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(This Foreword is not a part of IEEE Std 610.12-1990, IEEE Standard Glossary of Software Engineering Terminology.)

The computer field is continuing to expand. New terms are being generated and new meanings are being adopted for existing terms. The IEEE Computer Dictionary project was undertaken to document this vocabulary. Its purpose is to identify terms currently in use in the computer field and to establish standard definitions for these terms. The dictionary is intended to serve as a useful reference for those in the computer field and for those who come into contact with computers either through their work or in their everyday lives.

The dictionary is being developed as a set of subject-area glossaries covering Computer Architecture, Computer Processors, Computer Storage, Software Engineering, Mathematics of Computing, Theory of Computation, Computer Applications, Artificial Intelligence, Data Management, Image Processing and Pattern Recognition, Modeling and Simulation, Computer Graphics, Computer Networking, Computer Languages, and Computer Security and Privacy. This glossary contains the terms related to Software Engineering. It updates IEEE Std 729-1983, IEEE Standard Glossary of Software Engineering Terminology (ANSI).

Every effort has been made to use definitions from established standards in this dictionary. When existing standards were found to be incomplete, unclear, or inconsistent with other entries in the dictionary, however, new, revised, or composite definitions have been developed.

This glossary defines terms in the field of Software Engineering. Topics covered include addressing; assembling, compiling, linking, loading; computer performance evaluation; configuration management; data types; errors, faults, and failures; evaluation techniques; instruction types; language types; libraries; microprogramming; operating systems; quality attributes; software documentation; software and system testing; software architecture; software development process; software development techniques; and software tools.

Every effort has been made to include all terms that meet these criteria. Terms were excluded if they were considered to be parochial to one group or organization; company proprietary or trademarked; multi-word terms whose meaning could be inferred from the definitions of the component words; or terms whose meaning in the computer field could be directly inferred from their standard English meaning.

This glossary is an update and expansion of IEEE Std 729-1983, IEEE Standard Glossary of Software Engineering Terminology (ANSI) [3].¹ It increases the number of terms from approximately 500 to 1300, and updates or refines the definitions of many terms included in the initial glossary. A few terms that were included in the initial glossary have been moved to other glossaries in the 610 series. Some definitions have been recast in a system, rather than software, context. Every effort has been made to preserve the fine work that went into the initial glossary.