bootstrap
    n 1: a strap that is looped and sewn to the top of a boot for
         pulling it on
    v 1: help oneself, often through improvised means

bootstrap
boot
booting

    To load and initialise the
   operating system on a computer.  Normally abbreviated to
   "boot".  From the curious expression "to pull oneself up by
   one's bootstraps", one of the legendary feats of Baron von
   Munchhausen.  The bootstrap loader is the program that runs
   on the computer before any (normal) program can run.  Derived
   terms include reboot, cold boot, warm boot, soft boot
   and hard boot.

   The term also applies to the use of a compiler to compile
   itself.  The usual process is to write an interpreter for a
   language, L, in some other existing language.  The compiler is
   then written in L and the interpreter is used to run it.  This
   produces an executable for compiling programs in L from the
   source of the compiler in L.  This technique is often used to
   verify the correctness of a compiler.  It was first used in
   the LISP community.

   See also My Favourite Toy Language.

   [Jargon File]

   (2005-04-12)