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Back-pointer
In computer science, a pointer is an object in many programming languages that stores a memory address. This can be that of another value located in computer memory, or in some cases, that of memory-mapped computer hardware. A pointer ''references'' a location in memory, and obtaining the value stored at that location is known as ''dereferencing'' the pointer. As an analogy, a page number in a book's index could be considered a pointer to the corresponding page; dereferencing such a pointer would be done by flipping to the page with the given page number and reading the text found on that page. The actual format and content of a pointer variable is dependent on the underlying computer architecture. Using pointers significantly improves performance for repetitive operations, like traversing iterable data structures (e.g. strings, lookup tables, control tables, linked lists, and tree structures). In particular, it is often much cheaper in time and space to copy and dere ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Assignment (computer Science)
In computer programming, an assignment statement sets and/or re-sets the value stored in the storage location(s) denoted by a variable name; in other words, it copies a value into the variable. In most imperative programming languages, the assignment statement (or expression) is a fundamental construct. Today, the most commonly used notation for this operation is ''x'' = ''expr'' (originally Superplan 1949–51, popularized by Fortran 1957 and C). The second most commonly used notation is ''x'' := ''expr'' (originally ALGOL 1958, popularised by Pascal). Many other notations are also in use. In some languages, the symbol used is regarded as an operator (meaning that the assignment statement as a whole returns a value). Other languages define assignment as a statement (meaning that it cannot be used in an expression). Assignments typically allow a variable to hold different values at different times during its life-span and scope. However, some languages (primarily stric ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Linked List
In computer science, a linked list is a linear collection of data elements whose order is not given by their physical placement in memory. Instead, each element points to the next. It is a data structure consisting of a collection of nodes which together represent a sequence. In its most basic form, each node contains data, and a reference (in other words, a ''link'') to the next node in the sequence. This structure allows for efficient insertion or removal of elements from any position in the sequence during iteration. More complex variants add additional links, allowing more efficient insertion or removal of nodes at arbitrary positions. A drawback of linked lists is that data access time is linear in respect to the number of nodes in the list. Because nodes are serially linked, accessing any node requires that the prior node be accessed beforehand (which introduces difficulties in pipelining). Faster access, such as random access, is not feasible. Arrays have better cache ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Data Structures
In computer science, a data structure is a data organization and storage format that is usually chosen for efficient access to data. More precisely, a data structure is a collection of data values, the relationships among them, and the functions or operations that can be applied to the data, i.e., it is an algebraic structure about data. Usage Data structures serve as the basis for abstract data types (ADT). The ADT defines the logical form of the data type. The data structure implements the physical form of the data type. Different types of data structures are suited to different kinds of applications, and some are highly specialized to specific tasks. For example, relational databases commonly use B-tree indexes for data retrieval, while compiler implementations usually use hash tables to look up identifiers. Data structures provide a means to manage large amounts of data efficiently for uses such as large databases and internet indexing services. Usually, effici ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Low-level Programming Language
A low-level programming language is a programming language that provides little or no Abstraction (computer science), abstraction from a computer's instruction set architecture, memory or underlying physical hardware; commands or functions in the language are structurally similar to a processor's instructions. These languages provide the programmer with full control over program memory and the underlying machine code instructions. Because of the low level of abstraction (hence the term "low-level") between the language and machine language, low-level languages are sometimes described as being "close to the hardware". Programs written in low-level languages tend to be relatively Software portability, non-portable, due to being optimized for a certain type of system architecture. Low-level languages are directly converted to machine code with or without a compiler or Interpreter (computing), interpreter—second-generation programming languages depending on programming language. A p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Data Type
In computer science and computer programming, a data type (or simply type) is a collection or grouping of data values, usually specified by a set of possible values, a set of allowed operations on these values, and/or a representation of these values as machine types. A data type specification in a program constrains the possible values that an expression, such as a variable or a function call, might take. On literal data, it tells the compiler or interpreter how the programmer intends to use the data. Most programming languages support basic data types of integer numbers (of varying sizes), floating-point numbers (which approximate real numbers), characters and Booleans. Concept A data type may be specified for many reasons: similarity, convenience, or to focus the attention. It is frequently a matter of good organization that aids the understanding of complex definitions. Almost all programming languages explicitly include the notion of data type, though the possible d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reference (computer Science)
