compare

n : qualities that are comparable; "no comparison between the

two books"; "beyond compare" [syn: {comparison}, {equivalence},

{comparability}]

v 1: examine and note the similarities or differences of; "John

compared his haircut to his friend's"; "We compared

notes after we had both seen the movie"

2: be comparable; "This car does not compare with our line of

Mercedes"

3: consider or describe as similar, equal, or analogous; "We

can compare the Han dynasty to the Romans" [syn: {liken},

{equate}]

4: to form the comparative or superlative form on an adjective

or adverb

compact

1. (Or "finite", "isolated") In {domain theory}, an element d

of a {cpo} D is compact if and only if, for any {chain} S, a

subset of D,

d <◦ lub S ◦> there exists s in S such that d <◦ s.

I.e. you always reach d (or better) after a finite number of

steps up the chain.

("<◦" is written in {LaTeX} as {\sqsubseteq}).

[{Jargon File}]

(1995-01-13)

2. Of a design, describes the valuable property that it can

all be apprehended at once in one's head. This generally

means the thing created from the design can be used with

greater facility and fewer errors than an equivalent tool that

is not compact. Compactness does not imply triviality or lack

of power; for example, {C} is compact and {Fortran} is not,

but C is more powerful than Fortran. Designs become

non-compact through accreting {feature}s and {cruft} that

don't merge cleanly into the overall design scheme (thus, some

fans of {Classic C} maintain that {ANSI C} is no longer

compact).

(1995-01-13)