Standard data processing and mathematical terms are used in this book. Terminology is generally consistent with that used for Fortran. See the Glossary for definitions of terms used in this book.
Because ESSL can be used with more than one programming language, the terms short precision and long precision are used in place of the Fortran terms single precision and double precision.
An ESSL subroutine is a named sequence of instructions within the ESSL product library whose execution is invoked by a call. A subroutine can be called in one or more user programs and at one or more times within each program. The ESSL subroutines are referred to as subprograms in the area of linear algebra subprograms. The term subprograms is used because it is consistent with the BLAS. Many of the linear algebra subprograms correspond to the BLAS; these are listed in Appendix A, Basic Linear Algebra Subprograms (BLAS).