Most voted "language-independent" questions
Used for questions about programming that are independent of a particular programming language. Please do not use this tag indiscriminately. Only use when it is important to reinforce this idea.
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133
votes9
answers41109
viewsWhat is a programming language, IDE and compiler?
Starting in programming is not always easy, besides having to learn to "write the code", there are dozens of terms, technologies, among other things that need to be studied. In order to help those…
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101
votes3
answers33467
viewsWhat is the difference between a static and dynamic programming language?
Some time ago, Facebook launched its own programming language, based on PHP. See: Tecnoblog: Facebook announces Hack, its own programming language. Tecnoblog explains in the following way the…
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49
votes6
answers6389
viewsWhat is a legacy code?
I’ve heard that term from some people, but I’m not usually good with those technical terms. What would be a legacy code? It is related to the code being exceeded?
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46
votes2
answers45560
viewsWhat is the correct way to use the float, double and decimal types?
Since college I can’t understand the real difference between the type DOUBLE and FLOAT, I ended up meeting the guy DECIMAL which also treats real values. About the type DECIMAL, found the following…
characteristic-language float language-independent decimal doubleasked 7 years, 5 months ago Marconi 17,287 -
43
votes1
answer2413
viewsWhat’s the difference between scope and lifespan?
What is scope? What is life time? They get confused? Visibility has something to do with this too?
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40
votes1
answer9859
viewsHow is a programming language developed?
How a programming language is created? In general terms, where and how the validation of the functionalities of the new language works? For example, we have the C++ language, it is complex and has a…
characteristic-language language-independent language-designasked 8 years, 8 months ago João Victor Gomes Moreira 1,968 -
39
votes3
answers2857
viewsWhat characterizes a programming language?
A long time ago I saw in the laboratory a "program" called POV-Ray and a doubt prompted me. The teacher said it is a "programming language" and argued, now it has source code, syntax, semantics and…
characteristic-language terminology language-independent language-designasked 9 years ago SneepS NinjA 7,691 -
30
votes2
answers28407
viewsWhat is the difference between unit test and integrated test
What’s the difference between unit test and integrated test, their benefits and examples to each other.
testing software-engineering tdd language-independentasked 8 years, 10 months ago Al Unser Albuquerque 965 -
29
votes3
answers8073
viewsHow is the Global Unique Identifier (GUID) generated?
The Global Unique Identifier is generated so that no other will be generated equal, or will almost never have the same number. var unique = Guid.NewGuid().ToString(); Resultado:…
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26
votes2
answers5412
viewsWhat is Lazy Loading and Eager Loading?
What is Lazy Loading and Eager Loading? I saw these terms in a documentation, but I did not understand it very well, so my doubt is what these terms mean and I would like, if possible, to restrict…
php cakephp language-independent advance-charge lazy-loadasked 9 years, 5 months ago Ricardo 14,521 -
25
votes4
answers2054
viewsWhat can be considered a character?
In another question, Is it bad practice to put numbers as id in HTML elements? If yes why? is asked about placing numbers as id in HTML elements. I saw that after a few minutes a great confusion…
language-independentasked 7 years, 1 month ago UzumakiArtanis 9,534 -
22
votes5
answers1841
viewsWhy are there so many programming languages?
Several decades ago, programming languages emerged to make life easier for programmers and indirectly, for the general public as well. In the beginning, everything was done with buttons that…
language-independentasked 5 years, 2 months ago NinjaTroll 1,752 -
20
votes4
answers3187
viewsShould one use break in going?
I have a question about the loops of repetitions. I had a class in which my teacher said that one should never use the for if you don’t execute it from start to finish. Only I’ve seen many, many…
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20
votes3
answers1686
viewsAre there safer languages than others?
Are some languages safer than others? Or does this not depend on the language but on the programmer? The language in which a program is programmed interferes with its security, regardless of the…
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20
votes1
answer4057
viewsWhat is the difference between statement and definition?
These things seem to be the same thing. Are they? And assignment is different? The terms are interchangeable.
function terminology language-independent variable-declarationasked 8 years, 6 months ago Maniero 444,682 -
18
votes1
answer2002
viewsConsulting multiple Cnpjs situation in the IRS
They gave me an ungrateful mission to consult in the base of the IRS the situation of several CNPJ’s (more than 1000). Is there any programmatic way to do this, and preferably not cost?…
language-independentasked 9 years ago Leonel Sanches da Silva 88,623 -
18
votes4
answers607
viewsObject orientation - How to find the right abstractions?
