= E =
1. n. obs. The source code for a program, which may
be in any language, as opposed to the linkable or executable binary
produced from it by a compiler. The idea behind the term is that
to a real hacker, a program written in his favorite programming
language is at least as readable as English. Usage: mostly by
old-time hackers, though recognizable in context. Today the
preferred shorthand is simply source. 2. The official
name of the database language used by the old Pick Operating System,
actually a sort of crufty, brain-damaged SQL with delusions of
grandeur. The name permitted marketroids to say "Yes, and you
can program our computers in English!" to ignorant suits
without quite running afoul of the truth-in-advertising laws.
--The Jargon File version 4.3.1, ed. ESR, autonoded by rescdsk.