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atomic

more about atomic

atomic

 

  4  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Atomic  \A*tom"ic\,  Atomical  \A*tom"ic*al\,  a.  [Cf.  F.  atomique.] 
  1.  Of  or  pertaining  to  atoms. 
 
  2.  Extremely  minute;  tiny. 
 
  {Atomic  philosophy},  or  {Doctrine  of  atoms},  a  system  which 
  assuming  that  atoms  are  endued  with  gravity  and  motion, 
  accounted  thus  for  the  origin  and  formation  of  all  things 
  This  philosophy  was  first  broached  by  Leucippus  was 
  developed  by  Democritus  and  afterward  improved  by 
  Epicurus,  and  hence  is  sometimes  denominated  the  Epicurean 
  philosophy. 
 
  {Atomic  theory},  or  the  {Doctrine  of  definite  proportions} 
  (Chem.),  teaches  that  chemical  combinations  take  place 
  between  the  supposed  ultimate  particles  or  atoms  of 
  bodies,  in  some  simple  ratio,  as  of  one  to  one  two  to 
  three  or  some  other  always  expressible  in  whole  numbers. 
 
 
  {Atomic  weight}  (Chem.),  the  weight  of  the  atom  of  an  element 
  as  compared  with  the  weight  of  the  atom  of  hydrogen,  taken 
  as  a  standard. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  atomic 
  adj  1:  of  or  relating  to  of  comprising  atoms;  "atomic  structure"; 
  "atomic  hydrogen" 
  2:  (of  power  and  warfare  and  weaponry)  using  atomic  energy; 
  "nuclear  (or  atomic)  submarines";  "nuclear  war";  "nuclear 
  weapons";  "atomic  bombs"  [syn:  {nuclear}]  [ant:  {conventional}] 
  3:  immeasurably  small  [syn:  {atomlike},  {minute}] 
 
  From  Jargon  File  (4.2.3,  23  NOV  2000)  [jargon]: 
 
  atomic  adj  [from  Gk  `atomos',  indivisible]  1.  Indivisible; 
  cannot  be  split  up  For  example,  an  instruction  may  be  said  to  do 
  several  things  `atomically',  i.e.,  all  the  things  are  done  immediately, 
  and  there  is  no  chance  of  the  instruction  being  half-completed  or  of 
  another  being  interspersed.  Used  esp.  to  convey  that  an  operation  cannot 
  be  screwed  up  by  interrupts.  "This  routine  locks  the  file  and  increments 
  the  file's  semaphore  atomically."  2.  [primarily  techspeak]  Guaranteed  to 
  complete  successfully  or  not  at  all  usu.  refers  to  database  transactions. 
  If  an  error  prevents  a  partially-performed  transaction  from  proceeding 
  to  completion,  it  must  be  "backed  out,"  as  the  database  must  not  be  left 
  in  an  inconsistent  state. 
 
  Computer  usage,  in  either  of  the  above  senses  has  none  of  the 
  connotations  that  `atomic'  has  in  mainstream  English  (i.e.  of  particles 
  of  matter,  nuclear  explosions  etc.). 
 
 
 
  From  The  Free  On-line  Dictionary  of  Computing  (13  Mar  01)  [foldoc]: 
 
  atomic 
 
    (From  Greek  "atomos",  indivisible)  Indivisible; 
  cannot  be  split  up 
 
  For  example,  an  instruction  may  be  said  to  do  several  things 
  "atomically",  i.e.  all  the  things  are  done  immediately,  and 
  there  is  no  chance  of  the  instruction  being  half-completed  or 
  of  another  being  interspersed.  Used  especially  to  convey  that 
  an  operation  cannot  be  interrupted. 
 
  An  atomic  {data  type}  has  no  internal  structure  visible  to  the 
  program.  It  can  be  represented  by  a  flat  {domain}  (all 
  elements  are  equally  defined).  Machine  {integers}  and 
  {Booleans}  are  two  examples. 
 
  An  atomic  {database  transaction}  is  one  which  is  guaranteed  to 
  complete  successfully  or  not  at  all  If  an  error  prevents  a 
  partially-performed  transaction  from  proceeding  to  completion, 
  it  must  be  "backed  out"  to  prevent  the  database  being  left  in 
  an  inconsistent  state. 
 
  [{Jargon  File}] 
 
  (2000-04-03)




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