semantic gap


semantic gap

[si′man·tik ′gap] (computer science) The difference between a data or language structure and the objects that it models.

semantic gap

The difference between the complex operations performed byhigh-level language constructs and the simple ones providedby computer instruction sets. It was in an attempt to tryto close this gap that computer architects designedincreasingly complex instruction set computers.

semantic gap

The difference between a data or language structure and the real world. For example, in order processing, a company can be both customer and supplier. Since there is no way to model this in a hierarchical database, the semantic gap is said to be large. A network-structured database could handle this condition, resulting in a smaller semantic gap. See semantics.