WhatIs

/win-che-stər/

n. Informal generic term for floating-head magnetic-disk drives in which the read-write head planes over the disk surface on an air cushion. The name arose because the original 1973 engineering prototype for what later became the IBM 3340 featured two 30-megabyte volumes; 30--30 became Winchester when somebody noticed the similarity to the common term for a famous Winchester rifle (in the latter, the first 30 referred to caliber and the second to the grain weight of the charge).

/win win/

interj. Expresses pleasure at a win.

/win big/

vi. To experience serendipity.

"I went shopping and won big; there was a 2-for-1 sale."

See big win.

/win/

[MIT]

1. vi. To succeed. A program wins if no unexpected conditions arise, or (especially) if it sufficiently robust to take exceptions in stride.

2. n. Success, or a specific instance thereof. A pleasing outcome. A feature. Emphatic forms: moby win, super win, hyper-win (often used interjectively as a reply). For some reason suitable win is also common at MIT, usually in reference to a satisfactory solution to a problem.

/W-I-M-P in-vī-rə(n)-mənt/

n. [acronymic from Window, Icon, Menu, Pointing device (or Pull-down menu)]

A graphical-user-interface-based environment such as X or the Macintosh interface, as described by a hacker who prefers command-line interfaces for their superior flexibility and extensibility.

See menuitis, user-obsequious.

/wi-gəlz/

n. [scientific computation]

In solving partial differential equations by finite difference and similar methods, wiggles are sawtooth (up-down-up-down) oscillations at the shortest wavelength representable on the grid. If an algorithm is unstable, this is often the most unstable waveform, so it grows to dominate the solution. Alternatively, stable (though inaccurate) wiggles can be generated near a discontinuity by a Gibbs phenomenon.

/wi-jət/

n. 

1. A meta-thing. Used to stand for a real object in didactic examples (especially database tutorials). Legend has it that the original widgets were holders for buggy whips.

   "But suppose the parts list for a widget has 52 entries..."

2. [poss. evoking window gadget] A user interface object in X graphical user interfaces.

/W-I-B-N-I/

[Bell Labs: Wouldn't It Be Nice If]

n. What most requirements documents and specifications consist entirely of.

Compare IWBNI.

/(h)wi-zē/

[Sun]

adj. (alt. wizzy) Describes a cuspy program; one that is feature-rich and well presented.

/(h)wīt bu̇k/

n. Syn. K&R.