platform

A generic radar term, often used to encompass the pedestal and antenna assembly; sometimes including the radar control, display and analysis hardware and software as well.

The combination of an operating system and hardware that makes up the operating environment in which a program runs.

The entire hardware and software context in which a program runs. A program written in a platform-dependent language might break if you change any of: machine, operating system, libraries, compiler, or system configuration. The perl interpreter has to be compiled differently for each platform because it is implemented in C, but programs written in the Perl language are largely platform-independent.

1. The type of computer on which a given operating system or application runs. Synonym hardware platform. 2. The operating system in use on a given computer. Synonym operating system platform. 3. The application program in use on a given computer and operating system. Synonym application platform. Note 1: The term platform, usually with some kind of accompanying qualifying verbiage, may also be applied to any combination of the foregoing. Note 2: The term cross-platform may be used to characterize an application program or operating system that may be run on more than one platform.