5  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Beta  \Be"ta\,  n.  [Gr.  bh^ta.] 
  The  second  letter  of  the  Greek  alphabet,  B,  [beta].  See  {B}, 
  and  cf  etymology  of  {Alphabet}. 
 
  Note:  Beta  (B,  [beta])  is  used  variously  for  classifying,  as: 
  a  (Astron.)  To  designate  some  bright  star,  usually  the 
  second  brightest,  of  a  constellation,  as  [beta] 
  Aurig[ae]. 
  b  (Chem.)  To  distinguish  one  of  two  or  more  isomers;  also 
  to  indicate  the  position  of  substituting  atoms  or  groups 
  in  certain  compounds;  as  [beta]-naphthol.  With  acids,  it 
  commonly  indicates  that  the  substituent  is  in  union  with 
  the  carbon  atom  next  to  that  to  which  the  carboxyl  group 
  is  attached. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  beta 
  n  1:  the  2nd  letter  of  the  Greek  alphabet 
  2:  beets  [syn:  {Beta},  {genus  Beta}] 
 
  From  Jargon  File  (4.2.3,  23  NOV  2000)  [jargon]: 
 
  beta  /bay't*/,  /be't*/  or  (Commonwealth)  /bee't*/  n.  1.  Mostly 
  working,  but  still  under  test;  usu.  used  with  `in':  `in  beta'.  In  the 
  {Real  World},  systems  (hardware  or  software)  software  often  go  through 
  two  stages  of  release  testing:  Alpha  (in-house)  and  Beta  (out-house?). 
  Beta  releases  are  generally  made  to  a  group  of  lucky  (or  unlucky)  trusted 
  customers.  2.  Anything  that  is  new  and  experimental.  "His  girlfriend  is 
  in  beta"  means  that  he  is  still  testing  for  compatibility  and  reserving 
  judgment.  3.  Flaky;  dubious;  suspect  (since  beta  software  is  notoriously 
  buggy). 
 
  Historical  note:  More  formally,  to  beta-test  is  to  test  a 
  pre-release  (potentially  unreliable)  version  of  a  piece  of  software 
  by  making  it  available  to  selected  (or  self-selected)  customers  and 
  users.  This  term  derives  from  early  1960s  terminology  for  product  cycle 
  checkpoints,  first  used  at  IBM  but  later  standard  throughout  the  industry. 
  `Alpha  Test'  was  the  unit,  module,  or  component  test  phase;  `Beta  Test' 
  was  initial  system  test.  These  themselves  came  from  earlier  A-  and 
  B-tests  for  hardware.  The  A-test  was  a  feasibility  and  manufacturability 
  evaluation  done  before  any  commitment  to  design  and  development. 
  The  B-test  was  a  demonstration  that  the  engineering  model  functioned 
  as  specified.  The  C-test  (corresponding  to  today's  beta)  was  the  B-test 
  performed  on  early  samples  of  the  production  design,  and  the  D  test  was 
  the  C  test  repeated  after  the  model  had  been  in  production  a  while 
 
 
 
  From  The  Free  On-line  Dictionary  of  Computing  (13  Mar  01)  [foldoc]: 
 
  beta 
 
  /bay't*/,  /be't*/  or  (Commonwealth)  /bee't*/ 
 
  See  {beta  conversion},  {beta  test}. 
 
  [{Jargon  File}] 
 
 
 
  From  The  Free  On-line  Dictionary  of  Computing  (13  Mar  01)  [foldoc]: 
 
  BETA 
 
  Kristensen  Madsen  ,  Moller-Pedersen  & 
  Nygaard  1983.  Object-oriented  language  with  block  structure, 
  coroutines  concurrency,  {strong  typing},  part  objects, 
  separate  objects  and  classless  objects.  Central  feature  is  a 
  single  abstraction  mechanism  called  "patterns",  a 
  generalisation  of  classes,  providing  instantiation  and 
  hierarchical  inheritance  for  all  objects  including  procedures 
  and  processes. 
 
  Mjolner  Informatics  ApS,  Aarhus  implementations  for  Mac,  Sun, 
  HP  Apollo. 
 
  E-mail:  . 
 
  Mailing  list:  . 
 
  ["Object-Oriented  Programming  in  the  BETA  Programming 
  Language",  Ole  Lehrmann  et  al  A-W  June  1993,  ISBN 
  0-201-62430-3]. 
 
  [{Jargon  File}] 
 
  (1995-10-31) 
 
 

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