EOF

   [abbreviation, `End Of File']

   1.  [techspeak]  The  {out-of-band}  value returned by C's sequential
   character-input   functions   (and   their   equivalents   in   other
   environments)  when  end  of  file  has  been  reached. This value is
   usually  -1  under C libraries postdating V6 Unix, but was originally
   0.  DOS  hackers  think EOF is ^Z, and a few Amiga hackers think it's
   ^\.

   2.  [Unix]  The  keyboard character (usually control-D, the ASCII EOT
   (End  Of  Transmission)  character)  that  is  mapped by the terminal
   driver into an end-of-file condition.

   3.  Used  by extension in non-computer contexts when a human is doing
   something  that  can  be  modeled  as  a sequential read and can't go
   further.  "Yeah,  I  looked  for a list of 360 mnemonics to post as a
   joke,  but  I  hit  EOF  pretty fast; all the library had was a {JCL}
   manual." See also {EOL}.

[glossary]
[Reference(s) to this entry by made by: {EOL}]