real-time
1. Describes an application which requires a program to respond to stimuli
within some small upper limit of response time (typically milli- or
microseconds). Process control at a chemical plant is the classic example. Such
applications often require special operating systems (because everything else
must take a back seat to response time) and speed-tuned hardware.
2. In jargon, refers to doing something while people are watching or waiting. "I
asked her how to find the calling procedure's program counter on the stack and
she came up with an algorithm in real time."
Used to describe a system that must guarantee a response to an external event
within a given time.
(1997-11-23)
Nearby terms:
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