Expression (computer science): Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Syntactic entity in a programming language with a determinable value}}

In [[computer science]], an '''expression''' is a [[Syntax (programming languages)|syntactic]] entity in a [[programming language]] that may be evaluated to determine its [[value (computer science)|value]].<ref>[[John C. Mitchell|Mitchell, J.]] (2002). Concepts in Programming Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ''3.4.1 Statements and Expressions'', p. 26</ref> or fail to terminate, in which case the expression is undefined.<ref>Maurizio Gabbrielli, Simone Martini (2010). Programming Languages - Principles and Paradigms. Springer London, ''6.1 Expressions'', p. 120</ref> It is a combination of one or more [[Constant (programming)|constants]], [[variable (programming)|variable]]s, [[function (programming)|function]]s, and [[operator (programming)|operator]]s that the programming language interprets (according to its particular [[Order of operations|rules of precedence]] and of [[Associative property|association]]) and computes to produce ("to return", in a [[state (computer science)|stateful]] environment) another value. This process, for [[mathematical expression]]s, is called ''evaluation''.

In simple settings, the [[return type|resulting value]] is usually one of various [[primitive data type|primitive types]], such as [[string (computer science)|string]], [[boolean expression|boolean]], or numerical (such as [[integer (computer science)|integer]], [[floating-point number|floating-point]], or [[complex data type|complex]]).