Reference (computer science)

In computer programming, a reference is a value that enables a program to indirectly access a particular data, such as a variable's value or a record, in the computer's memory or in some other storage device. The reference is said to refer to the datum, and accessing the datum is called dereferencing the reference. A reference is distinct from the datum itself.

Comment
enIn computer programming, a reference is a value that enables a program to indirectly access a particular data, such as a variable's value or a record, in the computer's memory or in some other storage device. The reference is said to refer to the datum, and accessing the datum is called dereferencing the reference. A reference is distinct from the datum itself.
Has abstract
enIn computer programming, a reference is a value that enables a program to indirectly access a particular data, such as a variable's value or a record, in the computer's memory or in some other storage device. The reference is said to refer to the datum, and accessing the datum is called dereferencing the reference. A reference is distinct from the datum itself. A reference is an abstract data type and may be implemented in many ways. Typically, a reference refers to data stored in memory on a given system, and its internal value is the memory address of the data, i.e. a reference is implemented as a pointer. For this reason a reference is often said to "point to" the data. Other implementations include an offset (difference) between the datum's address and some fixed "base" address, an index, unique key, or identifier used in a lookup operation into an array or table, an operating system handle, a physical address on a storage device, or a network address such as a URL.
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Reference (computer science)
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enReference (computer science)
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cslibrary.stanford.edu/104/
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Abstract data type
Abstraction (computer science)
Algebraic datatype
Argument (computer science)
Array data structure
Array index
Assembly language
Assignment (computer science)
Autovivification
Binary tree
Bounded pointer
C++
C++ standard library
Call-by-reference
Cast (computer science)
Category:Data types
Category:Primitive types
Category:Programming language concepts
Computer
Computer programming
Cons
C Sharp (programming language)
Dangling pointer
Dangling reference
Data
Data storage device
Datatype
Dereference operator
Directed graph
Distributed computing
Dynamic memory allocation
Eiffel (programming language)
Evaluation strategy
File handle
Fortran
Garbage collection (computer science)
Handle (computing)
Identifier
Indirect addressing
Java (programming language)
Linked data
Linked data structure
Linked list
Lisp (programming language)
Live distributed object
Locality of reference
Lock (computer science)
Lookup
Magic cookie
Memory (computing)
Memory address
Method (computer programming)
Mutable
Nullable type
Object composition
OCaml
Opaque pointer
Out-degree
Perl
PHP
Physical address
Pointer (computer programming)
Pointer arithmetic
Polymorphism (computer science)
Python (programming language)
Reachability graph
Record (computer science)
Recursive data type
Reference counting
Reference type
Scheme (programming language)
Smalltalk
Smart pointer
Standard ML
Stdio
Subroutine
Table (database)
Topology
Type conversion
Type safety
Undefined behavior
Unique key
Unreachable object
URL
Variable (computer science)
Variable (programming)
Visual Basic
Weak reference
Weak typing
Web service
Web services description language
Wild pointer
Wild reference
SameAs
Dolaylama
m.01hcsb
MLi6
Q1334113
Referanse (informatikk)
Reference (computer science)
Référence (programmation)
Reference (programování)
Referência (ciência da computação)
Referencia (informática)
Referencja (informatyka)
Referens (datateknik)
Referenz (Programmierung)
Riferimento (informatica)
Tham chiếu (khoa học máy tính)
Yönləndirmə
Αναφορά (υπολογιστές)
Марҷаъ (улуми роёна)
Посилання (програмування)
Референца (програмирање)
Ссылка (программирование)
Сілтеме
ارجاع (علوم رایانه)
参照 (計算機科学)
參照
참조
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Category:Data types
Category:Primitive types
Category:Programming language concepts
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