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peekmore about peek

peek

 

  5  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Peek  \Peek\,  v.  i.  [OE.  piken:  cf  F.  piquer  to  pierce,  prick, 
  E.  pique.  Cf  {Peak}.] 
  To  look  slyly,  or  with  the  eyes  half  closed,  or  through  a 
  crevice;  to  peep.  [Colloq.] 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  peek 
  n  :  a  secret  look  [syn:  {peep}] 
  v  1:  look  furtively  [syn:  {peep}] 
  2:  throw  a  glance  at  take  a  brief  look  at  "She  only  glanced 
  at  the  paper";  glint"  is  archaic;  "I  only  peeked--I 
  didn't  see  anything  interesting"  [syn:  {glance},  {glint}] 
 
  From  Jargon  File  (4.2.3,  23  NOV  2000)  [jargon]: 
 
  peek  n.,vt.  (and  {poke})  The  commands  in  most  microcomputer 
  BASICs  for  directly  accessing  memory  contents  at  an  absolute  address; 
  often  extended  to  mean  the  corresponding  constructs  in  any  {HLL}  (peek 
  reads  memory,  poke  modifies  it).  Much  hacking  on  small  non-MMU  micros 
  used  to  consist  of  `peek'ing  around  memory,  more  or  less  at  random, 
  to  find  the  location  where  the  system  keeps  interesting  stuff.  Long 
  (and  variably  accurate)  lists  of  such  addresses  for  various  computers 
  circulated  (see  {{interrupt  list}}).  The  results  of  `poke's  at  these 
  addresses  may  be  highly  useful,  mildly  amusing,  useless  but  neat,  or 
  (most  likely)  total  {lossage}  (see  {killer  poke}). 
 
  Since  a  {real  operating  system}  provides  useful,  higher-level 
  services  for  the  tasks  commonly  performed  with  peeks  and  pokes  on  micros, 
  and  real  languages  tend  not  to  encourage  low-level  memory  groveling,  a 
  question  like  "How  do  I  do  a  peek  in  C?"  is  diagnostic  of  the  {newbie}. 
  (Of  course,  OS  kernels  often  have  to  do  exactly  this  a  real  kernel 
  hacker  would  unhesitatingly,  if  unportably,  assign  an  absolute  address 
  to  a  pointer  variable  and  indirect  through  it.) 
 
 
 
  From  The  Free  On-line  Dictionary  of  Computing  (13  Mar  01)  [foldoc]: 
 
  PEEK 
 
  The  command  in  most  {microcomputer}  {BASIC}s  for  reading 
  memory  contents  (a  byte)  at  an  absolute  address.  POKE  is  the 
  corresponding  command  to  write  a  value  to  an  absolute  address. 
 
  This  is  often  extended  to  mean  the  corresponding  constructs  in 
  any  {High  Level  Language}. 
 
  Much  hacking  on  small  {microcomputer}s  without  {MMU}s  consists 
  of  "peek"ing  around  memory,  more  or  less  at  random,  to  find 
  the  location  where  the  system  keeps  interesting  stuff.  Long 
  (and  variably  accurate)  lists  of  such  addresses  for  various 
  computers  circulate  (see  {interrupt  list}).  The  results  of 
  "poke"s  at  these  addresses  may  be  highly  useful,  mildly 
  amusing,  useless  but  neat,  or  total  {lossage}  (see  {killer 
  poke}). 
 
  Since  a  {real  operating  system}  provides  useful,  higher-level 
  services  for  the  tasks  commonly  performed  with  peeks  and  pokes 
  on  micros,  and  real  languages  tend  not  to  encourage  low-level 
  memory  groveling,  a  question  like  "How  do  I  do  a  peek  in  C?" 
  is  diagnostic  of  the  {newbie}.  Of  course,  {operating  system} 
  {kernel}s  often  have  to  do  exactly  this  a  real  {C}  hacker 
  would  unhesitatingly,  if  unportably,  assign  an  absolute 
  address  to  a  pointer  variable  and  indirect  through  it 
 
  [{Jargon  File}] 
 
  (1995-01-31) 
 
 
 
  From  V.E.R.A.  --  Virtual  Entity  of  Relevant  Acronyms  13  March  2001  [vera]: 
 
  PEEK 
  Partners  Early  Experience  Kit  (Taligent)




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