1. [from CB slang] An electronic pseudonym; a nom de guerre intended
to conceal the user's true identity. Network and BBS handles function
as the same sort of simultaneous concealment and display one finds on
Citizen's Band radio, from which the term was adopted. Use of
grandiose handles is characteristic of {warez d00dz}, {cracker}s,
{weenie}s, {spod}s, and other lower forms of network life; true
hackers travel on their own reputations rather than invented
legendry. Compare {nick}, {screen name}.
2. A {magic cookie}, often in the form of a numeric index into some
array somewhere, through which you can manipulate an object like a
file or window. The form file handle is especially common.
3. [Mac] A pointer to a pointer to dynamically-allocated memory; the
extra level of indirection allows on-the-fly memory compaction (to
cut down on fragmentation) or aging out of unused resources, with
minimal impact on the (possibly multiple) parts of the larger program
containing references to the allocated memory. Compare {snap} (to
snap a handle would defeat its purpose); see also {aliasing bug},
{dangling pointer}.
[glossary]
[Reference(s) to this entry by made by: {nick}{screen name}{warez d00dz}{weenie}]