Native describes a computing system as operating directly with an underlying technology; with no intervening communication or translation layers.

Native software

Native software is built to be

executed Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

directly by

processors Processor may refer to: Computing Hardware * Processor (computing) ** Central processing unit (CPU), the hardware within a computer that executes a program *** Microprocessor, a central processing unit contained on a single integrated circuit ( ...

that implement a compatible

instruction set In computer science, an instruction set architecture (ISA) is an abstract model that generally defines how software controls the CPU in a computer or a family of computers. A device or program that executes instructions described by that ISA, s ...

. A program that runs natively on one platform is runnable on another platform via an

emulator In computing, an emulator is Computer hardware, hardware or software that enables one computer system (called the ''host'') to behave like another computer system (called the ''guest''). An emulator typically enables the host system to run sof ...

if an emulator is available and, generally, with significant runtime speed degradation. For example, games for a

Game Boy The is a handheld game console developed by Nintendo, launched in the Japanese home market on April 21, 1989, followed by North America later that year and other territories from 1990 onwards. Following the success of the Game & Watch single-ga ...

(typically distributed as a cartridge), generally run natively on a Game Boy which is relatively incompatible with other computer platforms. To run such a game on another processor, software that emulates the Game Boy hardware is required.

Cross-platform software Within computing, cross-platform software (also called multi-platform software, platform-agnostic software, or platform-independent software) is computer software that is designed to work in several computing platforms. Some cross-platform soft ...

can run on multiple processors although possibly requiring it to be re-built for different target systems.

Native API

A native

application programming interface An application programming interface (API) is a connection between computers or between computer programs. It is a type of software Interface (computing), interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that des ...

(API) provides direct access to an underlying technology. For example, the

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

Native API The Native API is a lightweight application programming interface (API) used by Windows NT's kernel and user mode applications. This API is used in the early stages of Windows NT startup process, when other components and APIs are still unavail ...

is an

specific for the

Windows NT Windows NT is a Proprietary software, proprietary Graphical user interface, graphical operating system produced by Microsoft as part of its Windows product line, the first version of which, Windows NT 3.1, was released on July 27, 1993. Original ...

kernel, which provides access to some kernel functions which cannot be directly accessed through the more universal

Windows API The Windows API, informally WinAPI, is the foundational application programming interface (API) that allows a computer program to access the features of the Microsoft Windows operating system in which the program is running. Programs can acces ...

Native VM

A native

virtual machine In computing, a virtual machine (VM) is the virtualization or emulator, emulation of a computer system. Virtual machines are based on computer architectures and provide the functionality of a physical computer. Their implementations may involve ...

(VM) runs directly on hardware; without virtualization or virtualization at its lowest level. For example, with multiple levels of virtualization, the lowest level operating system the one that actually maintains direct control of the hardware is referred to as a "Native VM".

Native data

Applied to

data Data ( , ) are a collection of discrete or continuous values that convey information, describing the quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpreted for ...

, native data formats or

communication protocol A communication protocol is a system of rules that allows two or more entities of a communications system to transmit information via any variation of a physical quantity. The protocol defines the rules, syntax, semantics (computer science), sem ...

s are those supported by a certain

computer hardware Computer hardware includes the physical parts of a computer, such as the central processing unit (CPU), random-access memory (RAM), motherboard, computer data storage, graphics card, sound card, and computer case. It includes external devices ...

or software, with maximal consistency and minimal amount of additional components. For example, EGA and

VGA Video Graphics Array (VGA) is a video display controller and accompanying de facto graphics standard, first introduced with the IBM PS/2 line of computers in 1987, which became ubiquitous in the IBM PC compatible industry within three years. T ...

video adapters ''natively'' support

code page 437 Code page 437 ( CCSID 437) is the character set of the original IBM PC (personal computer). It is also known as CP437, OEM-US, OEM 437, PC-8, or MS-DOS Latin US. The set includes all printable ASCII characters as well as some accented letters (di ...

. This does not preclude supporting other

code page In computing, a code page is a character encoding and as such it is a specific association of a set of printable character (computing), characters and control characters with unique numbers. Typically each number represents the binary value in a s ...

s, but it requires either a font uploading or using graphic modes.

Cloud Native

Cloud native refers to the approach of building, deploying, and managing applications in cloud computing environments for software optimized for running on a cloud-based platform.

References

{{Reflist Computer jargon