L

LAN

See also Local Area Network (LAN).

LCID

See also Locale Identifier (LCID).

Local Area Network (LAN)

Two or more devices located in a relatively small physical area connected together using a combination of hardware and software. The devices, normally computers and peripheral equipment such as printers, are called nodes. A NIC (network interface card) provides the hardware communication between nodes through an appropriate medium (cable or microwave transmission.) The actual connection is provided through cables, in many cases, but can also rely on radio waves, infrared, and other technologies. There are two common types of LANs (also called networks). Peer-to-peer networks allow each node to connect to any other node on the network with shareable resources. This is a distributed method of files and peripheral devices. A client-server network uses one or more servers to share resources. This is a centralized method of sharing files and peripheral devices. A server provides resources to clients (usually workstations).

Locale Identifier (LCID)

A number that uniquely identifies a country, language, or other nationalistic information. An application, online resource, or data manager uses the LCID to provide specific information, services, or resources in a form that the user can understand. For example, many applications support more than one language and the application would use the LCID to change the prompts to match the user 's language.

Loop

A method of running repetitive instructions. Most languages implement several kinds of loop instructions that include specific counts or Boolean terminations. An example of a specific count loop is the for structure supported by most languages, which processes a set of instructions a specific number of times and then stops. An example of a Boolean termination is the while structure that continues processing instructions until the terminating condition meets a specific requirement such as variable equality.