Paws

Professional Adventure Writing System, a high-level programming language designed for creating interactive fiction (that is, text adventures).

Used mainly during the times of the Spectrum, very few people dare to use it now, mainly because of its lack of portability and its odd syntax, which doesn't resemble any standard procedural language. Inform is the most popular alternative, but PAWSlike languages survive thanks to retro users and non-programmers which may find its constructs easier than the tyical ifs and whiles.

Note: this is NOT the same as Python Adventure Writing System, which is more recent.

Yet another cute feline-related acronym from the New York Public Library (see CATNYP and LEO). PAWS stands for Public Access Web System, and is the catalogue of the Andrew Heiskell Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. PAWS allows access to spoken materials, materials in braille and other alternate formats. PAWS can be accessed online here: http://lblpac.nypl.org/klasweb/