Programming
Dictionary
A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z
A
abstract data type- A class of the objects, a defined set of properties of those objects, and a set of operations for processing the objects
accessory- A member function used to examine an attribute of an object without changing it
attribute- A property that a computational object models, such as the balance in a bank account
B
base case- The class from which a derived class inherits attributes and behavior
behavior- The set of actions that a class of objects supports
C
class- A description of the attributes and behavior of a set of computational objects
class declaration section- An area of a program used to declare the data members and member functions of a class
class implementation section- An area of a program used to implement the member functions of a class
client- A computational object that receives a service from another computational object
const function- A member function that does not allow changes to the attributes of an object
constructor- A member function used to create and initialize an instance of a class
copy constructor- A member function defined by the programmer and automatically used by the computer to copy the value objects when they are passed by a value to functions
D
data abstraction- The separation between the conceptual definition of a data structure and its eventual implementation
data member- A data object declared within a class declaration module
default constructor- A member function that creates and provides reasonable initial values for the data within an object
derived class- A class that inherits attributes and behavior from other classes
E
F
formal specification- The set of preconditions and post conditions of a function
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
member- A component of a struct or class
modifier- A member function used to change the value of an attribute of an object
N
O
object-oriented programming- A style of programming that decomposes a program into a set of communicating objects
overloading- The process of using the same operator symbol or identifier to refer to many different functions
P
polymorphism- The property of one operator symbol or function identifier having many meanings
private member- A data member or member function that is accessible only within the scope of a class declaration
procedural programming- A style of programming that decomposes a program into a set of functions or procedures
public member- A data member or member function that is accessible to any program component that used the class
Q
R
receiver- A computational object to which a request is sent for service
S
selector- The operator (.) used to access a member of a struct or class
sender- A computational object that requests a service from another computational object
server- A computational object that provides a service to another computational object
software reuse- The process of building and maintaining software systems out of existing software components
struct- A data structure that can have components of different data types, accessible by name
T
U
V
1-value- A computational object capable of being the target of an assignment statement
W
X
Y
Z