All Questions
Tagged with programming-languagesterminology
28 questions
12votes
7answers
4kviews
Immutability across programming languages
I'm quite confused about the concept of mutability (or mutation?), especially across different languages. In a language like Python: x = 10 x = 20 I believe this is called shadowing (or rebinding) ...
- 129
1vote
2answers
295views
What does "legacy signature" mean?
I see the term legacy signature a lot in the documentation of programming languages. For example in the php documentation : Passing the separator after the array (i.e. using the legacy signature) ...
0votes
2answers
746views
Name for a "called function"
I am writing a documentation for a programm where a function is defined and it is called three times. I call the definition of the function "function definition". But what is the correct ...
- 143
-2votes
1answer
80views
An expression in the first line of the control flow statement
Is there a term or some short wording to refer to an expression in the "first" line of the control flow statement? func() { if (a == b) { var = 1 + 1 return True } else { var ...
- 501
-2votes
2answers
483views
Conditional jump statements in middle- and high-level languages
In Java, C, and C++ we have the following jump statements: break, continue, goto, and return. In C#, there is also throw. I'm not really familiar with either of these languages. This is simply what I ...
- 501
-1votes
2answers
336views
Opposite of mutating [closed]
I am looking for an adjective; one that describes the opposite of "mutating". I want to use it to mark functions, methods and method parameters (including the receiver) as "not being mutated" by the ...
- 4,628
9votes
3answers
6kviews
Why isn't C's most basic printing function named `print` instead of `printf`? [duplicate]
AFAIK, C does not have a print function. The most basic we can get is printf. So, is there a reason why this function is not simply named print, instead of printf? Note that this question is about ...
- 1,912
6votes
3answers
8kviews
What really is the "runtime environment"?
This is a very basic question but is something I've never completely understood and recently, when studying .NET Core and ASP.NET 5 I felt the need of a more complete understanding of the topic. ...
- 4,967
5votes
4answers
5kviews
Is a programming language a set of programs or a set of instructions?
From Structured Computer Organization by Tanenbum A program is a sequence of instructions describing how to perform a certain task. When trying to see a programming language as a formal ...
- 5,525
18votes
2answers
17kviews
What is the difference between Optionals and Nullable type
Swift has Optionals. C# has Nullable types. As far as I can tell both serve same purpose, besides value of some type they store information whether variable has value or is undefined (uninitialized)....
35votes
6answers
7kviews
What specifically does expressive power refer to?
Expressive Power is defined by Wikipedia as: .. the breadth of ideas that can be represented and communicated in that language. Does "ideas" refer to the things (operations, structures, algorithms,...
- 15.2k
43votes
5answers
105kviews
Programming Language vs Markup Language vs Scripting Language
Up until now I don't know the KEY differences between these three. When someone asks me about this, I only tell them that C# is a programming language, HTML and XML are Markup Languages, and ...
- 551
2votes
1answer
538views
Is there a name for the 'break n' construct?
In a conversation earlier this week I was discussing certain language features, and I realized I don't have a good word / phrase to describe a particular feature. Some languages, such as PHP, have a ...
- 4,215
9votes
5answers
21kviews
Is there any difference between pointers and references? [duplicate]
References and pointers do the same thing as I know. Is there any difference between them? If there is no difference, why we call them reference not pointer?
- 1,772
22votes
6answers
4kviews
How can I say that programming language compiles to other languages?
How can I say in english, that programming language can be compiled to other programming languages? The example can be Haxe. On the website the language is decribed as "Multiplatform": ...
- 669
