Look it up in your FOLDOC

by Bruce Spencer | Feb 14, 2000 8:00:00 AM

Tags: Bruce Spencer

Takeaway: Make the Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing your one-stop source for definitions of industry jargon, acronyms, and other IT terminology.

Got too many acronyms, jargon, and terms rattling around your head? Are you finding it hard to keep track of all of them? Well, free up some mental cache with the Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing (FOLDOC).

The FOLDOC is a searchable online dictionary of computer terms designed as a one-stop computing reference source. The dictionary includes acronyms, jargon, programming languages, tools, architectures, operating systems, communications, networking, theory, conventions, standards, institutions, companies, projects, products, history, and more.

The FOLDOC was conceived in 1985 by Denis Howe of the Department of Computing at Imperial College, London. Howe first made the dictionary available via anonymous FTP and then launched a Web site in 1994.

The dictionary now contains more than 12,000 computing definitions. Although it lacks the volume of entries found in many computing dictionary books, it has advantages that only an online resource can provide.

Like what, you ask? Well, for example, the FOLDOC contains cross-references to related definitions, pointers to other resources on the Internet, and a bibliographical reference to paper publications.

Since the dictionary is continuously updated, information is much more current than paper publications. In addition, the site is constantly changing with information provided by users, who contribute new terms and corrections to existing terms.

You can query the FOLDOC with a simple search engine, and the cross-references found in each citation make digging deeper into a definition a snap. There are also alphabetical and subject listings for browsing.

The FOLDOC is freely available on the Internet via the Web. The two UK servers, FOLDOC/wombat and FOLDOC, receive more than 10,000 hits daily. The servers may not always be available, as their main function is for university research. But FOLDOC is available at many mirror sites around the Web. Here are some of the main mirror sites:


Downloads
You can download a copy of the FOLDOC for offline use from the main Web site or any of the mirror sites. The dictionary is stored as a single source file (just over 4 MB) in a simplified, editable markup that is converted to HTML on the fly by a Perl CGI script.

Although the dictionary is copyrighted (1993-1999), Howe allows users to post the FOLDOC on their sites as long as they refer to the dictionary as "The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing” and include his name as the editor. InstantWeb’s FOLDOC site is one good download source.

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Bruce Spencer covers e-commerce and other information technology topics regularly for TechRepublic. His WebReviews appear weekly on AdminRepublic.

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