Please use the form below to search our dictionaries by entering a word you wish to define. (If you search this site to define words regularly, support this FREE site - Donate! )

Define the word ill-behaved

ill-behaved adj. 1. [numerical analysis] Said of an algorithm or
   computational method that tends to blow up because of accumulated
   roundoff error or poor convergence properties. 2. Software that bypasses
   the defined OS interfaces to do things (like screen, keyboard, and
   disk I/O) itself, often in a way that depends on the hardware of the
   machine it is running on or which is nonportable or incompatible with
   other pieces of software. In the IBM PC/MS-DOS world, there is a folk
   theorem (nearly true) to the effect that (owing to gross inadequacies
   and performance penalties in the OS interface) all interesting
   applications are ill-behaved. See also bare metal. Oppose
   well-behaved, compare PC-ism. See mess-dos.

ill-behaved
     
        1. [numerical analysis] Said of an algorithm or
        computational method that tends to blow up because of
        accumulated roundoff error or poor convergence properties.
     
        2. Software that bypasses the defined operating system
        interfaces to do things (like screen, keyboard, and disk I/O)
        itself, often in a way that depends on the hardware of the
        machine it is running on or which is nonportable or
        incompatible with other pieces of software.
     
        In the IBM PC/mess-dos world, there is a folk theorem
        (nearly true) to the effect that (owing to gross inadequacies
        and performance penalties in the OS interface) all interesting
        applications are ill-behaved.
     
        See also bare metal. Opposite: well-behaved, compare
        PC-ism.
     
        [Jargon File]