Glossary of Computer Oriented Abbreviations and Acronyms

Today we are going to look at a list of common computer acronyms and abbreviations. 

since the list is long we will only cover from A-B today 

A...

AA        Auto Answer
AAB       All-to-All Broadcast
AAL       Asynchronous Transfer Mode Adaption Layer
AAP       Applications Access Point [DEC]
AAS       All-to-All Scatter
AASP      ASCII Asynchronous Support Package
AAT       Average Access Time
ABC    *  Atanasoff-Berry Computer  (First digital
          calculating machine that used vacuum tubes)
ABEND     Abnormal End
ABI       Application Binary Interface
ABIOS     Advanced BIOS
ABIST     Automatic Built-In Self-Test [IBM]
ABLE      Adaptive Battery Life Extender
ABR       Available Bit Rate
ABRS      Automated Book Request System [British Library]
ABS       Absolute
ABT       Abort
ABTS      ASCII Block Terminal Services
AC        Autocheck + Automatic Computer + Alternating Current
ACC       Accumulator
ACD       Automated Call Distribution +
          Automatic Call Distributor
ACDI      Asynchronous Communications Device Interface
ACE       Advanced Computing Environment [SCO] +
          Adverse Channel Enhancements [Microcom] +
       *  Automatic Computing Engine
ACF       Access Control Field +
          Advanced Communications Function
ACH       Automated Clearing House
ACIAS     Automated Calibration Interval Analysis System
ACIS      American Committee for Interoperable Systems
ACK       Acknowledgment
ACL       Access Control List
ACM       Association for Computing Machinery
          Audio Compression Manager [Microsoft]
ACMS      Application Control Management System
ACP       Ancillary Control Program +
          Auxillary Control Process
ACROSS    Automated Cargo Release and Operations
          Service System
ACS       Access + Access Control Set +
          Access Control System +
          Asynchronous Communication Server
ACTS      Automated Computer Time Service
ACTT      Advanced Communication and Timekeeping
          Technology [Seiko]
ACU       Automatic Calling Unit
A/D       Analog to Digital
ADA       Automatic Data Acquisitions + Programming
          Language named after Augusta Ada Lovelace)
ADB       Apple Desktop Bus
ADC       Adaptive Data Compression (protocol) [Hayes] +
          Add with Carry + Analog to Digital Converter
ADCCP     Advanced Data Communication Control Procedures
ADD       Automatic Document Detection [WordPerfect]
ADF       Automatic Document Feeder +
          Automatically Defined Function
.ADF      Adapter Description File (file name extension)
ADI       AutoCad Device Interface (driver)
ADL       Address Data Latch
ADLAT     Adaptive Lattice Filter
ADLC      Adaptive Lossless Data Compression [IBM] +
          Asynchronous Data Link Control
ADMACS    Apple Document Mangagement And Conrol System
ADMD      Administrative Management Domain [X.400]
.ADN      Add In Utility (file name extension)
          [Lotus 1-2-3] [LDC]
ADP       Automatic Data Processing
ADPCM     Adaptive Differential Pulse Code Modulation
ADR       Address
ADS       Application Development Solutions [AT&T] +
          Application Development System +
          Automatic Distribution System
ADSC      Address Status Changed +
          Adobe Document Structuring Conventions
ADSL      Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line
ADSR      Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release
ADT       Application Data Types
ADU       Automatic Dialing Unit
AE        Above or Equal
AEB       Analog Expansion Bus [Dialogic]
AF        Auxiliary carry Flag
AFA       Accelerated File Access
AFC       Automatic Font Change + Automatic Frequency Control
AFD       Automatic File Distribution
AFII      Association for Font Information Interchange
AFIRM     Automated Fingerprint Image Reporting and Match
AFIS      Automated Fingerprint Identification System
.AFM      Adobe Font Metrics (file name extension)
          [Adobe Systems]
AFP       Appletalk Filing Protocol [Macintosh]
AFS       Andrew File System (protocols)
AFTP      Anonymous File Transfer Protocol
AGC       Automatic Gain Control
AGRAS     Antiglare-Antireflective-Antistatic
AGU       Address-Generation Unit
AI        Analog Input + Artificial Intelligence
AIA       Applications Integration Architecture [DEC]
AIC       AIXwindows Interface Composer [IBM]
AIF       Audio Interchange Format
AIIM      Association for Information and Image Management
AIN       Advanced Intelligent Network [Bell Atlantic]
AIS       Automated Identification System [NCIC]
AISB      Association of Imaging Service Bureaus
AISP      Association of Information Systems Professionals
AIX       Advanced Interactive Executive [IBM]
ALC       Arithmetic and Logic Circuits +
          Automatic Level Control
ALE       Address Latch Enable
ALGOL     Algorithmic Oriented Language (see IAL)
ALIBI     Adaptive Location of Internetworked Bases
          of Information
ALINK     Active Link [HTML]
ALIWEB    Archie Like Indexing in the Web [Internet]
ALN       Asynchronous Learning Network
ALR       Advanced Logic Research, Inc.
