[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

portability \port`abil"ity\, n.
   the quality or state of being portable; fitness to be
   carried.
   1913 webster

[2] : WordNet (r) 2.0

portability
     n : the quality of being light enough to be carried

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

portability
     
         the ease with which a piece of
        software or file format can be "ported", i.e. made to run
        on a new platform and/or compile with a new compiler.
     
        the most important factor is the language in which the
        software is written and the most portable language is almost
        certainly c though see vaxocentrism for counterexamples.
        this is true in the sense that c compilers are available for
        most systems and are often the first compiler provided for a
        new system.  this has led several compiler writers to compile
        other languages to c code in order to benefit from its
        portability as well as the quality of compilers available for
        it.
     
        the least portable type of language is obviously assembly
        code since it is specific to one particular family of
        processors.  it may be possible to translate mechanically
        from one assembly code or even machine code into another
        but this is not really portability.  at the other end of the
        scale would come interpreted or semi-compiled languages
        such as lisp or java which rely on the availability of a
        portable interpreter or virtual machine written in a lower
        level language often c for the reasons outlined above.
     
        the act or result of porting a program is called a "port".
        e.g. "i've nearly finished the pentium port of my big bang
        simulation."
     
        portability is also an attribute of file formats and depends
        on their adherence to standards e.g. iso 8859 or the
        availability of the relevant "viewing" software for different
        platforms e.g. pdf.
     
        1997-06-18
     
     
see also:
file format platform compiler c vaxocentrism assembly code 
processor machine code interpreted semi-compiled lisp 
java interpreter virtual machine pentium file formats 
standards iso 8859 platforms pdf 

Portability >> P Words
Portability, definition of term: Portability
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