footprint
1. Computing the amount of resources such as disk space and memory, that an application requires
2. an identifying characteristic on land or water, such as the area in which an aircraft's sonic boom can be heard or the area covered by the down-blast of a hovercraft
Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
Footprint
The projected area of a building or piece of equipment on a horizontal surface.
Illustrated Dictionary of Architecture Copyright © 2012, 2002, 1998 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
footprint
[′fu̇t‚print] (building construction)
A description of the exact size, shape, and location of a building's foundation as the foundation has been installed on a specific site. Also known as building footprint.
(communications)
The area of the earth's surface that can be covered by a communications satellite at any given time.
(computer science)
The amount and shape of the area occupied by equipment, such as a terminal or microcomputer, on desktop, floor, or other surface area.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
footprint
The area on a plane directly beneath a structure (or piece of equipment), that has the same perimeter as the structure (or piece of equipment).
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
footprint
(jargon, hardware)The floor or desk area taken up by a
piece of hardware.
footprint
(jargon, storage)The amount of
disk or
RAM taken up by
a program or file.
footprint
(3)(
IBM) The
audit trail left by a crashed program (often
"footprints").
See also toeprint.
This article is provided by FOLDOC - Free Online Dictionary of Computing (foldoc.org)
footprint
The amount of geographic space covered by an object. A computer footprint is the desk or floor surface it occupies. A satellite's footprint is the earth area covered by its downlink. An application's footprint is the amount of memory (RAM) it requires. See form factor. See also memory footprint and digital footprint.Copyright © 1981-2025 by The Computer Language Company Inc. All Rights reserved. THIS DEFINITION IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY. All other reproduction is strictly prohibited without permission from the publisher.