DDT

5 definitions found

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  DDT
       n : an insecticide that is also toxic to animals and humans;
           banned in the United States since 1972 [syn: {dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:



  25 Moby Thesaurus words for "DDT":
     DDD, Paris green, antimony, arsenic, arsenic trioxide, beryllium,
     bichloride of mercury, cadmium, carbolic acid, carbon monoxide,
     carbon tetrachloride, chlorine, cyanide, hydrocyanic acid,
     hyoscyamine, lead, mercuric chloride, mercury, mustard gas,
     nicotine, phenol, poison gas, prussic acid, selenium, strychnine
  
  

From Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms (Version 1.9, June 2002) [vera]:

  DDT
       Dynamic Debugging Tool (DEC)
       
       

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

  DDT /D-D-T/ n. [from the insecticide
     para-dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethene] 1. Generic term for a program
     that assists in debugging other programs by showing individual machine
     instructions in a readable symbolic form and letting the user change
     them. In this sense the term DDT is now archaic, having been widely
     displaced by `debugger' or names of individual programs like `adb',
     `sdb', `dbx', or `gdb'. 2. [ITS] Under MIT's fabled {{ITS}} operating
     system, DDT (running under the alias HACTRN, a six-letterism for `Hack
     Translator') was also used as the {shell} or top level command language
     used to execute other programs. 3. Any one of several specific DDTs
     (sense 1) supported on early {DEC} hardware and CP/M. The PDP-10
     Reference Handbook (1969) contained a footnote on the first page of the
     documentation for DDT that illuminates the origin of the term:
  
    Historical footnote: DDT was developed at MIT for the PDP-1
    computer in 1961.  At that time DDT stood for "DEC Debugging
    Tape".  Since then, the idea of an on-line debugging program has
    propagated throughout the computer industry.  DDT programs are now
    available for all DEC computers.  Since media other than tape are
    now frequently used, the more descriptive name "Dynamic Debugging
    Technique" has been adopted, retaining the DDT abbreviation.
    Confusion between DDT-10 and another well known pesticide,
    dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (C14-H9-Cl5) should be minimal
    since each attacks a different, and apparently mutually exclusive,
    class of bugs.
    
     (The `tape' referred to was, incidentally, not magnetic but paper.)
     Sadly, this quotation was removed from later editions of the handbook
     after the {suit}s took over and {DEC} became much more `businesslike'.
  
     The history above is known to many old-time hackers. But there's more:
     Peter Samson, compiler of the original {TMRC} lexicon, reports that he
     named `DDT' after a similar tool on the TX-0 computer, the direct
     ancestor of the PDP-1 built at MIT's Lincoln Lab in 1957. The debugger
     on that ground-breaking machine (the first transistorized computer)
     rejoiced in the name FLIT (FLexowriter Interrogation Tape).
  
  

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

  DDT
       
          1. Generic term for a program that assists in debugging other
          programs by showing individual machine instructions in a
          readable symbolic form and letting the user change them.  In
          this sense the term DDT is now archaic, having been widely
          displaced by "debugger" or names of individual programs like
          "{adb}", "{sdb}", "{dbx}", or "{gdb}".
       
          2. Under {MIT}'s fabled {ITS} {operating system}, DDT (running
          under the alias HACTRN) was also used as the {shell} or top
          level command language used to execute other programs.
       
          3. Any one of several specific debuggers supported on early
          {DEC} hardware.  The {DEC} {PDP-10} Reference Handbook (1969)
          contained a footnote on the first page of the documentation
          for DDT that illuminates the origin of the term:
       
          Historical footnote: DDT was developed at {MIT} for the
          {PDP-1} computer in 1961.  At that time DDT stood for "DEC
          Debugging Tape".  Since then, the idea of an on-line debugging
          program has propagated throughout the computer industry.  DDT
          programs are now available for all DEC computers.  Since media
          other than tape are now frequently used, the more descriptive
          name "Dynamic Debugging Technique" has been adopted, retaining
          the DDT abbreviation.  Confusion between DDT-10 and another
          well known pesticide, dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane
          (C14-H9-Cl5) should be minimal since each attacks a different,
          and apparently mutually exclusive, class of bugs.
       
          (The "tape" referred to was, incidentally, not magnetic but
          paper.)  Sadly, this quotation was removed from later editions
          of the handbook after the {suit}s took over and DEC became
          much more "businesslike".
       
          The history above is known to many old-time hackers.  But
          there's more: Peter Samson, compiler of the original {TMRC}
          lexicon, reports that he named "DDT" after a similar tool on
          the {TX-0} computer, the direct ancestor of the PDP-1 built at
          {MIT}'s Lincoln Lab in 1957.  The debugger on that
          ground-breaking machine (the first transistorised computer)
          rejoiced in the name FLIT (FLexowriter Interrogation Tape).
       
          [{Jargon File}]