Haryana BSEH Secondary NSQF IT-ITeS key terms

The sector that builds, installs, supports and services computer hardware, software, networks and information systems, and delivers IT-enabled services such as data processing, helpdesk support and back-office operations.

Business Process Outsourcing: handing routine business tasks such as data entry, billing, payroll or customer support to an outside company that performs them, often using computers and telecommunication links.

Knowledge Process Outsourcing: outsourcing work that needs specialist judgement and analysis, such as research, financial analysis, legal support or engineering design, rather than simple repetitive processing tasks.

A planned sequence of jobs and learning steps, such as trainee to technician to team leader, that shows the skills and qualifications a person needs to move upward in a field.

A defined set of duties, responsibilities and required skills attached to a particular position in an organisation, used to match a worker to suitable work.

The physical parts of a computer system that can be seen and touched, including the processor, memory chips, hard disk, keyboard, monitor and cables.

The set of programs, instructions and data that tell computer hardware what to do; it cannot be touched and is divided into system software and application software.

Central Processing Unit: the chip that fetches, decodes and executes program instructions and performs arithmetic and logic operations, often described as the brain of the computer.

Random Access Memory: fast temporary working memory that holds programs and data currently in use; its contents are lost when the power is switched off.

Read Only Memory: non-volatile memory whose stored instructions, such as the start-up routine, are retained when power is off and normally cannot be changed by the user.

Any hardware used to enter data or commands into a computer, for example a keyboard, mouse, scanner, microphone, barcode reader or touch screen.

Any hardware that presents processed results from a computer to the user, such as a monitor, printer, speaker, projector or plotter.

A device connected to the main computer unit to add a function, such as a printer, scanner, webcam, external drive or pen drive; it may be internal or external.

System software that manages hardware, memory, files and running programs and provides a user interface, for example Windows, Linux, Android or macOS.

The practice of creating, naming, storing, copying, moving, renaming and deleting files and folders in an organised structure so that data can be found and protected easily.

The short suffix after the dot in a file name, such as .docx, .xlsx or .jpg, that tells the operating system which program should open the file.

A small program that lets the operating system communicate with a particular piece of hardware, such as a printer or graphics card, by translating general commands into device-specific instructions.

Application software used to type, format, edit, save and print text documents, offering features such as fonts, alignment, tables, spell check and page layout.

Application software that stores numbers and text in a grid of rows and columns and recalculates results automatically when values change, using formulas and functions.

The address of a cell formed by its column letter and row number, such as B5 or D12, used in formulas to point to the data a calculation should use.

An instruction typed into a spreadsheet cell that begins with an equals sign and calculates a result from values, cell references or functions, for example =A1+B1.

A ready-made calculation built into spreadsheet software, such as SUM, AVERAGE, MAX or COUNT, that is given a range or values and returns a result.

A word-processing feature that combines one main document with a list of data records to produce many personalised copies, such as letters or labels addressed to different people.

Application software used to build a series of slides containing text, images, charts and multimedia, which are shown to an audience through a projector or screen.

A control slide in presentation software that stores the common design, fonts, colours, logos and placeholder positions applied to every slide built on it.

A pre-designed starting file with layouts, styles and placeholders already set, which a user fills with content so that documents or slides look consistent and time is saved.

Software such as Chrome, Firefox or Edge that requests web pages from servers, interprets their code and displays them, and lets the user follow links and manage bookmarks.

Uniform Resource Locator: the complete address of a resource on the internet, showing the protocol, domain name and optional path, such as https://example.com/page.

A website or service that indexes pages on the web and returns a ranked list of links matching the keywords a user types, helping locate information quickly.

Electronic mail: a service for sending and receiving written messages, with attachments, over a network to one or more recipients identified by email addresses.

Two email copy fields: CC (carbon copy) shows every recipient that others received the message, while BCC (blind carbon copy) hides those addresses from all other recipients.

The accepted rules of polite and responsible behaviour online, such as using clear subject lines, avoiding capital letters for shouting, respecting privacy and not forwarding others' messages without consent.

The process of keying information from source documents or forms into a computer system accurately and at a steady speed, following a defined format and checking for errors.

The two measures of typing and data-entry performance: accuracy is the percentage of characters entered correctly, and speed is the number of words or keystrokes typed per minute.

Typing without looking at the keyboard by keeping the fingers on the home row keys, so that each finger reaches its assigned keys by memory.

An organised collection of related data stored so that it can be searched, updated and retrieved efficiently, usually managed by database software rather than kept in separate files.

One complete row of related information about a single entity in a database table, such as all details of one student or one customer.

A single column or category of data within a database table, such as name, date of birth or mobile number, holding one type of information for every record.

Rules set in software to check that entered data is acceptable, for example limiting a field to numbers or a date range, so that wrong values are rejected at the point of entry.

Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure: the encrypted version of the web protocol, shown by a padlock in the browser, which protects data exchanged between the browser and the website.

A fraud in which a criminal sends a fake message or link that appears to come from a trusted organisation in order to trick the receiver into revealing passwords, OTPs or bank details.

A password that is long and mixes upper and lower case letters, digits and symbols, avoids personal words, and is not reused across accounts, making guessing and cracking difficult.

The trail of data a person leaves online through posts, searches, comments, sign-ups and browsing, which can persist and affect reputation and privacy.

Personal and social abilities such as communication, teamwork, punctuality, problem solving and adaptability that help a person work well with others, as distinct from technical job skills.

The activity of identifying an opportunity, taking financial risk and organising resources to start and run a business or self-employment venture, including planning, funding and managing it.

A key combination that performs a command without using menus, such as Ctrl+C to copy, Ctrl+V to paste, Ctrl+S to save or Ctrl+Z to undo.