Perl terms starting with C

45 terms

C Abbreviation for cytosine.
C preprocessor The typical C compiler's first pass, which processes lines beginning with # for conditional compilation and macro definition and does various…
call by reference An "argument"-passing mechanism in which the "formal arguments" refer directly to the "actual arguments", and the "subroutine" can change the actual…
call by value A semantics of passing an argument to a method in which a copy of the actual argument value is taken and placed in a separate memory location, represented…
callback A "handler" that you register with some other part of your program in the hope that the other part of your program will "trigger" your handler when some…
canonical Reduced to a standard form to facilitate comparison.
capturing The use of parentheses around a "subpattern" in a "regular expression" to store the matched "substring" as a "backreference".
character See: trait.
character class A square-bracketed list of characters used in a "regular expression" to indicate that any character of the set may occur at a given point.
character property A predefined "character class" matchable by the \p "metasymbol". Many standard properties are defined for "Unicode".
circumfix operator An "operator" that surrounds its "operand", like the angle operator, or parentheses, or a hug.
class Article I, section 3 of the Constitution requires the Senate to be divided into three classes for purposes of elections.
class method A synonym for static method.
client Any computer system that requests a service of another computer system. A workstation requesting the contents of a file from a file server is a client of…
cloister A "cluster" used to restrict the scope of a "regular expression modifier".
closure In transportation, the process of a unit arriving at a specified location. It begins with the arrival of the first element at a designated location and…
cluster Clusters are fixed length blocks of bytes that store data for Microsoft operating systems.
CODE See: genetic code
code generator A system that writes code for you in a low-level language, such as code to implement the backend of a compiler. See "program generator".
code subpattern A "regular expression" subpattern whose real purpose is to execute some Perl code, for example, the (?{...}) and (??{...}) subpatterns.
collating sequence The order into which characters sort. This is used by "string" comparison routines to decide, for example, where in this glossary to put "collating…
command For command-oriented functions, the authorization required to perform command operations. 55
command buffering A mechanism in Perl that lets you store up the output of each Perl "command" and then flush it out as a single request to the "operating system".
command name The name of the program currently executing, as typed on the command line. In C, the "command" name is passed to the program as the first command-line…
command-line arguments The values you supply along with a program name when you tell a "shell" to execute a "command". These values are passed to a Perl program through @ARGV.
comment A piece of text intended for the human reader of a program. Compilers ignore their contents.
compilation unit The smallest unit of source code that can be compiled. In the current implementation of the Java platform, the compilation unit is a file.
compile phase Any time before Perl starts running your main program. See also "run phase". Compile phase is mostly spent in "compile time", but may also be spent in…
compile time The time when Perl is trying to make sense of your code, as opposed to when it thinks it knows what your code means and is merely trying to do what it…
compiler A program which performs a process of compilation on a program written in a high level programming language.
composer A "constructor" for a "referent" that isn't really an "object", like an anonymous array or a hash (or a sonata, for that matter).
concatenation The process of gluing one cat's nose to another cat's tail. Also, a similar operation on two strings.
conditional Something "iffy". See "Boolean context".
connection The physical connection (e.g. transmission lines, transformers, switch gear, etc.
construct An engineered chimeric DNA designed to be transferred into a cell or tissue. Typically, the construct comprises the gene or genes of interest, a marker…
constructor A constructor is automatically called when an instance of its class is created.
context The surroundings, or environment. The context given by the surrounding code determines what kind of data a particular "expression" is expected to return.
continuation a second application for the same invention claimed in a prior nonprovisional application and filed before the first application becomes abandoned or…
core dump The corpse of a "process", in the form of a file left in the "working directory" of the process, usually as a result of certain kinds of fatal error.
CPAN The Comprehensive Perl Archive Network. (See "What modules and extensions are available for Perl? What is CPAN? What does CPAN/src/... mean?" in perlfaq2).
cracker Someone who breaks security on computer systems. A cracker may be a true "hacker" or only a "script kiddie".
current package The "package" in which the current statement is compiled. Scan backwards in the text of your program through the current lexical scope or any enclosing…
current working directory See "working directory".
currently selected output channel The last "filehandle" that was designated with select(FILEHANDLE); "STDOUT", if no filehandle has been selected.
CV (1) Carrier Vehicle. (2) USN Aircraft Carrier. (3) Curriculum Vitae.