ALT       Alternate (mode)
ALT.      Alternate lifestyle [USENET Newsgroup Category]
ALU       Arithmetic Logic Unit
AMANDDA   Automated Messaging and Directory Assistance
AMD       Active Matrix Display +
          Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
AMI       American Megatrends, Inc.
AMMA      Advanced Memory Management Architecture
          [Everex Systems]
AMPS      Advanced Mobile Phone Service
ANCOVA    Analysis of Covariance
ANDF      Architecture-Neutral Distribution Format
ANI       Automatic Number Identification
.ANI      Animated Cursor (file name extension) [Microsoft]
ANN       Artificial Neural Network
.ANN      Annotations (file name extension) [IBM]
ANOVA     Analysis Of Variance
ANSI      American National Standards Institute
AO        Analog Output
AOCE      Apple Open Collaboration Environment
AOE       Application Operating Environment [AT&T]
AOL       America Online
AOS       Add Or Subtract
AP        Adjunct Processor + Application Processor
A/P       Accounts Payable
APA       Adaptive Packet Assembly +
          All Points Addressable +
          Arithmetic Processing Accelerator
APAR      Authorized Program Analysis Report [IBM]
APAREN    Address Parity Enable [IBM]
APCUG     Association of PC User Groups
API       Application Program Interface
APIC      Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller (bus) [Intel]
APIS      Advanced Passenger Information System
APL       A Programming Language (Mathematics)
APM       Advanced Power Management [IBM OS2]
.APP      Application (file name extension) [R:Base]
APPC      Advanced Program-to-Program Communications [IBM]
APPI      Advanced Peer-to-Peer Internetworking
APPN      Advanced Peer-to-Peer Networking [IBM]
APPS      Applications
APRP      Adaptive Pattern Recognition Processing
APS       Advanced Photo System + Advanced Printing Service [IBM]
          Asynchronous Protocol Specification
APSE      ADA Programming Support Environment
APT       Address Pass Through +
          Advanced Parallel Technology +
          Automatically Programmed Tools
A/R       Accounts Receivable
ARA       AppleTalk Remote Access
ARAG      Antireflective-Antiglare
ARAS      Antireflective-Antistatic
.ARC      Archive (file name extension)
ARCA      Advanced RISC Computing Architecture
ARCnet    Attached Resource Computer Network
.ARJ      Compressed File (file name extension) [Jung]
ARL       Adjusted Ring Length
ARLL      Advanced Run Length Limited
ARM       Advanced RISC Machine (processor) +
          Annotated Reference Manual +
          Asynchronous Response Mode
ARMA      Association of Records Managers and Administrators
ARP       Address Resolution Protocol [Novell]
ARPANET   Advanced Research Projects Agency Network
ARPL      Adjust Requested Privilege Level
ARTA      Apple Real Time Architecture
ARTIC     A Real-Time Interface Copressor [IBM]
ARTS      Asynchronous Remote Takeover Server
ARTT      Asynchronous Remote Takeover Terminal
ARQ       Automatic Repeat Request
ARU       Audio Response Unit
AS        Autonomous System [Internet]
ASAP      As Soon As Possible +
          Automatic Switching And Processing
AS3AP     ANSI SQL Standard Scalable and Portable
.ASC      ASCII text (file name extension)
ASCII     American Standard Code for Information Interchange
ASIC      Application-Specific Integrated Circuit
ASIT      Advanced Security and Identification Technology
ASL       Adaptive Speed Levelling
ASLM      Apple Shared Library Manager [Macintosh]
