Acronym for the American National Standards Institute
. Founded in 1918, ANSI is a voluntary organization composed of over 1,300 members (including all the large computer
companies) that creates standards
for the computer industry. For example, ANSI C
is a version of the C language
that has been approved by the ANSI committee. To a large degree, all ANSI C compilers
, regardless of which company produces them, should behave similarly.
In addition to programming languages, ANSI sets standards for a wide range of technical areas, from electrical specifications to communications protocols. For example, FDDI, the main set of protocols for sending data over fiber optic cables, is an ANSI standard.