In computing, Bootstrapping refers to a process where a simple system activates another more complicated system that serves the same purpose. It is a solution to the Chicken-and-egg problem of starting a certain system without the system already functioning. The term is most often applied to the process of starting up a computer, in which a mechanism is needed to execute the software program that is responsible for executing software programs (the Operating system). The chicken or the egg is a reference to the causality dilemma which arises from the expression which came first, the chicken or the egg?. When used in reference to difficult problems, a chicken and egg problem is similar to a Catch 22 situation where something cannot happen until a... Computer software (or simply software) refers to one or more computer programs and data held in the storage of a computer for some purpose. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

The term "bootstrapping" alludes to a German legend about Baron Münchhausen, who was able to lift himself out of a swamp by pulling himself up by his own hair. In later versions he was using his own boot straps to pull himself out of the sea which gave rise to the term bootstrapping ^{[citation needed]}. The term is believed to have entered computer jargon during the early 1950's by way of Heinlein's short story By His Bootstraps first published in 1941 ^{[citation needed]}. Dorés caricature of Münchhausen Karl Friedrich Hieronymus, Freiherr von Münchhausen (11 May 1720 – 22 February 1797) was a German baron who in his youth was sent to serve as page to Anthony Ulrich II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and later joined the Russian military. ... This article is becoming very long. ... By His Bootstraps is a science fiction short story by Robert A. Heinlein that plays with some of the inherent paradoxes that would be caused by time travel. ...

Booting

Bootstrapping was shortened to booting, or the process of starting up any computer, which is the most common meaning for non-technical computer users. The verb "boot" is similarly derived. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with cold boot. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...

A "Bootstrap" most commonly refers to the simple program itself that actually begins the initialization of the computer's operating system, like GRUB, LILO or NTLDR. Modern personal computers have the ability of using their network interface card (NIC) for bootstrapping; on IA-32(x86) and IA-64 (Itanium) this method is implemented by PXE and Etherboot. Grub or GRUB can mean: a slang term for food a beetle larva that resembles a worm a distributed commercial search engine: see Grub (search engine) a number of places in Switzerland, Austria and Germany, such as: Grub, canton of Appenzell Outer Rhodes, Switzerland Grub, Germany for the GNU project... LILO (LInux LOader) is a boot loader for Linux. ... An NTLDR boot menu. ... A transitional network card with both BNC Thinnet (left) and Twisted pair (right) connectors. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with X86 assembly language. ... x86 or 80x86 is the generic name of a microprocessor architecture first developed and manufactured by Intel. ... In computing, IA-64 (or ia64, short for Intel Architecture-64) is a 64-bit processor architecture developed in cooperation by Intel and Hewlett-Packard, implemented by processors such as Itanium and Itanium 2. ... Itanium 2 logo Old Itanium logo The Itanium is an IA-64 microprocessor developed jointly by Hewlett-Packard and Intel. ... The PXE (Preboot eXecution Environment) as described in the specification (v2. ...

Software Bootstrapping

Bootstrapping can also refer to the development of successively more complex, faster programming environments. The simplest environment will be, perhaps, a very basic text editor (e.g. ed) and an assembler program. Using these tools, one can write a more complex text editor, and a simple compiler for a higher-level language and so on, until one can have a graphical IDE and an extremely high-level programming language. The text editor ed was the original standard on the Unix operating system. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Assembly language. ... This article or section needs a complete rewrite for the reasons listed on the talk page. ... An integrated development environment (IDE), also known as integrated design environment and integrated debugging environment, is a type of computer software that assists computer programmers in developing software. ... A high-level programming language is a programming language that, in comparison to low-level programming languages, may be more abstract, easier to use, or more portable across platforms. ...

Historically, bootstrapping also refers to early computer program development which has been obsoleted by emulation software now executed in pre-existing computers. Bootstrapping in program development began during the 1950's when each program was constructed on paper in decimal code or in binary code, bit by bit (1's and 0's), because there was no high-level computer language, no compiler, no assembler, and no linker. A tiny assembler program was written for a new computer (for example the IBM 650) which converted a few instructions into binary or decimal code. This assembler program was then rewritten in its own assembly language that included additional alphabetic mnemonic operation codes. The enlarged assembly program then reassembled itself into binary or decimal code, and so on, until the entire instruction set was coded and branch addresses were automatically calculated. This was how the early assembly program SOAP (Symbolic Optimal Assembly Program) was developed. Compilers, linkers, loaders, and utilities were then coded in assembly language, further continuing the bootstrapping process of developing complex software systems by using simpler software. This article is about emulation in computer science. ... A diagram of the operation of a typical multi-language, multi-target compiler. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Assembly language. ... Figure of the linking process, where object files and static libraries are assembled into a new library or executable. ... IBM 650 front panel, showing bi-quinary indicators IBM 650 front panel, rear view The IBM 650 was one of IBM’s early computers, and the world’s first mass-produced computer. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Assembly language. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

For more detail, see booting

It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with cold boot. ...

Compiler Bootstrapping

In compiler design, a bootstrap or bootstrapping compiler is a compiler that is written in the target language, or a subset of the language, that it compiles. Examples include gcc, GHC, OCaml, BASIC, PL/I and more recently the Mono C# compiler. A diagram of the operation of a typical multi-language, multi-target compiler. ... The GNU Compiler Collection (usually shortened to GCC) is a set of programming language compilers produced by the GNU Project. ... The Glasgow Haskell Compiler (or GHC) is an open source Native code Compiler for the functional programming language Haskell which was developed at the University of Glasgow. ... Objective Caml (OCaml) is a general-purpose programming language descended from the ML family, created by Xavier Leroy, Jérôme Vouillon, Damien Doligez, Didier Rémy and others in 1996. ... Screenshot of Atari BASIC, one of the first BASIC languages for small computers. ... PL/I (Programming Language One, pronounced pee el one) is an imperative computer programming language designed for scientific, engineering, and business applications. ... Mono is a project led by Novell (formerly by Ximian) to create an ECMA standard compliant . ...

For more detail, see Bootstrapping (compilers)