Symbol (programming): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 04:50, 7 September 2011

Revision as of 01:34, 16 September 2011

Line 1:

A '''symbol''' in [[computer programming]] is a primitive [[datatype]] whose [[instance]]s have a unique human-readable form. Symbols can be used as [[identifiers]]. In some [[programming languages]], thatthey are called '''atoms'''<ref name=pickaxe>{{cite book|last=Hunt|first=Dave Thomas ; Chad Fowler ; Andy|title=Programming Ruby the pragmatic programmers' guide ; [includes Ruby 1.8]|year=2001|publisher=The Pragmatic Bookshelf|___location=Raleigh, NC|isbn=978-0974514055|url=http://www.ruby-doc.org/docs/ProgrammingRuby/html/language.html|edition=2. ed., 10. print.}}</ref>.

In the most trivial [[implementation]], they are essentially named [[integer]]s (e.g. the [[enumerated type]] in C).