Data logging

Data logging is the practice of recording sequential data, often chronologically.

Etymology

To log is a verb derivative of the noun logbook; the verb form means to record in a logbook, and may have been coined in the 1820s. The term logbook itself stems from the practice of floating a stationary "log" (actually a wooden block attached to a reel via rope) to provide a fixed point of reference for the purpose of measuring a ship's speed (see Knot (speed)). Computer scientists adopted the verb to log circa 1963 to describe the systematic recording of specific types of data processing events.youporn