Code
A program or section of program. Sometimes used as a verb - ie: the creation of code
Kludge
A piece of code that corrects a problem in a separate piece of code
Rendering
A fancy word for 'drawing stuff'
Double Buffering
A technique where drawing commands are executed to a hidden buffer and then flipped into view at a later time
Front Buffer
A section of memory, or 'buffer' containing graphics that are visible on the screen. Drawing to the front buffer directly affects what the user sees on-screen
Back Buffer
A section of memory, or 'buffer', containing graphics that are NOT visible on the screen. Drawing to the back buffer has no effect on what the user sees on-screen
Refresh Rate
The rate at which the screen updates its graphics - typically in the range 50-85 times a second. This rate differs from graphics mode to graphics mode, graphics driver to graphics driver and PC to PC - ie: a very unpredictable quantity
Frame Time
The reciprocal of refresh rate - ie: how long it takes for a screen to update its graphics
Code Tweaking
Performing many minor changes to a piece of code in the hope of a disproportionately large speed increase
Frame-syncing
Allowing a games timing to be determined by the screen refresh rate
IDE
An acronym for Integrated development environment. Basically just a flash term for a program that lets you write programs!
Compiler
A program that takes a program in one computer language and converts it to another. Typically, the output language is machine code.
BASIC
Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code - a cool language that refuses to die!