Tool

A tool is any physical item that can be used to achieve a goal, especially if the item is not consumed in the process. Tool use by humans dates back millions of years, and other animals are also known to employ simple tools.

Tools that are used in particular fields or activities may have different designations such as "instrument", "utensil", "implement", "machine", "device," or "apparatus". The set of tools needed to achieve a goal is "equipment". The knowledge of constructing, obtaining and using tools is technology.

History

Anthropologists believe that the use of tools was an important step in the evolution of mankind. Because tools are used extensively by both humans and wild chimpanzees, it is widely assumed that the first routine use of tools took place prior to the divergence between the two species. These early tools, however, were likely made of perishable materials such as sticks, or consisted of unmodified stones that cannot be distinguished from other stones as tools.

Stone artifacts only date back to about 2.5 million years ago. However, a 2010 study suggests the hominin species Australopithecus afarensis ate meat by carving animal carcasses with stone implements. This finding pushes back the earliest known use of stone tools among hominins to about 3.4 million years ago.

Programming tool

A programming tool or software development tool is a computer program that software developers use to create, debug, maintain, or otherwise support other programs and applications. The term usually refers to relatively simple programs, that can be combined together to accomplish a task, much as one might use multiple hand tools to fix a physical object. The ability to use a variety of tools productively is one hallmark of a skilled software engineer.

The most basic tools are a source code editor and a compiler or interpreter, which are used ubiquitously and continuously. Other tools are used more or less depending on the language, development methodology, and individual engineer, and are often used for a discrete task, like a debugger or profiler. Tools may be discrete programs, executed separately – often from the command line – or may be parts of a single large program, called an integrated development environment (IDE). In many cases, particularly for simpler use, simple ad hoc techniques are used instead of a tool, such as print debugging instead of using a debugger, manual timing (of overall program or section of code) instead of a profiler, or tracking bugs in a text file or spreadsheet instead of a bug tracking system.

EMP

EMP or Emp may refer to:

Science and technology

Organizations

Lord Emp

Lord Emp is a comic book character from DC Comics/Wildstorm.

Fictional character biography

Like the other Kherubim on Earth, Emp arrived on the planet when the Explorer ship he was travelling on crash-landed thousands of years ago, following an orbital battle with a Daemonite vessel (which was also brought down). The Kherubim mostly integrated themselves among the similar-looking humans, and for the next several centuries, they fought a secret war against the surviving Daemonites, who plotted to conquer their new world.

Middle Ages

Over the centuries Emp was one of the leaders of the Kherubim, using a variety of aliases. In medieval times, Emp and his brother, Lord Entropy, fought side by side against the Daemonites. While battling the Daemonite Brannoch the Black, they killed Brannoch, but the Daemonite inside escaped and possessed Entropy's wife, Gwynith. Emp was forced to slay Gwynith and Entropy became mad with grief. He swore to avenge her and disappeared.

Modern Age

Enpō

Enpō (延宝), also Empo, was a Japanese era name (年号,, nengō,, lit. "year name") after Kanbun and before Tenna. This period spanned the years from September 1673 to September 1681. The reigning emperor was Reigen-tennō (霊元天皇).

Change of era

Events of the Enpō era