backward compatibility
<jargon> Able to share data or commands with older versions of itself, or
sometimes other older systems, particularly systems it intends to supplant.
Sometimes backward compatibility is limited to being able to read old data but
does not extend to being able to write data in a format that can be read by old
versions.
For example, WordPerfect 6.0 can read WordPerfect 5.1 files, so it is backward
compatible. It can be said that Perl is backward compatible with awk, because
Perl was (among other things) intended to replace awk, and can, with a
converter, run awk programs.
See also: backward combatability.
Compare: forward compatible.
(2003-06-23)
Nearby terms:
backward analysis « backward chaining « backward
combatability « backward compatibility » backward
compatible » backwards compatibility » backwards compatible
