A

A record

A DNS entry on a server that identifies a host. It represents the canonical name of the server, and maps an IP address to its host name.

administrator user (Admin user)

Type of user account. When logged in as an administrator user, you can add user accounts, change system settings, and install applications and resources to be accessed by any user on the computer.

AFP (Apple Filing Protocol)

A protocol that allows a computer on a network to access AppleShare file servers and view the items in them as though they were stored locally.

AirPort

Apple's implementation of the wireless Ethernet standard, Ethernet 802.11.

alias

A feature of the Mac OS Extended volume format that provides a lightweight reference, or pointer, to files or folders.

API (Application Programming Interface)

A set of routines, protocols, and tools that allows application developers to use features of the computer and operating system without writing low-level code.

Apple events

A messaging tool used to transfer information, commands, and requests between applications, networks, and Mac OS X.

AppleTalk

A set of networking protocols developed by Apple. Largely replaced by zero-configuration networking via Bonjour.

application environment

Consists of the frameworks, libraries, and services (with associated APIs) necessary for the runtime execution of programs developed with those APIs. For example, applications developed with Carbon APIs run in the Carbon application environment.

Aqua

Human interface for Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server.

archive

A collection of files and folders, compressed into a single file for space savings or transfer to non-native file systems.