Computer programming

Related concepts (123)

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Object code optimizer

An object code optimizer, sometimes also known as a post pass optimizer or, for small sections of code, peephole optimizer, forms part of a software compiler. It takes the output from the source language compile step - the object code or - and tries to replace identifiable sections of the code with replacement code that is more algorithmically efficient (usually improved speed). The earliest "COBOL Optimizer" was developed by Capex Corporation in the mid 1970s for COBOL.

Multi-pass compiler

A multi-pass compiler is a type of compiler that processes the source code or abstract syntax tree of a program several times. This is in contrast to a one-pass compiler, which traverses the program only once. Each pass takes the result of the previous pass as the input, and creates an intermediate output. In this way, the (intermediate) code is improved pass by pass, until the final pass produces the final code. Multi-pass compilers are sometimes called wide compilers, referring to the greater scope of the passes: they can "see" the entire program being compiled, instead of just a small portion of it.

Referential transparency

In analytic philosophy and computer science, referential transparency and referential opacity are properties of linguistic constructions, and by extension of languages. A linguistic construction is called referentially transparent when for any expression built from it, replacing a subexpression with another one that denotes the same value does not change the value of the expression. Otherwise, it is called referentially opaque.

Dynamic-link library

Dynamic-link library (DLL) is Microsoft's implementation of the shared library concept in the Microsoft Windows and OS/2 operating systems. These libraries usually have the DLL, OCX (for libraries containing ActiveX controls), or DRV (for legacy system drivers). The file formats for DLLs are the same as for Windows EXE files – that is, Portable Executable (PE) for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows, and New Executable (NE) for 16-bit Windows. As with EXEs, DLLs can contain code, data, and resources, in any combination.

Stack (abstract data type)

In computer science, a stack is an abstract data type that serves as a collection of elements, with two main operations: Push, which adds an element to the collection, and Pop, which removes the most recently added element that was not yet removed. Additionally, a peek operation can, without modifying the stack, return the value of the last element added. Calling this structure a stack is by analogy to a set of physical items stacked one atop another, such as a stack of plates.

Type variable

In type theory and programming languages, a type variable is a mathematical variable ranging over types. Even in programming languages that allow mutable variables, a type variable remains an abstraction, in the sense that it does not correspond to some memory locations. Programming languages that support parametric polymorphism make use of universally quantified type variables. Languages that support existential types make use of existentially quantified type variables.

State (computer science)

In information technology and computer science, a system is described as stateful if it is designed to remember preceding events or user interactions; the remembered information is called the state of the system. The set of states a system can occupy is known as its state space. In a discrete system, the state space is countable and often finite. The system's internal behaviour or interaction with its environment consists of separately occurring individual actions or events, such as accepting input or producing output, that may or may not cause the system to change its state.

Reference implementation

In the software development process, a reference implementation (or, less frequently, sample implementation or model implementation) is a program that implements all requirements from a corresponding specification. The reference implementation often accompanies a technical standard, and demonstrates what should be considered the "correct" behavior of any other implementation of it. Reference implementations of algorithms, for instance cryptographic algorithms, are often the result or the input of standardization processes.

Cross compiler

A cross compiler is a compiler capable of creating executable code for a platform other than the one on which the compiler is running. For example, a compiler that runs on a PC but generates code that runs on an Android smartphone is a cross compiler. A cross compiler is useful to compile code for multiple platforms from one development host. Direct compilation on the target platform might be infeasible, for example on embedded systems with limited computing resources. Cross compilers are distinct from source-to-source compilers.

Probabilistic context-free grammar

Grammar theory to model symbol strings originated from work in computational linguistics aiming to understand the structure of natural languages. Probabilistic context free grammars (PCFGs) have been applied in probabilistic modeling of RNA structures almost 40 years after they were introduced in computational linguistics. PCFGs extend context-free grammars similar to how hidden Markov models extend regular grammars. Each production is assigned a probability.