no-op
/noh'op/ alt. NOP /nop/ [no operation] 1. A machine instruction that does
nothing (sometimes used in assembler-level programming as filler for data or
patch areas, or to overwrite code to be removed in binaries). See also JFCL.
2. A person who contributes nothing to a project, or has nothing going on
upstairs, or both. As in "He's a no-op."
3. Any operation or sequence of operations with no effect, such as circling the
block without finding a parking space, or putting money into a vending machine
and having it fall immediately into the coin-return box, or asking someone for
help and being told to go away. "Oh, well, that was a no-op." Hot-and-sour soup
that is insufficiently either is "no-op soup"; so is wonton soup if everybody
else is having hot-and-sour.
[Jargon File]
(1994-12-02)
Nearby terms:
non-volatile memory « Non-Volatile Random Access
Memory « non-volatile storage « no-op » NOR »
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