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Please select the letter to see terminology.
Hacker - A computer enthusiast who enjoys learning everything about a computer system and, through clever programming, pushes the system to its highest possible level of performance. Often confused with crackers, these hobbyists are skilled programmers with the reputation of having a mischievous bent for breaking into secured systems. In one sense, a hacker is a person who enjoys programming rather than just theorizing about it. In another sense, the term "hacker" tends to connote membership within a global community defined by computer networks; it implies that the person subscribes to some version of the hacker ethic. Hacking has been going on since computers were invented, and sometimes there have been extremely damaging consequences. A variety of old-time hackers have now "gone commercial" and taken hacking to the business level (they are now referred to as "ethical hackers").
For example, they use their hacking skills to develop penetration tools, and then they go out and analyze a customer's networks for security vulnerabilities, in order to report the findings back to the customer. Hacker wannabes take note: It is better to be described as a hacker by others than to describe oneself that way. Most hackers consider themselves something of an elite (a meritocracy based on ability), although new members are said to be gladly welcome.
HDML - Hand Held Device Markup Language - The HTML for PDAs, it is a computer language used to define hypertext-like content and applications for handheld devices that have small display screens. HDML is designed to leverage the infrastructure and protocols of the World Wide Web while providing an efficient markup language for wireless and other handheld devices.
Congruent with the capabilities and limitations of many handheld devices, HDML's focus goes beyond presentation and layout. HDML provides an explicit navigation model that does not rely upon the visual context required of HTML. As such, HDML offers an efficient means for delivering content over the Web to handheld devices, such as cell phones, pagers, and wireless PDAs.
Heuristics - Refers to common-sense rules drawn from experience. As opposed to algorithmic programming (which is based on mathematically provable procedures), heuristic programming is characterized by programs that are self-learning, meaning they get better with experience. Heuristic programs do not always reach the best result but they usually produce a good result.
Hierarchy - "Hierarchy" refers to a Web site's structure, with "the top-level pages" and "secondary pages" placed at the top of a navigational flow chart.
Hit - The request for and delivery of a file (such as a Web page) on a server. Each element of a requested page (including graphics, multimedia, and the HTML file itself) is counted as an individual hit. So, if a Web page contains five graphics, then accessing that page will generate six hits. Hits were originally used to determine the amount of traffic a Web site received, but since businesses eventually needed to isolate the exact number of times a Web page was requested (in order to charge for ad banners), the method of counting hits was tossed aside. Instead, businesses count the actual HTML page requests. There was also a time when, in an effort to say that such-and-such Web site got more hits, programmers and designers were told to add as many elements as possible, to make the number of hits look higher. In actuality, all this trick did was slow down the download speed of the pages. "Hit," as a verb, can mean "press down," as in, "Hit any key."
Homestead - A Web site that is built at a Web hosting company but doesn't have its own domain name. Geocities, Tripod, and Homestead are popular Web hosting companies that host "homesteads."
Host - A computer that functions as the beginning and end point of data transfers. It is most commonly thought of as the place where your Web site resides. An Internet host has a unique Internet address (IP address) and a unique domain name or host name. A host can also refer to a Web hosting company.
HTML - or HyperText Markup Language, is the language that Web developers and designers use to create Web pages and format content for display in Web browsers.
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