A program or file is device independent when its function is universal on different types of device.
For the World Wide Web, this means writing simple common denominator Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) so that most Web user agents on most devices can render it acceptably.
For computer programs, this generally means that it is written in a metalanguage that can be read by any platform. A program that was not originally written for a certain environment can be ported, i.e. the code can be adapted for a certain platform and compiled for the platform it will be functioning in. Unfortunately, this can lead to confusion if the user interface still resembles the one for the platform it was initially designed for.
For computer files, device independence means that software (or, theoretically, hardware) is in place that can interpret the file and allow the user to view or manipulate it. Good examples of cross-platform or device independent file formats are HTML and PDF, GIF and JPEG.
Famous quotes containing the words device and/or independent:
“The man who pretends that the distribution of income in this country reflects the distribution of ability or character is an ignoramus. The man who says that it could by any possible political device be made to do so is an unpractical visionary. But the man who says that it ought to do so is something worse than an ignoramous and more disastrous than a visionary: he is, in the profoundest Scriptural sense of the word, a fool.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
“The soul of me is very selfish. I have gone my way after a fashion that made me the center of the plan. And you who are so individual, who are so independent a spirit, whose soul is also a kingdom, have been so loyal, so forgiving, so self-sacrificing in your willingness to live my life. Nothing but love cold have accomplished so wonderful a thing.”
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)