ENVIRONMENTÜ

noun (Science and Technology) In computing jargon, the overall structure (such as an operating system, a collection of software tools, etc.) within which a user, a computer, or a program operates or through which access can be gained to individual programs. Etymology: Another specialized use of the sense described above; the environment is still the sum total of the surrounding structure, but limited to the restricted world of the computer system. This metaphor of a restricted world is often extended to refer to the ability of a computer user to communicate only in one programming or operating language while in that language's environment, as if in a foreign country where only that language is spoken. History and Usage: Computer scientists have spoken of an integrated structure of tools or an operating system as an environment since at least the early sixties. What brought the term into popular use was the rapid development of home and personal computing in the late seventies and eighties. In Applications-by-Forms, the 4GL development environment, the interface includes a visual catalog for ease of use. UnixWorld Sept. 1989, p. 142 Designed with the user in mind, the A500 features a friendly WIMP environment and comes supplied with a free mouse. CU Amiga Apr. 1990, p. 93