function of the same name.

:DPer: /dee-pee-er/ /n./ Data Processor. Hackers are
absolutely amazed that {suit}s use this term self-referentially.
*Computers* process data, not people! See {DP}.

:dragon: /n./ [MIT] A program similar to a {daemon}, except
that it is not invoked at all, but is instead used by the system to
perform various secondary tasks. A typical example would be an
accounting program, which keeps track of who is logged in,
accumulates load-average statistics, etc. Under ITS, many
terminals displayed a list of people logged in, where they were,
what they were running, etc., along with some random picture (such
as a unicorn, Snoopy, or the Enterprise), which was generated by
the `name dragon'. Usage: rare outside MIT -- under Unix and most
other OSes this would be called a `background demon' or
{daemon}. The best-known Unix example of a dragon is
`cron(1)'. At SAIL, they called this sort of thing a
`phantom'.

:Dragon Book: /n./ The classic text "Compilers:
Principles, Techniques and Tools", by Alfred V. Aho, Ravi Sethi,
and Jeffrey D. Ullman (Addison-Wesley 1986; ISBN 0-201-10088-6),
so called because of the cover design featuring a dragon labeled
`complexity of compiler design' and a knight bearing the lance
`LALR parser generator' among his other trappings. This one is
more specifically known as the `Red Dragon Book' (1986); an earlier
edition, sans Sethi and titled "Principles Of Compiler Design"
(Alfred V. Aho and Jeffrey D. Ullman; Addison-Wesley, 1977; ISBN
0-201-00022-9), was the `Green Dragon Book' (1977). (Also `New