1. A control file for a program, esp. a text file automatically read
from each user's home directory and intended to be easily modified by
the user in order to customize the program's behavior. Used to avoid
{hardcoded} choices (see also {dot file}, {rc file}).
2. [techspeak] A report on the amounts of time spent in each routine
of a program, used to find and {tune} away the {hot spot}s in it.
This sense is often verbed. Some profiling modes report units other
than time (such as call counts) and/or report at granularities other
than per-routine, but the idea is similar. 3.[techspeak] A subset of
a standard used for a particular purpose. This sense confuses hackers
who wander into the weird world of ISO standards no end!
[glossary]
[Reference(s) to this entry by made by: {dot file}{hardcoded}{rc file}]