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23 lines
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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" standalone="no"?>
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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>beta</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="../../jargon.css" type="text/css"/><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.61.0"/><link rel="home" href="../index.html" title="The Jargon File"/><link rel="up" href="../B.html" title="B"/><link rel="previous" href="Berzerkeley.html" title="Berzerkeley"/><link rel="next" href="BFI.html" title="BFI"/></head><body><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">beta</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="Berzerkeley.html">Prev</a><EFBFBD></td><th width="60%" align="center">B</th><td width="20%" align="right"><EFBFBD><a accesskey="n" href="BFI.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr/></div><dt><a id="beta"/><dt xmlns="" id="beta"><b>beta</b>: <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="pronunciation">/bay<61>t@/</span>, <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="pronunciation">/be<62>t@/</span>, <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="pronunciation">/bee<65>t@/</span>, <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="grammar">n.</span></dt></dt><dd><p> 1. Mostly working, but still under test; usu. used with
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“<span class="quote">in</span>”: <span class="firstterm">in beta</span>. In the
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<a href="../R/Real-World.html"><i class="glossterm">Real World</i></a>, hardware or software systems often go
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through two stages of release testing: Alpha (in-house) and Beta
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(out-house?). Beta releases are generally made to a group of lucky (or
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unlucky) trusted customers. </p></dd><dd><p> 2. Anything that is new and experimental. “<span class="quote">His girlfriend is
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in beta</span>” means that he is still testing for compatibility and
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reserving judgment. </p></dd><dd><p> 3. Flaky; dubious; suspect (since beta software is notoriously
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buggy).</p></dd><dd><p>Historical note: More formally, to beta-test is to test a pre-release
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(potentially unreliable) version of a piece of software by making it
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available to selected (or self-selected) customers and users. This term
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derives from early 1960s terminology for product cycle checkpoints, first
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used at IBM but later standard throughout the industry. <span class="firstterm">Alpha Test</span> was the unit, module, or component
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test phase; <span class="firstterm">Beta Test</span> was initial
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system test. These themselves came from earlier A- and B-tests for
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hardware. The A-test was a feasibility and manufacturability evaluation
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done before any commitment to design and development. The B-test was a
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demonstration that the engineering model functioned as specified. The
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C-test (corresponding to today's beta) was the B-test performed on early
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samples of the production design, and the D test was the C test repeated
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after the model had been in production a while.</p></dd><div class="navfooter"><hr/><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="Berzerkeley.html">Prev</a><EFBFBD></td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="../B.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"><EFBFBD><a accesskey="n" href="BFI.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">Berzerkeley<EFBFBD></td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="../index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"><EFBFBD>BFI</td></tr></table></div></body></html>
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