Algorithm :-: A set of ordered steps for solving a problem, such as a mathematical formula or the instructions in a program. The terms algorithm and logic are synonymous. Both refer to a sequence of steps to solve a problem.

Barcode :-: A series of vertical bars of varying widths, in which each of the digits zero through nine are represented by a different pattern of bars that can be read by a laser scanner. The bars are commonly found on consumer products and are used especially for inventory control.

Barter :-: Exchange of goods

Biometric devices :-: Devices that provide biological identification of a person, which includes eyes, voice, handprints, fingerprints and hand-written signatures.

B2C :-: Business to Consumer

CIO :-: Computer Integrated Office

CMM :-: Capability Maturity Model

Commodity :-: Article of trade

CRM :-: (Customer Relationship Management) An integrated information system that is used to plan, schedule and control the presales and postsales activities in an organization.

ERP :-: Enterprise Resource Planning

Extranet :-: An extension of an institution's intranet, especially over the World Wide Web, enabling communication between the institution and people it deals with, often by providing limited access to its intranet.

Intranet :-: A privately maintained computer network that can be accessed only by authorized persons, especially members or employees of the organization that owns it.

Invoice :-: A detailed list of goods shipped or services rendered, with an account of all costs; an itemized bill.

ISO :-: International Organization for Standardization

JCE :-: Java Cryptography Extensions

JDO :-: Java Data Object

Legacy System :-: large software systems that we don’t know how to cope with but that are vital to our organization. The implication is that the system is large, monolithic and difficult to modify.

Merchandise Class :-: sub category

Module :-: A portion of a program that carries out a specific function and may be used alone or combined with other modules of the same program.

PDA :-: Personal Digital Assistant : PDAs are basically beefed-up organizers or toned-down laptops. They have small LCD screens, some form of pen or keyboard input, and software for organization, OCR, and contact management. Some have even more features, such as Web browsing or Internet e-mail. Most PDAs are designed to fit in one hand while you use the other hand for input.

Portals :-: A Web "supersite" that provides a variety of services including Web searching, news, white and yellow pages directories, free e-mail, discussion groups, online shopping and links to other sites. Web portals are the Web equivalent of the original online services such as CompuServe and AOL.

SDLC :-: System Development Life Cycle is the process of developing information systems through investigation, analysis, design, implementation and maintenance.

SEI :-: (Software Engineering Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, www.sei.cmu.edu) A federally funded research and development center that is under contract to Carnegie Mellon University and is devoted to the advancement of software engineering and the quality of software support systems.

Shopping Cart :-: The online equivalent of the supermarket cart. You place your merchandise in the cart and then check out when you are all finished.

Socket :-: The method of directing data to the appropriate application in a TCP/IP network. The combination of the IP address of the station and a port number make up a socket. See TCP/IP also.

TCP/IP :-: Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol : A protocol for communication between computers, used as a standard for transmitting data over networks and as the basis for standard Internet protocols.

Web Service :-: Web-based applications that dynamically interact with other Web applications using open standards like XML. Such applications typically run behind the scenes, one program "talking to" another (server to server). Microsoft's .NET and Sun's Sun ONE (J2EE) are the major development platforms that natively support these standards.