paragraph

paragraph

(1) In DOS programming, a 16 byte block. Memory addresses are generated as "segment:offset," where the segment is expressed in paragraphs. To compute an address, the segment register is shifted left four bits, which effectively multiplies it by 16. For example, in the address A000:0100, the A000 becomes A0000, as follows:

     Segment    A0000    655,360
     Offset      0100        256
     Result     A0100    655,616

This means there are 4,096 possibilities for expressing each memory byte, a situation that has helped generate confusion.

(2) In word processing and desktop publishing, a collection of words and sentences that contains an end-of-line character (return, line feed or both) at the end of it. From the viewpoint of the software, even a single word followed by a return is a paragraph.

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paragraph [′par·ə‚graf]

(computer science)

A complete, logical sequence of instructions in the COBOL programming language, required to carry out a definable program or task.