text 1. Executable code, especially a "pure code" portion shared between multiple instances of a program running in a multitasking operating system.
Compare English. 2. Textual material in the mainstream sense; data in ordinary ASCII or EBCDIC representation (see flat ASCII). "Those are text files; you can review them using the editor." These two contradictory senses confuse hackers too. [Jargon File] Last updated: 1995-03-16