Glossary M
- main program
- A program unit containing a PROGRAM statement (or not
containing a SUBROUTINE, FUNCTION, or BLOCK DATA statement). The main program is the
first program unit to receive control when a program is run, and exercises
control over subprograms. Contrast with subprogram.
- makefile
- On Tru64 UNIX and Linux systems, an argument to the make command containing
a sequence of entries that specify dependencies. On Windows systems, a
file passed to the NMAKE utility containing a sequence of
entries that specify dependencies. The contents of a makefile override the
system built-in rules for maintaining, updating, and regenerating groups
of programs.
For more information on makefiles for Tru64 UNIX and Linux systems, see make(1).
For more information on makefiles for Windows systems, see
Building Projects with NMAKE in
the Programmer's Guide.
- many-one
array section
- An array section with a vector subscript having two or more elements
with the same value.
- metacommand
- See compiler
directive.
- misaligned data
- Data not aligned on a natural boundary. See also
natural boundary.
- module
- A program unit that contains specifications and definitions that other
program units can access (unless the module entities are declared
PRIVATE).
Modules are referenced in
USE statements.
- module procedure
- A subroutine or function defined within a module subprogram (the module
procedure's host). The module procedure
appears between a CONTAINS and
END statement in its host module, and inherits the host module's environment
through host association. A module procedure can be declared PRIVATE to
the module; it is public by default.
- module subprogram
- A subprogram that is contained in a module. (It cannot be an internal
subprogram.)
- multibyte
character set
- A character set in which each character is identified by using more
than one byte. Although Unicode characters are 2 bytes wide, the Unicode
character set is not referred to by this term.
- multitasking
- The ability of an operating system to execute several programs (tasks) at
once.
- multithreading
- The ability of an operating system to execute different parts of
a program, called threads, simultaneously.
If the system supports parallel processing, multiple processors may be
used to execute the threads.