[1] : Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001)

bare metal n. 1. common new computer hardware, unadorned with such
   snares and delusions as an operating system, an hll, or even
   assembler. commonly used in the phrase `programming on the bare metal',
   which refers to the arduous work of bit bashing needed to create these
   basic tools for a new machine. real bare-metal programming involves
   things like building boot proms and bios chips, implementing basic
   monitors used to test device drivers, and writing the assemblers that
   will be used to write the compiler back ends that will give the new
   machine a real development environment. 2. `programming on the bare
   metal' is also used to describe a style of hand-hacking that relies on
   bit-level peculiarities of a particular hardware design, esp. tricks for
   speed and space optimization that rely on crocks such as overlapping
   instructions or, as in the famous case described in the story of mel
   in appendix a, interleaving of opcodes on a magnetic drum to minimize
   fetch delays due to the device's rotational latency. this sort of thing
   has become less common as the relative costs of programming time and
   machine resources have changed, but is still found in heavily
   constrained environments such as industrial embedded systems, and in the
   code of hackers who just can't let go of that low-level control. see
   real programmer.

   in the world of personal computing, bare metal programming especially
   in sense 1 but sometimes also in sense 2 is often considered a good
   thing, or at least a necessary evil because these machines have often
   been sufficiently slow and poorly designed to make it necessary; see
   ill-behaved. there, the term usually refers to bypassing the bios or
   os interface and writing the application to directly access device
   registers and machine addresses. "to get 19.2 kilobaud on the serial
   port, you need to get down to the bare metal." people who can do this
   sort of thing well are held in high regard.


see also:
operating system hll bit bashing hand-hacking the story of mel real programmer 
good thing ill-behaved 

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

bare metal
     
        1. new computer hardware, unadorned with such snares and
        delusions as an operating system, an hll, or even
        assembler.  commonly used in the phrase "programming on the
        bare metal", which refers to the arduous work of bit bashing
        needed to create these basic tools for a new computer.  real
        bare-metal programming involves things like building boot
        proms and bios chips, implementing basic monitors used to
        test device drivers, and writing the assemblers that will be
        used to write the compiler back ends that will give the new
        computer a real development environment.
     
        2. "programming on the bare metal" is also used to describe a
        style of hand-hacking that relies on bit-level peculiarities
        of a particular hardware design, especially tricks for speed
        and space optimisation that rely on crocks such as overlapping
        instructions or, as in the famous case described in the
        story of mel, interleaving of opcodes on a magnetic drum to
        minimise fetch delays due to the device's rotational latency.
        this sort of thing has become less common as the relative
        costs of programming time and computer resources have changed,
        but is still found in heavily constrained environments such as
        industrial embedded systems, and in the code of hackers who
        just can't let go of that low-level control.  see real
        programmer.
     
        in the world of personal computing, bare metal programming is
        often considered a good thing, or at least a necessary evil
        because these computers have often been sufficiently slow and
        poorly designed to make it necessary; see ill-behaved.
        there, the term usually refers to bypassing the bios or os
        interface and writing the application to directly access
        device registers and computer addresses.  "to get 19.2
        kilobaud on the serial port, you need to get down to the bare
        metal."  people who can do this sort of thing well are held in
        high regard.
     
        jargon file
     
     
see also:
operating system hll assembler bit bashing boot prom bios 
monitor device driver hand-hacking the story of mel real programmer 
good thing ill-behaved jargon file 

Metal >> M Words
Metal, definition of term: Metal
metal_pag1.html

Bare >> B Words
Bare, definition of term: Bare
bare_pag1.html

Heavy Metal >> H Words
Heavy Metal, definition of term: Heavy Metal
heavy+metal_pag1.html

Base Metal >> B Words
Base Metal, definition of term: Base Metal
base+metal_pag1.html

Alkali Metal >> A Words
Alkali Metal, definition of term: Alkali Metal
alkali+metal_pag1.html

Metal Oxide Sem >> M Words
Metal Oxide Sem, definition of term: Metal Oxide Sem
metal+oxide+sem_pag1.html