User:Kenfowler1945/sandbox

The phrase real time without hyphen, at least in contemporary usage is identical to real-time though seen less frequently. One might reference the unabbreviated Oxford English Dictionary (OED) for a history of usage. Examples: "This is the real time to pick ripe apples". In this case "real" is no doubt redundant. Another example: I prefer to read fantasy books, for instance J.R.R. Tolkein's The Hobbit, about an imaginary time versus, oh, real time. The phrase real-time (with hyphen) is now (at least in the English academic and technical literature)typically refers to "real-time systems" e.g. real-time computing, real-time communication, and real-time information systems.[1]

[1] Real-Time Systems, Jane W.S. Liu, April 2000, ISBN-10: 0130996513, Prentice Hall publisher. Note: Emeritus Professor J.W.S. Liu is a distinguished researcher in Computer Science at the University of Illinois, at the main campus in Urbana-Champagne, Illinois, U.S.A Kenfowler1945 (talk) 22:38, 1 March 2012 (UTC)Ken Fowler, PhD.