prototype 1. (systems) An early version of a product, designed to demonstrate feasability and elicit feedback. A prototype usually has some subset of the functions, behaviour and appearance of the finished product. It is usually made using a method suitable for producing a one-off rather than mass production.
2. (programming) In prototype-based programming, an object that is intended to be cloned to create similar objects which may then be modified independently and/or cloned themselves. Last updated: 2010-03-02
