Lesson plan
Symbol (programming)
A symbol in computer programming is a primitive data type whose instances have a human-readable form. Symbols can be used as identifiers. In some programming languages, they are called atoms. Uniqueness is enforced by holding them in a symbol table. The most common use of symbols by programmers is to perform language reflection (particularly for callbacks), and the most common indirectly is their use to create object linkages. In the most trivial implementation, they are essentially named integers; e.g., the enumerated type in C language.
Article summary
A symbol in computer programming is a primitive data type whose instances have a human-readable form. Symbols can be used as identifiers. In some programming languages, they are called atoms. Uniqueness is enforced by holding them in a symbol table. The most common use of symbols by programmers is to perform language reflection (particularly for callbacks), and the most common indirectly is their use to create object linkages. In the most trivial implementation, they are essentially named integers; e.g., the enumerated type in C language.
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Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.