<programming, operating system> (Or "application", "app") A complete, self-contained program that performs a specific function directly for the user. This is in contrast to system software such as the operating system kernel, server processes, libraries which exists to support application programs and utility programs. Editors for various kinds of documents, spreadsheets, and text formatters are common examples of applications. Network applications include clients such as those for FTP, electronic mail, telnet and WWW. The term is used fairly loosely, for instance, some might say that a client and server together form a distributed application, others might argue that editors and compilers were not applications but utility programs for building applications. One distinction between an application program and the operating system is that applications always run in {user mode} (or "non-privileged mode"), while operating systems and related utilities may run in supervisor mode (or "privileged mode"). The term may also be used to distinguish programs which communicate via a graphical user interface from those which are executed from the command line. (2007-02-02)

<programming> (API, or "application programming interface") The interface (calling conventions) by which an {application program} accesses operating system and other services. An API is defined at source code level and provides a level of abstraction between the application and the kernel (or other privileged utilities) to ensure the portability of the code. An API can also provide an interface between a {high level language} and lower level utilities and services which were written without consideration for the calling conventions supported by compiled languages. In this case, the API's main task may be the translation of parameter lists from one format to another and the interpretation of call-by-value and call-by-reference arguments in one or both directions. (1995-02-15)

Application Program Interface

Application Programming Interface

An application program (software application, or application, or app for short) is a computer program designed to carry out a specific task other than one relating to the operation of the computer itself, typically to be used by end-users. Word processors, media players, and accounting software are examples.

application program

application program

An application programming interface key (API key) is a unique identifier used to authenticate a user, developer, or calling program to an API. However, they are typically used to authenticate a project with the API rather than a human user.

<programming, standard> (SAPI) Microsoft's standard API for speech synthesis and speech recognition in Windows 95. The idea is to let developers try out and use various low-level speech software from any number of verndors, while retaining the same API. Mike Rozak is the lead of the SAPI project at Microsoft. Numerous major speech vendors have announced SAPI-support plans. SRAPI, the competing speech recognition API by Lotus/WordPerfect, is fast becoming obsolete. (1996-03-04)