For most people the words used to describe<br >computers are a whole new language. You<br >need a dictionary to read a computer<br >magazine or book， or even an<br >advertisement for a new computer. This<br >book is a guide to the words a beginner<br >needs to know in order to read or talk about<br >computers. For each word there is a written<br >definition and many of the words are<br >illustrated as well. The words have been<br >specially chosen for people using a home<br >computer， or microcomputer， and there are<br >also a few more advanced words to start<br >you off on more specialized reading.<br >All specialized subjects have their own<br >jargon so that experts can talk and write<br >about them. For instance， mathematicians<br >have maths words， musicians need musical<br >terms and engineers have their own<br >technical terms. Computers are such a new<br >technological development that lots of new<br >words have had to be invented to describe<br >things which never existed before. The<br >words have come from lots of different<br >sources. There are words from our normal<br >language which have been given new twists<br >of meaning， technical terms， manufacturer s<br >trade names， abbreviations made into<br >words and slang words. There s even a<br >jargon word for all these words-<br >buzzwords!<br > New words are being invented all the<br >time， so no book of computer jargon can be<br >entirely up to date. This book， though， gives<br >you all the words you need to gain a basic<br >understanding of computers and you will<br >soon find that learning about them is not as<br >difficult as the jargon makes it seem.<br >Howto use this book<br >The words in this book are arranged thematically， that is， by subject. For example， all<br >the words to do with programs are listed together， and so are the graphics words，<br >memory words and words to describe the parts inside a computer. The main subjects<br >are given in the contents list on the opposite page.<br > To find the explanation for a word you do not understand， look it up inthe<br >Wordfinder at the back of the book. The main explanation of the word is given on the<br >page number printed in bold type， like this. Other page numbers are places where<br >you can find out more about the word. In the text， words which you may not<br >understand are printed in bold type to show that they are explained in the book and<br >you can look them up in the Wordfinder.<br >