106 articles
Switch statement
The switch statement, also known as a case statement, is a programming construct that selects among several labeled alternatives by value, replacing chains of equality tests.
Syntactic sugar
Syntactic sugar, also called syntax sugar, is syntax in a programming language that makes code easier to read or write without adding expressive power, coined by Peter Landin in 1964.
Tail call
A tail call (tail-end recursion) is a function call that is the caller's last action, letting runtimes reuse the stack frame so tail recursion runs in constant space.
Template metaprogramming
Template metaprogramming (TMP) is a family of C++ techniques using templates to compute values and create types at compile time; it emerged by accident in 1994.
Ternary conditional operator
The ternary conditional operator, also known as the conditional operator, is a programming-language operator written ? : in the C family that returns one of two values depending on a condition.
Trait (computer programming)
In computer programming, a trait is a language construct that groups methods and sometimes fields so classes can reuse behavior without a single inheritance hierarchy, as in Scala, PHP, and Rust.
Type checking
Type checking is a static analysis that verifies a program's expressions conform to their declared types, ruling out a class of errors before the program runs.
Type class
A type class is a language construct supporting ad-hoc polymorphism, introduced by Wadler and Blott in 1989; a type becomes an instance by supplying method definitions, as in Haskell.
Type system
A type system, also called a typing discipline, is the set of types and rules a programming language uses to assign types to values and expressions, preventing type errors.
Union type
A union type is a type whose values may belong to one of several alternative types, covering memory-sharing C-style unions and compiler-tracked type-level unions like TypeScript's.
Variable (computer science)
In computer science, a variable (program variable) is a named location in a program's storage that holds a value which can be read and changed while the program runs.
Virtual function
A virtual function, or virtual method, is a member function whose call is resolved at run time by the object's dynamic type, enabling dynamic binding and polymorphism in C++.
Virtual method table
The virtual method table (vtable, or virtual function table) is a table of function pointers a compiler generates so each polymorphic object can dynamically dispatch virtual function calls at run time.
Volatile (computer programming)
Volatile is a type qualifier in C, C++, and related languages telling the compiler a variable may change at any time outside the program's normal flow, so accesses must not be optimized away.
Weakest precondition
The weakest precondition WP(c, Q) is the weakest condition on a program's initial state that guarantees it ends in a state satisfying Q, introduced by Dijkstra in 1975.
While loop
A while loop is a control-flow statement in imperative programming languages that repeatedly executes a body of code as long as its condition is true, tested before each iteration.