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Hardware vs Virtual - What's the difference?

hardware | virtual |

As nouns the difference between hardware and virtual

is that hardware is hardware while virtual is (computing) in c++, a virtual member function of a class.

As an adjective virtual is

in effect or essence, if not in fact or reality; imitated, simulated.

hardware

English

Noun

(-)
  • Fixtures]], equipment, tools and [[device, devices used for general-purpose construction and repair of a structure or object. Also such equipment as sold as stock by a store of the same name, e.g. hardware store.
    • He needed a hammer, nails, screws, nuts, bolts and other assorted hardware , so he went to the hardware store.
  • (informal) Equipment.
    • military hardware
  • *
  • *
  • *
  • (computing) The part of a computer that is fixed and cannot be altered without replacement or physical modification; motherboard, expansion cards, etc. Compare software.
  • * 1952 , "Binary Arithmetic", R.L. Michaelson, in The Incorporated Statistician , vol. 3, no. 1 (Feb. 1952), pp 35-40.
    • Hardware is the generally accepted colloquism for anything inside a computer other than an engineer.
  • (technology) Electronic equipment.
  • Metal implements.
  • (slang) A firearm.

    • Related terms

    * software * hardware store

    External links

    * (wikipedia) ----

    virtual

    English

    (wikipedia virtual)

    Alternative forms

    * vertual (obsolete) * vertuall (qualifier) * virtuall (obsolete)

    Adjective

    (-)
  • In effect or essence, if not in fact or reality; imitated, simulated.
    • In fact a defeat on the battlefield, Tet was a virtual victory for the North, owing to its effect on public opinion.
    Virtual addressing allows applications to believe that there is much more physical memory than actually exists.
  • * Fleming
    • A thing has a virtual existence when it has all the conditions necessary to its actual existence.
  • * De Quincey
    • to mask by slight differences in the manners a virtual identity in the substance
  • Having the power of acting or of invisible efficacy without the agency of the material or measurable part; potential.
  • * Francis Bacon
    • Heat and cold have a virtual transition, without communication of substance.
  • * Milton
    • Every kind that lives, / Fomented by his virtual power, and warmed.
  • Nearly, almost. (A relatively recent corruption of meaning, attributed to misuse in advertising and media. )
    • The angry peasants were a virtual army as they attacked the castle.
  • * 2012 , Chelsea 6-0 Wolves [http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19632463]
    • The Chelsea captain was a virtual spectator as he was treated to his side's biggest win for almost two years as Stamford Bridge serenaded him with chants of "there's only one England captain," some 48 hours after he announced his retirement from international football.
  • Simulated in a computer or online.
    • The virtual world of his computer game allowed character interaction.
  • Operating by computer or in cyberspace; not physically present.
    • a virtual''' assistant; a '''virtual personal trainer
  • (computing, object-oriented programming, of a class member) Capable of being overridden with a different implementation in a subclass.
  • (physics) Pertaining to particles in temporary existence due to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle.

    • Synonyms

    * de facto

    Antonyms

    * de jure * legal * real

    Derived terms

    * virtual reality * virtually

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (computing) In C++, a virtual member function of a class.
    • ----