Number 5 Electronic Switching System

<communications>

(5ESS) An electronic circuit switching product sold by Alcatel Lucent (formerly Western Electric/AT&T Network Systems/Lucent Technologies), used by many telephone exchange carriers and service providers. Succeeded the Number 4 Electronic Switching System (4ESS) and reached widespread use in the 1980s.

Not to be confused with the Class 5 Switch.

Last updated: 2013-09-14

number crunching

<application, jargon>

Computations of a numerical nature, especially those that make extensive use of floating-point numbers. The only thing Fortrash is good for.

This term is in widespread informal use outside hackerdom and even in mainstream slang, but has additional hackish connotations: namely, that the computations are mindless and involve massive use of brute force. This is not always evil, especially if it involves ray tracing or fractals or some other use that makes pretty pictures, especially if such pictures can be used as wallpaper.

See also crunch.

[Jargon File]

Last updated: 1995-03-17

number keys

keypad

numbers

(Scientific computation) Output from a computation that may not be significant but at least indicates that the program is running. Numbers may be used to placate management, grant sponsors, etc. "Making numbers" means running a program because output - any output, not necessarily meaningful output - is needed as a demonstration of progress.

See pretty pictures, math-out, social science number.

[Jargon File]

Last updated: 1995-01-13

number sign

<character>

hash.

Nearby terms:

NUMA ♦ Number 5 Electronic Switching System ♦ number crunching ♦ number keys

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