Clarifying the meta

Abstract

The word and the concept of meta are used in virtually all disciplines of computing. Professionals often use it intuitively and in specific contexts in which the meaning of a word containing the meta- prefix is well understood, at least by specialists. For example, all experts in artificial intelligence know what metarules are and where they are useful. However, the meta can imply much more than understanding some concepts in a specific domain. This paper surveys some of the most interesting cases of using the concept of meta in computing in order to help build the big picture.