slate

n 1: (formerly) a writing tablet made of slate

2: thin layers of rock used for roofing [syn: {slating}]

3: a fine-grained metamorphic rock that can be split into thin

layers

4: a list of candidates to be considered for nomination or

election to public offices

v 1: choose someone for a job or function

2: enter on a list or slate for an election; "He was slated for

borough president"

3: cover with slate; "slate the roof"

state

How something is; its

configuration, attributes, condition, or information content.

The state of a system is usually temporary (i.e. it changes

with time) and volatile (i.e. it will be lost or reset to some

initial state if the system is switched off).

A state may be considered to be a point in some {space} of all

possible states. A simple example is a light, which is either

on or off. A complex example is the electrical activation in

a human brain while solving a problem.

In computing and related fields, states, as in the light

example, are often modelled as being {discrete} (rather than

continuous) and the transition from one state to another is

considered to be instantaneous. Another (related) property of

a system is the number of possible states it may exhibit.

This may be finite or infinite. A common model for a system

with a finite number of discrete state is a {finite state

machine}.

[{Jargon File}]

(1996-10-13)