-fiction fandom, oriental food; see also filk). Hackish folklore has long claimed that musical and programming abilities are closely related, and there has been at least one large-scale statistical study that supports this. Hackers, as a rule, like music and often develop musical appreciation in unusual and interesting directions.

/mər-fēs lȯ/

prov. The correct, *original* Murphy's Law reads:

"If there are two or more ways to do something, and one of those ways can result in a catastrophe, then someone will do it."

/məŋ/

alt. munge /muhnj/ [in 1960 at MIT, Mash Until No Good; sometime after that the derivation from the recursive acronym Mung Until No Good became standard]

vt. 1. To make changes to a file, esp. large-scale and irrevocable changes. See BLT.

/mən-dān/

[from SF fandom]

n. 1. A person who is not in science fiction fandom.

2. A person who is not in the computer industry. In this sense, most often an adjectival modifier as in "in my mundane life..."

See also Real World.

/mənch-kin/

[from the squeaky-voiced little people in L. Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz]

n. A teenage-or-younger micro enthusiast hacking BASIC or something else equally constricted. A term of mild derision -- munchkins are annoying but some grow up to be hackers after passing through a larval stage. The term urchin is also used.

See also wannabee, bitty box.

/mənchiŋ skwers/

n. A display-hack dating back to the PDP-1 (ca. 1962, reportedly discovered by Jackson Wright), which employs a trivial computation (repeatedly plotting the graph Y = X XOR T for successive values of T -- see HAKMEM items 146--148) to produce an impressive display of moving and growing squares that devour the screen. The initial value of T is treated as a parameter, which, when well-chosen, can produce amazing effects.

/mənchiŋ/

n. Exploration of security holes of someone else's computer for thrills, notoriety, or to annoy the system manager.

Compare cracker.

See also hacked off.