ABC

ABC is commonly used to denote the first three letters of the Latin alphabet and to refer to the basics or fundamentals of a subject, as in the phrase “the ABCs.” It also serves as a widely used acronym across different fields, often requiring context to determine meaning.

In broadcasting, ABC most often refers to two major networks. The American Broadcasting Company is a U.S. television network owned by The Walt Disney Company, with a broad schedule of entertainment and news programming. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation is Australia’s national public broadcaster, funded by the government and operating radio, television, and online services.

Other common uses of ABC include: ABC analysis in inventory management, a method for classifying items by their importance or value; Activity-Based Costing, a costing technique used in managerial accounting; and the ABC conjecture in number theory, a famous unsolved problem. In computer science, ABC is a high-level programming language and environment developed at the Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica in the Netherlands, noted for influencing later language design. Culturally, ABC refers to the alphabet and, in education and children's media, to the process of teaching basic literacy through songs like the ABC song.

Due to its broad adoption as an acronym and shorthand, the exact meaning of ABC depends heavily on the surrounding context.