Actually the question I’m trying to ask is exactly that: How to identify classes in an object-oriented system?. However, I would like to ask for two additions to the accepted answer. She seems to…
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17
votes2
answers764
viewsWhat is the difference between a map, a dictionary, an associative array and a hash table?
These terms refer to structures that have very similar, if not equal, characteristics. They often seem to be used interchangeably. This would just be different nomenclature depending on the…
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16
votes1
answer2302
viewsDifference between normal request/response, long-Polling, websockets, Webrtc and Server-Sent Events?
I had the wrong idea long-time, I started to notice that in fact it is a "technique" that runs on top of a normal request, I started researching and noticed several questions on the site, but most…
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15
votes3
answers10756
viewsWhat is a checksum for?
I was reading a question here on the website and came across the term checksum. Several other times I have seen this term being used when talking about file transfer or some important data. After…
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15
votes2
answers160
viewsWhat are "weak references"? When to use them?
In managed memory environments like Java, Python and Javascript, I’ve read something about weak references (WeakRef). I read that it had something to do with detecting the objects that can be…
terminology language-independent reference garbage-collectorasked 6 years, 5 months ago Jefferson Quesado 22,370 -
15
votes1
answer127
viewsIs there already a structured language for quantum processors?
Quantum processors have been in a long development process for many years. However, we "mere mortals" still do not have large-scale access to these powerful devices (something similar to what…
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14
votes1
answer488
viewsWhy is the application entry point a static method?
A declared static method means that it belongs to the type rather than the object instance. In a C#console application, the entry point is static: static void Main(string[] args) { ... } This is not…
language-independentasked 7 years, 2 months ago vinibrsl 19,711 -
13
votes1
answer832
viewsWhat are statements and operators?
I usually access the MSDN often and I see a lot of these terms. What are statements and operators? What differentiates them?…
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13
votes2
answers6067
viewsWhat’s the difference in instantiating, initializing, and declaring a variable?
Many articles on the Internet refer to these verbs, regardless of the programming language. But sometimes they are all confused or exchanged, which creates a lot of confusion. Which means…
variables terminology variable-declaration language-independent initializationasked 7 years, 10 months ago vinibrsl 19,711 -
13
votes1
answer2376
viewsWhat is non-blocking I/O?
What is non-blocking I/O? What are the uses of a language with non-blocking I/O? What are the practical applications of non-blocking I/O? It certainly doesn’t come into question of opinion, so I…
terminology characteristic-language language-independent ioasked 7 years, 10 months ago Asura Khan 2,474 -
13
votes4
answers542
viewsIs there a design standard or recommendation that defines the optimal amount of parameters a function should have?
I always value writing my codes in a short and readable way. My motto is always to think that "someday someone will mess with my code and I want the person who does it to understand it easily".…
function encoding-style parameters language-independent argumentasked 6 years, 5 months ago Wallace Maxters 102,340 -
12
votes1
answer1898
viewsWhat is Class Coupling?
I was reading this reply in relation to the design standards relating to Serviceprovider and Servicecontainer, however, the AR Euler01 cited a pattern that mentions class coupling, and it was at…
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12
votes1
answer3054
viewsWhat is a pure function?
When studying functional programming, I heard a lot of the term "pure function", or Pure Function. What characterizes this type of function and what is its importance for the functional paradigm?…
function terminology language-independent functional-programmingasked 7 years, 1 month ago vinibrsl 19,711 -
12
votes2
answers285
viewsTo what extent does hardware affect programming?
Nowadays the world is very dependent on the technology and the benefits it brings. Most of the time we are writing several lines of code that will be converted into machine language and thus give…
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11
votes2
answers6808
viewsWhat is the difference between Carriage Return and line feed?
There are two different ways to break a CR line (Carriage Return) and LF (line feed). What is the difference between these two? When should one or the other be used? Depends on the system? Language?…
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11
votes10
answers1739
viewsHow to count the zeroes to the right of a number?
I have a number, nnnnn000. I must count how many zeros on the right has that number. Test cases: 123000 zero numbers 3 102030 zero numbers 1 Open to suggestions!…
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11
votes1
answer173
viewsConstant is really useful?
Why would I use a constant instead of a variable? In addition to readability, there is another gain in using a constant? I can’t make a difference that makes me use a constant instead of a variable.…
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11
votes2
answers440
viewsDoes any programming language use memory?
