Direct mode, also known as immediate mode is a computing term referring to the input of textual commands outside the context of a program. The command would be executed immediately and the results printed on screen, in contrast to programming mode where nothing would be executed until a specific command was given (BASICs RUN is an example of a direct mode command.) Some commands could be used in either mode, others were exclusive to one or the other. Direct mode was most often used on 8-bit systems such as the Commodore 64 and Atari 800 series, though commands entered at a unix shell can be thought of as direct mode equivalents to shell scripts, and modern interpreted languages like Python and Perl include shells where commands may be entered for immediate evaluation and execution.
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Famous quotes containing the words direct and/or mode:
“Of course it is of no use to direct our steps to the woods, if they do not carry us thither. I am alarmed when it happens that I have walked a mile into the woods bodily, without getting there in spirit.... What business have I in the woods, if I am thinking of something out of the woods?”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Yours of the 24th, asking “the best mode of obtaining a thorough knowledge of the law” is received. The mode is very simple, though laborious, and tedious. It is only to get the books, and read, and study them carefully.... Work, work, work, is the main thing.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)