Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) Definition An entity relationship diagram (ERD), also known as an entity relationship model, is a graphical representation of an information system that depicts the relationships among people, objects, places, concepts or events within that system. An ERD is a data modelingechnique that can help define business processes and be used as the foundation for a relational database. Importance of ERDs and their uses Entity relationship diagrams provide a visu...

Source Code Definition Source code is the fundamental component of a computer program that is created by a programmer. It can be read and easily understood by a human being. When a programmer types a sequence of C language statements into Windows Notepad, for example, and saves the sequence as a text file, the text file is said to contain the source code. Source code and object code are sometimes referred to as the "before" and "after" versions of a compiled computer program. For script (n...

Algorithm Definition An algorithm (pronounced AL-go-rith-um) is a procedure or formula for solving a problem, based on conductiong a sequence of specified actions. A computer program can be viewed as an elaborate algorithm. In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm usually means a small procedure that solves a recurrent problem. Algorithms are widely used throughout all areas of IT (information technology). A search enginealgorithm, for example, takes search strings of keywords and o...

Meta Definition Meta is a prefix that in most information technology usages means "an underlying definition or description." Thus, metadata is a definition or description of data and metalanguage is a definition or description of language. Meta (pronounced MEH-tah in the U.S. and MEE-tah in the U.K.) derives from Greek, meaning "among, with, after, change." Whereas in some English words the prefix indicates "change" (for example, metamorphosis), in others, including those related to data and ...

C++ Definition C++ is an object-oriented programming (OOP) language that is viewed by many as the best language for creating large-scale applications. C++ is a superset of the C language. A related programming language, Java, is based on C++ but optimized for the distribution of program objects in a network such as the Internet. Java is somewhat simpler and easier to learn than C++ and has characteristics that give it other advantages over C++. However, both languages require a considerabl...

C Definition C is a structured, procedural programming language that has been widely used both for operating systems and applications and that has had a wide following in the academic community. Many versions of UNIX-based operating systems are written in C. C has been standardized as part of the Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX). With the increasing popularity of object-oriented programming, C is being rapidly replaced as "the" programming language by C++, a superset of the C la...