In computer programming, a reference is a value that enables a program to indirectly access a particular datum, such as a variable (computer science), variable's value or a record (computer science), record, in the computer's memory (computing), memory or in some other Data storage device, storage device. The reference is said to refer to the datum, and accessing the datum is called Dereference operator, dereferencing the reference. A reference is distinct from the datum itself. A reference is an abstract data type and may be implemented in many ways. Typically, a reference refers to data stored in memory on a given system, and its internal value is the memory address of the data, i.e. a reference is implemented as a Pointer (computer programming), pointer. For this reason a reference is often said to "point to" the data. Other implementations include an offset (difference) between the datum's address and some fixed "base" address, an array index, index, or identifier used in a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Virtual Method Table
In computer programming, a virtual method table (VMT), virtual function table, virtual call table, dispatch table, vtable, or vftable is a mechanism used in a programming language to support dynamic dispatch (or run-time method binding). Whenever a class defines a virtual function (or method), most compilers add a hidden member variable to the class that points to an array of pointers to (virtual) functions called the virtual method table. These pointers are used at runtime to invoke the appropriate function implementations, because at compile time it may not yet be known if the base function is to be called or a derived one implemented by a class that inherits from the base class. There are many different ways to implement such dynamic dispatch, but use of virtual method tables is especially common among C++ and related languages (such as D and C#). Languages that separate the programmatic interface of objects from the implementation, like Visual Basic and Del ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Method (computer Programming)
A method in object-oriented programming (OOP) is a procedure associated with an object, and generally also a message. An object consists of ''state data'' and ''behavior''; these compose an ''interface'', which specifies how the object may be used. A method is a behavior of an object parametrized by a user. Data is represented as properties of the object, and behaviors are represented as methods. For example, a Window object could have methods such as open and close, while its state (whether it is open or closed at any given point in time) would be a property. In class-based programming, methods are defined within a class, and objects are instances of a given class. One of the most important capabilities that a method provides is '' method overriding'' - the same name (e.g., area) can be used for multiple different kinds of classes. This allows the sending objects to invoke behaviors and to delegate the implementation of those behaviors to the receiving object. A method in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Name Binding
In programming languages, name binding is the association of entities (data and/or code) with identifiers. An identifier bound to an object is said to reference that object. Machine languages have no built-in notion of identifiers, but name-object bindings as a service and notation for the programmer is implemented by programming languages. Binding is intimately connected with scoping, as scope determines which names bind to which objects – at which locations in the program code ( lexically) and in which one of the possible execution paths ( temporally). Use of an identifier in a context that establishes a binding for is called a binding (or defining) occurrence. In all other occurrences (e.g., in expressions, assignments, and subprogram calls), an identifier stands for what it is bound to; such occurrences are called applied occurrences. Binding time * ''Static binding'' (or ''early binding'') is name binding performed before the program is run. * ''Dynamic binding'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Function Pointer
A function pointer, also called a subroutine pointer or procedure pointer, is a pointer referencing executable code, rather than data. Dereferencing the function pointer yields the referenced function, which can be invoked and passed arguments just as in a normal function call. Such an invocation is also known as an "indirect" call, because the function is being invoked ''indirectly'' through a variable instead of ''directly'' through a fixed identifier or address. Function pointers allow different code to be executed at runtime. They can also be passed to a function to enable callbacks. Function pointers are supported by third-generation programming languages (such as PL/I, COBOL, Fortran, dBASE dBL, and C) and object-oriented programming languages (such as C++, C#, and D). Simple function pointers The simplest implementation of a function (or subroutine) pointer is as a variable containing the address of the function within executable memory. Older third-generati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Object-oriented Programming
Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a programming paradigm based on the concept of '' objects''. Objects can contain data (called fields, attributes or properties) and have actions they can perform (called procedures or methods and implemented in code). In OOP, computer programs are designed by making them out of objects that interact with one another. Many of the most widely used programming languages (such as C++, Java, and Python) support object-oriented programming to a greater or lesser degree, typically as part of multiple paradigms in combination with others such as imperative programming and declarative programming. Significant object-oriented languages include Ada, ActionScript, C++, Common Lisp, C#, Dart, Eiffel, Fortran 2003, Haxe, Java, JavaScript, Kotlin, Logo, MATLAB, Objective-C, Object Pascal, Perl, PHP, Python, R, Raku, Ruby, Scala, SIMSCRIPT, Simula, Smalltalk, Swift, Vala and Visual Basic.NET. History The idea of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dynamic Link Library
A dynamic-link library (DLL) is a shared library in the Microsoft Windows or OS/2 operating system. A DLL can contain executable code (functions), data, and resources. A DLL file often has file extension .dll even though this is not required. The extension is sometimes used to describe the content of the file. For example, .ocx is a common extension for an ActiveX control and .drv for a legacy (16-bit) device driver. A DLL that contains only resources can be called a ''resource DLL''. Examples include an icon library, with common extension .icl, and a font library with common extensions .fon and .fot. The file format of a DLL is the same as for an executable (a.k.a. EXE). The main difference between a DLL file and an EXE file is that a DLL cannot be run directly since the operating system requires an entry point to start execution. Windows provides a utility program (RUNDLL.EXE/RUNDLL32.EXE) to execute a function exposed by a DLL. Since they have the same format, an EX ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
