literal
<programming> A constant made available to a process, by inclusion in the
executable text. Most modern systems do not allow texts to modify themselves
during execution, so literals are indeed constant; their value is written at
compile-time and is read-only at run time.
In contrast, values placed in variables or files and accessed by the process via
a symbolic name, can be changed during execution. This may be an asset. For
example, messages can be given in a choice of languages by placing the
translation in a file.
Literals are used when such modification is not desired. The name of the file
mentioned above (not its content), or a physical constant such as 3.14159, might
be coded as a literal. Literals can be accessed quickly, a potential advantage
of their use.
(1996-01-23)
Nearby terms:
Listserv « Liszt « lite « literal » literate
programming » literature » LITHE
|
