Flat
1. Lacking any complex internal structure.
"That
bitty box has only a flat file system, not a hierarchical one."
The verb form is
flatten.
Usually used pejoratively (at least with respect to file systems).
2. Said of a memory architecture like that of the
VAX or
Motorola 680x0 that is one big linear address space (typically with each possible value of a processor register corresponding to a unique address).
This is a
Good Thing. The opposite is a "segmented" architecture like that of the
Intel 80x86 in which addresses are composed from a base-register/offset pair.
Segmented designs are generally considered cretinous.
3. A flat
domain is one where all elements except
bottom are incomparable (equally well defined).
E.g. the integers.
[
Jargon File]
