Core
1. <storage>
Main memory or
RAM.
This term dates from the days of
ferrite core memory; now archaic most places outside
IBM, but also still used in the
Unix community and by old-time hackers or those who would sound like them.
Some derived idioms are quite current; "in core", for example, means "in memory" (paged in, as opposed to "on disk", paged out), and both
core dump and the "core image" or "core file" produced by one are terms in favour.
Some varieties of Commonwealth hackish prefer
store.
[
Jargon File]
(1995-03-03)
2. <processor> An
integrated circuit design, usually for a
microprocessor, which includes only the
CPU and which is intended to form part of a complete circuit design which incorporates other circuits on the same chip such as
cache,
memory management unit, I/O ports and timers.
The ARM6,
ARM7 and
ARM8 are examples.
3. <language> A varient on
kernel as used to describe features built into a language as opposed to those provided by libraries.