View source for Portable

[[Category:Computer Architecture]]
A ''portable'' program is one which may be used on multiple architectures or operating systems.

Related terms:
* Port - to modify a program to work on a particular [[Computer Architecture|architecture]].
* Portable - a program which can be used on multiple [[Computer Architecture|architectures]], typically by compiling/building for a specific target architecture. Note that '''portable''' does not necessarily mean '''able to be ported''' -- it is often used to mean code which does not need to be ported, because it is architecture-neutral (i.e., contains no assembler, [[Word|word]] size assumptions, or other architecture-specific code, and can be compiled (or interpreted) from a high-level language on a wide range of architecture types).
* Architecture-specific - code which is usable only on one or more specific [[Computer Architecture|architectures]] (this is the opposite of '''portable''').
* Non-portable - synonym for architecture-specific (often extremely so!)
* Cross-platform - Code which will execute either on multiple [[Computer Architecture|architectures]] or on multiple operating systems.