[1] : The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03)

backward compatibility
     
         able to share data or commands with older versions of
        itself, or sometimes other older systems, particularly systems
        it intends to supplant.  sometimes backward compatibility is
        limited to being able to read old data but does not extend to
        being able to write data in a format that can be read by old
        versions.
     
        for example, wordperfect 6.0 can read wordperfect 5.1 files,
        so it is backward compatible.  it can be said that perl is
        backward compatible with awk, because perl was among other
        things intended to replace awk, and can, with a converter,
        run awk programs.
     
        see also: backward combatability.
     
        compare: forward compatible.
     
        2003-06-23
     
     
see also:
wordperfect perl awk backward combatability forward compatible 

Compatibility >> C Words
Compatibility, definition of term: Compatibility
compatibility_pag1.html

Backward >> B Words
Backward, definition of term: Backward
backward_pag1.html

Backward Chaini >> B Words
Backward Chaini, definition of term: Backward Chaini
backward+chaini_pag1.html

Backward And Fo >> B Words
Backward And Fo, definition of term: Backward And Fo
backward+and+fo_pag1.html