When I write a program in any programming language, compiled or interpreted, is it necessary to run a RAM? Please explain. Being more specific, I made a text editor using Javascript. When this text…
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11
votes1
answer632
viewsIn a programming language, what differentiates a first-class citizen from the rest?
In a simple way, what is a "first class citizen" in a programming language? And mainly, how do you differentiate something that is a first-class citizen of something that is not?…
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10
votes2
answers860
viewsWhat are the Exceptions?
A little while ago I asked that question What are Exceptions and how should I create and embed them in PHP, but I did not have an answer that satisfactorily addressed the points raised. So I am…
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10
votes2
answers188
viewsBoolean arguments, in general, are not good?
I was reading a little bit of Clean Code. The book talks about "good programming practices", and on the Internet, in one of the slides it is said that: Boolean arguments, in general, are not good. I…
encoding-style language-independent boolean argumentasked 7 years, 4 months ago UzumakiArtanis 9,534 -
10
votes1
answer1927
viewsWhat and what are the types of development environment?
Occasionally I see something like this in several projects: env: 'production' What is this? What are the other conventional options (besides "Production") and what is it for? Why should I use this…
terminology software-engineering language-independentasked 6 years, 9 months ago Luiz Felipe 32,886 -
10
votes2
answers210
viewsHow does an "if" work internally?
The if is widely used in programming, and he plays several important roles in a programmer’s everyday life. The code seems to magically run if an expression is passed in the if is true, otherwise…
if characteristic-language compilation language-independentasked 5 years, 1 month ago NinjaTroll 1,752 -
10
votes2
answers171
viewsBesides structures like "for", "while", "goto" or recursion, is there any other way to repeat something in the programming?
In structured programming, we have structures as links for, while and similar structures, in addition to goto, that allow us to realize repetitions. In functional programming, recursion is used to…
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9
votes1
answer1084
viewsHow to calculate the ratio of text to "HTML" ("HTML ratio")?
The text of an "HTML ratio" refers to the amount of text on a page against the code of the same page. How to do this calculation, I know I should probably take the DOM, but the part exactly what…
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9
votes1
answer128
viewsHow does a machine identify the type of data?
A little while ago I had a question about how a machine defines/identifies the data type. I mean, when we’re a high-level application we have the definitions that that data can be a integer, string,…
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8
votes1
answer515
viewsWhat is COM (Component Object Model)?
I was reading this question1 here on the site and I have sometimes come across the term "objects WITH". A brief survey showed me that WITH that is to say Component Object Model, but I couldn’t…
windows language-independent interoperability componentasked 7 years, 8 months ago Jéf Bueno 67,331 -
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votes1
answer2629
viewsWhy does it occur and how to resolve an error of "out of Bounds" or "out of range" or something?
I’ve seen errors and exceptions like "subscript out of range" or "index out of Bounds" or some combination of words like that. What that mistake means and how it usually is the way to correct them?…
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8
votes3
answers179
viewsTwo different parameters that an accepted function can classify as having O(n²) complexity?
Let’s say I define a function as follows, which accepts an argument a be a array two-dimensional numbers: function totalSum(a) { let total = 0; for (const elem of a) { for (const subElem of elem) {…
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7
votes1
answer592
viewsCan Hard Drive Defragmentation help my server perform?
I always hear that it is necessary to "defragment the hard disk". But I never specifically knew the internal processes involving that operation. A doubt for example is: How software can perform this…
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7
votes2
answers1189
viewsWhat is an output parameter?
Consider the following example: appendFooter(s); Analyzing the function signature, we have the following: public void appendFooter(StringBuffer report) The parameter s is considered in the above…
function parameters language-independent computer-scienceasked 8 years, 2 months ago Filipe Moraes 8,737 -
7
votes2
answers408
viewsWhat is Strategy Pattern?
I was reading about Strategy Pattern, however, I could not understand it very well and I was confused about its functioning. Doubts What is the Strategy Pattern? In which scenarios should I use it?…
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7
votes1
answer494
viewsWhat is ABI? Does it have anything to do with API?
I am reading that answer because I am currently studying C++. I was trying to understand the difference C and C++. In the quoted answer, I came across the term ABI. Until then I knew about API, but…
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7
votes1
answer404
viewsWhy are certain languages faster than others?
I’ve heard a lot about how C is faster than C++ and Java, Lua is the language of script faster, among other examples. What makes certain languages faster than others? What defines a language as…