footprint

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. See form factor.

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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

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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.

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1.	(jargon, hardware)	footprint - The floor or desk area taken up by a piece of hardware.
2.	(jargon, storage)	footprint - The amount of disk or RAM taken up by a program or file.
3.		footprint - (IBM) The audit trail left by a crashed program (often "footprints"). See also toeprint.