Perl terms starting with A

30 terms

accessor methods A "method" used to indirectly inspect or update an "object"'s state (its instance variables).
actual arguments The scalar values that you supply to a "function" or "subroutine" when you call it.
address operator Some languages work directly with the memory addresses of values, but this can be like playing with fire.
Algorithm A detailed formula or set of steps for solving a particular problem. To be an algorithm, a set of rules must be unambiguous and have a clear stopping…
alias Called by another name.
Alternatives Courses of action that may meet the objectives of a proposal at varying levels of accomplishment, including the most likely future conditions without the…
anonymous Used to describe a "referent" that is not directly accessible through a named "variable".
architecture The term architecture refers to the hardware, software or combination of hardware and software comprising a computer system or network.
argument Information passed to a method. Arguments are also sometimes called parameters.
ARGV The name of the array containing the "argument" "vector" from the command line.
arithmetical operator A "symbol" such as + or / that tells Perl to do the arithmetic you were supposed to learn in grade school.
array An Array is a single server type used for horizontal scaling. It may be a single worker slave task plugged into our Grid system to scale based on the…
array context An archaic expression for what is more correctly referred to as "list context".
ASCII An acronym for American Standard Code that allocates a number to each key on the keyboard and that can be traded and read by most computer systems.
assertion A component of a "regular expression" that must be true for the pattern to match but does not necessarily match any characters itself.
Assignment Assignment occurs when someone who has written, or sold, a listed option receives a notice that the option has been exercised and he or she must fulfill…
assignment operator The operator (=) used to store the value of an expression into a variable, for instance variable = expression; The right-hand-side is completely evaluated…
associative array See "hash". Please.
associativity Determines whether you do the left "operator" first or the right "operator" first when you have "A "operator" B "operator" C" and the two operators are of…
asynchronous Said of events or activities whose relative temporal ordering is indeterminate because too many things are going on at once.
Atom A particle of matter indivisible by chemical means. It is the fundamental building block of elements.
atomic operation When Democritus gave the word "atom" to the indivisible bits of matter, he meant literally something that could not be cut: a- (not) + tomos (cuttable).
attribute An attribute is a characteristic of data that sets it apart from other data, such as location, length, or type.
autogeneration A feature of "operator overloading" of objects, whereby the behavior of certain operators can be reasonably deduced using more fundamental operators.
autoincrement To add one to something automatically, hence the name of the ++ operator. To instead subtract one from something automatically is known as an…
autoload To load on demand. (Also called "lazy" loading.) Specifically, to call an AUTOLOAD subroutine on behalf of an undefined subroutine.
autosplit To split a string automatically, as the -a "switch" does when running under -p or -n in order to emulate "awk".
autovivification A Greco-Roman word meaning "to bring oneself to life". In Perl, storage locations (lvalues) spontaneously generate themselves as needed, including the…
AV Alterac Valley Battleground
awk Descriptive editing term--short for "awkward". Also coincidentally refers to a venerable text-processing language from which Perl derived some of its…