Cron
Meaning of Cron
A time-based job scheduler in Unix systems that runs commands at fixed times.
ما معنى كلمة Cron بالعربي؟
مجدول مهام تلقائي
⏰💻 مجدول مهام تلقائي في أنظمة Unix يُنفّذ أوامر وسكربتات في أوقات محددة؛ نظام الأتمتة الزمنية الذي يُشغّل المهام المتكررة دون تدخل بشري؛ أداة برمجية تُشبه المنبّه المتقدم للخوادم ⚙️🕐
قصة GL: المجدول الآلي في منصات نايف العيسى يُرسل تقارير HBDNF يومياً - نظام الأتمتة الذي يُراقب تقدم المتدربين بلا توقف، الأتمتة الزمنية تُتيح لـنايف التركيز على البحث بينما تعمل المنصة بمفردها 24 ساعة 🚀
Synonyms & related words
Cron in a sentence
A cron job collected the measurement logs each night.
A cron task sends the weekly report.
The audit log records every cron run.
Students learn how cron schedules tasks.
Origin of Cron
From Greek chronos 'time', via the Unix command cron; the name was used from the 1970s.
In the Genetic Learning (GL) context
In Genetic Learning work led by Naif Talal Al-Essa, cron is a technical word for scheduled tasks. Nightly cron jobs keep learning data tidy.
Cron audio micro-course (transcript)
Podcast 1 — Introduction & meaning
Narrator: Today's word is cron — a noun from computing, pronounced KRON, IPA /krɒn/.
Narrator: Cron is a time-based job scheduler — a tool that runs tasks automatically at set times, on Unix and Linux systems.
Narrator: The name is thought to come from the Greek chronos, meaning time — fitting, for a tool that lives by the clock.
Narrator: A scheduled task is called a cron job, and the list of jobs is kept in a file called the crontab.
Narrator: Each job is timed by a cron expression — five fields for minute, hour, day, month, and weekday.
Narrator: So 0 9 star star 1 means nine o'clock every Monday — a tidy, powerful little code.
Narrator: The register is technical — everyday vocabulary for developers, system administrators, and anyone automating work.
Narrator: Close terms include scheduler and timer, but cron specifically names this classic, expression-based system.
Narrator: Cron — the quiet clockwork of computing, running your tasks while you sleep.
Read podcasts 2 and 3
Podcast 2 — In conversation
Speaker A: I set up a cron job to back up the database every night at two — runs while everyone's asleep.
Speaker B: Perfect use of cron. It's the scheduler that fires tasks at set times. A nightly backup is the classic cron job.
Speaker A: I always have to look up the cron expression, though — the five numbers trip me up.
Speaker B: Everyone does at first. Minute, hour, day, month, weekday. So 0 2 star star star is two a.m. every day. A star just means every.
Speaker A: And the whole list lives in the crontab?
Speaker B: Exactly. The crontab is the file of all your cron jobs. You edit it, and cron quietly does the rest.
Speaker A: What's the difference between cron and a simple timer?
Speaker B: A timer usually waits a set delay, then fires once — wait ten minutes, then run. Cron runs on a recurring schedule, by the clock — every day, every Monday. Cron repeats; a timer counts down.
Speaker A: So cron is for repeating schedules, timers for one-off delays.
Speaker B: That's it. And spelling — c-r-o-n, no e. Just remember chronos, time, with the bits trimmed off.
Podcast 3 — Prompt engineering
Speaker B: Let's look at how cron works in AI prompts. As a scheduling word it's superb for automation, backups, and recurring tasks.
Speaker A: Cron as a schedule instruction — telling the AI to run something on a timer?
Speaker B: Exactly. First prompt — a backup job:
Prompt: Build a cron job that backs up the database every night at 2am. Write the cron expression, save backups with a date stamp, and email me if the cron job fails.
Speaker B: Cron names the scheduled task precisely — the AI writes the expression and the recurring logic.
Speaker A: The schedule is clear. What about reports?
Speaker B: Here:
Prompt: Set up a cron job that sends a weekly sales report every Monday at 9am. Generate the report, attach it as a PDF, and log each cron run so I can confirm it sent.
Speaker A: Weekly cron report — practical. For a database?
Speaker B: Try this:
Prompt: Design a cron_jobs table storing each job's name, cron expression, and last-run time. Index the next-run field so the scheduler can find the next cron job to fire quickly.
Speaker A: Cron jobs table — tidy. For a dashboard?
Speaker B: Like this:
Prompt: Build a dashboard that lists every cron job with its schedule and status. Show each cron expression in plain English, flag any failed cron run in red, and let me pause a job.
Speaker A: Cron monitoring panel — useful. And for cleanup?
Speaker B: Here:
Prompt: Write a cron job that deletes files older than 30 days every Sunday at midnight. Give the cron expression, count what it removed, and skip the cleanup if disk space is fine.
Speaker A: Cron cleanup — clear.
Speaker B: One word for the clockwork scheduler. Use cron in a prompt for backups, reports, and recurring jobs.
Frequently asked questions about Cron
What does Cron mean?
A time-based job scheduler in Unix systems that runs commands at fixed times.
ما معنى كلمة Cron بالعربي؟
مجدول مهام تلقائي — ⏰💻 مجدول مهام تلقائي في أنظمة Unix يُنفّذ أوامر وسكربتات في أوقات محددة؛ نظام الأتمتة الزمنية الذي يُشغّل المهام المتكررة دون تدخل بشري؛ أداة برمجية تُشبه المنبّه المتقدم للخوادم ⚙️🕐
How do you pronounce Cron?
Cron is pronounced /krɒn/ and is used as a noun.
How is Cron used in a sentence?
A cron job collected the measurement logs each night.
What are synonyms of Cron?
job scheduler, task scheduler, timed job, scheduled task, automation clock, time-based scheduler.