Port (an Application)

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What Does Port (an Application) Mean?

To port, in the context of "porting an application," refers to changing software programming to allow the program to run with a different operating system than the program for which it was designed.

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Also, sometimes simply port or ported is used when referencing hardware that has been changed to operate with a different OS o.

This term is also known, or referred to, as porting the application.

Techopedia Explains Port (an Application)

To port an application means to allow an application program to run on a different OS. Machine dependent sections of the program must be rewritten as these are sections of the program that will execute only on a certain type of computer. Programs designed to run on a variety of types of computers, using different OSs, are said to be machine-independent.

Programs easily ported are said to be portable; or stated differently, when the manpower cost of porting to a new OS is less than that required to rewrite the entire program (i.e. from scratch), the program is described as portable.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert

Margaret é uma premiada redatora e professora conhecida por sua habilidade de explicar assuntos técnicos complexos para um público empresarial não técnico. Nos últimos vinte anos, suas definições de TI foram publicadas pela Que em uma enciclopédia de termos tecnológicos e citadas em artigos do New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine e Discovery Magazine. Ela ingressou na Techopedia em 2011. A ideia de Margaret de um dia divertido é ajudar os profissionais de TI e de negócios a aprenderem a falar os idiomas altamente especializados uns dos outros.