Difference between revisions of "Eiffel Glossary"

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Eiffel uses a precisely defined terminology. That terminology sometimes sounds strange to programmers used to other languages, but it's only because (1) there has been a systematic effort to classify object-oriented concepts in a logical way; (2) some of the terms predate terminology that is used in other languages. You will see, however, that behind every choice of term there is a carefully devised rationale.
 
Eiffel uses a precisely defined terminology. That terminology sometimes sounds strange to programmers used to other languages, but it's only because (1) there has been a systematic effort to classify object-oriented concepts in a logical way; (2) some of the terms predate terminology that is used in other languages. You will see, however, that behind every choice of term there is a carefully devised rationale.
  
Please try to keep the list sorted alphabetically.
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The new, community-based Eiffel glossary has been moved and is now available at http://www.eiffelroom.org/glossary
  
; Attribute : A property of a class that denotes a field present in each instance of the class.
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Also, there is a glossary of Eiffel terminology for .NET developers available at http://docs.eiffel.com/eiffelstudio/technologies/dotnet/eiffel_dotnet_language/10_conventions/10_terminology.html
; Cluster : A group of logically related classes that have something in common. The corresponding class texts are generally stored in files of a single directory.
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; Feature : An operation (command or query) applicable to all instances of the class, and specified in the class text. Routines and attributes are examples of features.
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; Function : In a class, a feature with an associated algorithm that returns a result. A pure function or query does not affect the state of its object.
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; Library : A group of related classes, devised to cover all the facilities needed in a certain application areas. A library is made of a number of clusters. For example a math library may be composed of clusters devoted to random number generation, linear algebra, integration, etc.
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; Routine : In a class, a feature with an associated algorithm, so that calling the feature executes that algorithm. a Routine takes zero or more arguments. It does not return a result directly but often changes the state of the object associated with the Routine feature.
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Latest revision as of 02:40, 13 March 2007

Eiffel uses a precisely defined terminology. That terminology sometimes sounds strange to programmers used to other languages, but it's only because (1) there has been a systematic effort to classify object-oriented concepts in a logical way; (2) some of the terms predate terminology that is used in other languages. You will see, however, that behind every choice of term there is a carefully devised rationale.

The new, community-based Eiffel glossary has been moved and is now available at http://www.eiffelroom.org/glossary

Also, there is a glossary of Eiffel terminology for .NET developers available at http://docs.eiffel.com/eiffelstudio/technologies/dotnet/eiffel_dotnet_language/10_conventions/10_terminology.html