(Scientific computation) Output from a computation that may
not be significant but at least indicates that the program is
running. Numbers may be used to placate management, grant
sponsors, etc. "Making numbers" means running a program
because output - any output, not necessarily meaningful output
- is needed as a demonstration of progress.
See pretty pictures, math-out, social science number.
[Jargon File]
(1995-01-13)
Nearby terms:
null-terminated multibyte string « NUMA « number crunching « numbers » number sign » Numeris » Nuprl
