Pinstripe Creative - Multimedia Glossary

A B C D E F G H I J L M N O P R S T U V W X Z

Cascading Style Sheets/CSS - Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a mechanism for allowing web authors and readers to attach styles including fonts, colors, etc. to HTML documents. Authors can attach styles to their HTML documents whild readers may have their own personal style sheets.
CGI - Common Gateway Interface. Runs programs or scripts on a Web Server; commonly used to handle data from HTML forms.
CMYK - Four-colour separation used in most (subtractive) colour printing processes.
CODEC - program/device that COmpresses/DECompresses digital video. xxx Cinepak and Indeo (Intel) are examples of CODEC's. See CODEC Central for an in-dept look at CODEC's.
Compression (file) - Process for reducing file size, often called "zipping" or "archiving". The resulting, compressed file can be from a single, large file or can contain several files that have been squeezed into a single file. The many-to-one compression makes file group identification, copying, and transporting faster and easier.
Cookie - A "cookie" is a small piece of information, a virtual "sticky note", sent by a Web server to be stored, by your browser, on your hard drive. The cookie stores information about you and can be retrieved by the Website each time you visit there. Without them, sites would not be able to retain information about individual visits; thus, cookies store "state information." Cookies are passive files, typically used in .asp (Active Server Page) programming, and should not be confused with server-side databases that collect personal information you've voluntarily (or unwittingly) submitted.
CMS (Content Management System) - Content Management System. A tool for managing content, usually on a Web site, that separates the design, interactivity, and content from one another to make it easier for content authors to provide content.