Portability

Noun · Development

Definitions

  1. The degree to which software can run on different platforms, operating systems, or hardware with minimal or no modification. Highly portable code avoids platform-specific APIs, uses standard languages and formats, and isolates any unavoidable platform dependencies behind abstraction layers.

    In plain English: How easily software can be moved from one type of computer or operating system to another without needing major changes.

    Example: "We chose ANSI C for the core library because portability matters — it needs to compile on everything from embedded ARM to mainframes."

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