.ASM      Assembler Source Language (file name extension)
ASMP      Asymmetric Multprocessing
ASN       Abstract Syntax Notation +
          Autonomous System Number
ASP       Association of Shareware Professionals
ASPI      Advanced SCSI Programming Interface [Adaptec]
ASPS      Advanced Signal Processing System
ASR       Address Space Register + Automatic Send-Receive +
          Automatic Speech Recognition
AST       AST Research, Inc. (named from first initials of
          the founders: Albert Wong, Safi Qureshey, Thomas Yuen)
AS/U      Advanced Server for Unix
ASYNC     Asynchronous
AT        Advanced Technology + Attention
ATA       Advanced Technology Attachment
ATDP      Attention Dial Pulse
ATDT      Attention Dial Tone
ATE       Automated Test Equipment
ATG       Advanced Technology Group
ATH       Attention Hang-Up (Modem command)
ATM       Adobe Typeface Manager +
          Asynchronous Transfer Mode +
          Automated Teller Machine
ATPS      AppleTalk Printing Services [Macintosh]
ATR       Automatic Terminal Recognition
ATS       Administrative Terminal System +
          Apple Terminal Services
AT&T      American Telephone and Telegraph
ATTN      Attention
ATTRIB    Attribute (also ATR)
ATZ       Attention Restore configuration profile from
          nonvolatile RAM (Modem command)
.AU       Audio (file name extension)
AUDIT     Automated Data Input Terminal
AUI       Attachment Unit Interface
AUP       Acceptable Use Policy [Internet]
AUTO      Automatic
AUTOEXEC  Automatic Execution
AUX       Auxiliary + (First Serial Port)
AV        Audio/Video + Audiovisual + Authenticity Verification
AVA       Audio Visual Authoring [IBM]
AVC       Audio Visual Connection [IBM]
AVG       Average
AVI       Audio Visual Interleave [Microsoft]
AVR       Automatic Voice Recognition
AWG       American Wire Gage
AWK       (Unix language named after its authors...
          Al Aho, Peter Weinberger and Brian Kernighan)
AWS       Advanced Workstations and Systems (group) [IBM]
AX        Architecture Extended + Automatic Transmission

B...

BACP      Bandwidth Allocation Control Protocol
BAK       Binary Adaptation Kit [Microsoft]
.BAK      Backup (file name extension)
BAL       Basic Assembly Language
BALUN     Balanced Unbalanced (device)
BAM       Boyan Action Module
BARTS     Bell Atlantic Regional Timesharing
.BAS      Basic Language (file name extension)
BASH      Bourne Again Shell [Unix]
BASIC     Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code
BASM      Built-In Assembler
BAT       Block Address Translation
.BAT      Batch Processing (file name extension)
BBS       Bulletin Board System
BCC       Block Check Character
BCC:      Blind Carbon Copy
BCD       Binary Coded Decimal
B-CHANNEL Bearer Channel
BCL       Batch Command Language
BCN       Beacon
BCP       Best Current Practice + Bulk Copy Program
BCPL      Basic Computer Programming Language
BCR       Byte Count Register
BCS       Bar Code Sorter
BDA       Bios Data Area
BDE       Borland Database Engine [Borland]
BDOS      Basic Disk Operating System
BDR       Bus Device Request
BE        Below or Equal
BECN      Backward Explicit Congestion Notification
BEDO      Burst Extended Data Out
BEL       Bell
BELLCORE  Bell Communications Research
BERT      Bit Error Rate Test/Tester
BF        Bad Flag
B/F       Background/Foreground
BFF       Binary File Format [IBM]
BFT       Binary File Transfer
BGA       Ball Grid Array
BGCOLOR   Background Color [HTML]
