Glossary - Java Software Solutions: Foundations of Program Design - page 647

deprecated— Something, such as a particular
method in the Java API, that is considered out-
of-favor and should not be used.
derived class— See subclass.
design— (1) The plan for implementing a pro-
gram, which includes a specification of the
classes and objects used and an expression of
the important program algorithms. (2) The
process of creating a program design.
desk check— A type of review in which a devel-
oper carefully examines a design or program to
find errors.
detailed design— (1) The low-level algorith-
mic steps of a method. (2) The development
stage at which low-level algorithmic steps are
determined.
development stage— The software life-cycle
stage in which a software system is first cre-
ated, preceding use, maintenance, and eventual
retirement.
dialog box— A graphical window that pops up
to allow brief, specific user interaction.
digital— A representation that breaks infor-
mation down into pieces, which are in turn
represented as numbers. All modern computer
systems are digital.
digitize— The act of converting an analog rep-
resentation into a digital one by breaking it
down into pieces.
digraph— A graph data structure in which each
edge has a specific direction.
dimension— The number of index levels of a
particular array.
direct recursion— The process of a method
invoking itself. See also indirect recursion.
disable— Make a graphical user interface com-
ponent inactive so that it cannot be used. A
disabled component is grayed to indicate its
disabled status. See also enable.

DNS— See Domain Name System.
do— A Java reserved word that represents a
repetition construct. A do statement is executed
one or more times. See also for, while.
documentation— Supplemental information
about a program, including comments in a
program's source code and printed reports such
as a user's guide.
domain name— The portion of an Internet
address that specifies the organization to which
the computer belongs.
Domain Name System (DNS)— Software that
translates an Internet address into an IP address
using a domain server.
domain server— A file server that maintains a
list of Internet addresses and their correspond-
ing IP addresses.
double— A Java reserved word that represents
a primitive floating point numeric type, stored
using 64 bits in IEEE 754 format.
doubly linked list— A linked list with two refer-
ences in each node: one that refers to the next
node in the list and one that refers to the previ-
ous node in the list.
dynamic binding— The process of associating
an identifier with its definition during run time.
See also binding.
dynamic data structure— A set of objects that
are linked using references, which can be modi-
fied as needed during program execution.
editor— A software tool that allows the user to
enter and store a file of characters on a com-
puter. Often used by programmers to enter the
source code of a program.
efficiency— The characteristic of an algorithm
that specifies the required number of a particu-
lar operation in order to complete its task. For
example, the efficiency of a sort can be mea-
sured by the number of comparisons required
to sort a list. See also order.