BGE       Branch if Greater or Equal
.BGI      Borland Graphic Interface (file name extension)
BGP       Border Gateway Protocol
BGT       Branch if Greater Than
BHI       Branch if Higher
BHIS      Branch if Higher or Same
BI        Binary Input
.BIB      Bibliography (file name extension)
BiDi      Bi-Directional
BIM       Beginning of Information Marker
.BIN      Binary (file name extension)
BINAC   * Binary Automatic Computer
BIND      Berkeley Internet Name Domain
BIOS      Basic Input/Output System
BIS       Business Information System
BISDN     Broadband Integrated Services Digital Network
BIST      Built-In Self-Test
BiSYNC    (See BSYNC)
BIT       Binary Digit
BITNET    Because It's Time Network
BITNIC    Bitnet Network Information Center
BIU       Bus Interface Unit
BIX       Byte Information Exchange (BBS)
BIZ.      Business [USENET Newsgroup Category]
.BK!      Backup (file name extension) [WordPerfect]
.B~K      Backup (file name extension)
BKSP      Backspace
BL        Backlit + Bit Line
BLAST     Blocked Asynchronous Transmission (protocol)
          [Communications Research Group]
.BLD      BASIC Bload Graphics (file name extension)
BLE       Branch if Less or Equal
BLER      Block Error
BLK       Block
BLMC      Buried Logic Macrocell
BLOB      Binary Large Object
BLOS      Branch if Lower Or Same
BMI       Branch if Minus
BMIC      BusMaster Interface Controller [Intel]
BMP       Basic Mapping Support + Batch Message Processing Program
.BMP      Bitmap Picture (file name extension)
BNC       Bayonet Neill-Concelman (connector used with
          coaxial cable invented by Mr. Neill-Concelman)
BNE       Branch if Not Equal
BNF       Backus-Naur Form (also Backus-Normal Form) [developed by
          John Backus and Peter Naur]
BNS       Backbone Network Service
BO        Binary Output
BoB       Break-out Box
BOC       Basic Operator Console
BOF       Beginning Of File
BOM       Beginning Of Message
BOND      Bandwidth On Demand
BOOTP     Bootstrap Protocol [Internet]
BOPS      Billion Operations Per Second
BORPQU    Borland Pro Quattro
BORQU     Borland Quattro
BOS       Basic Operating System
BOT       Beginning Of Table + Beginning of Tape
BP        Base Pointer
BPB       BIOS Parameter Block
BPDU      Bridge Protocol Data Unit
BPI       Bits Per Inch
BPL       Branch if Plus
BPS       Bits Per Second + Bytes Per Second
BR        Bad Register
BRGC      Binary Reflected Gray Code
BRI       Basic Rate Interface + Brain Response Interface
BS        Backspace
BSAM      Basic Sequential Access Method
BSC       Binary Synchronous Communication
.BSC      Boyan Script (file name extension) [Boyan Communications]
BSCS      Bachelor of Science (Degree) in Computer Science
BSD       Berkely Software/Standard Distribution
BSF       Bit Scan Forward
BSI       British Standards Institute
BSR       Bit Scan Reverse
BSS       Block Started by Symbol
BSV       BASIC Bsave Graphics (file name extension)
BSY       Busy
BSYNC     Binary Synchronous Communications (protocol)
BT        Bit Test
BTAM      Basic Telecommunications Access Method [IBM]
BTB       Branch Target Buffer
BTC       Bit Test and Complement
BTOA      Binary To ASCII
BTP       Batch Transfer Program
BTR       Bit Test and Reset
BTS       Bit Test and Set
BU        Branch Unit
BUBL      Bulletin Board for Libraries [Janet]
BUF       Buffer
BVH       Base Video Handler
BWM       Block-Write Mode
B2X       Binary To Hexadecimal [REXX]
BYTE      Binary Element String