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Software Engineering vocabulary · Programming Concepts

Reference

Meaning in software engineering, with examples

nounCommon term

In software engineering, reference means: A way for code to refer to an existing value or object without necessarily making an independent copy of it.

In Turkish: başvuru

How it is used

Used when discussing aliasing, object identity and parameter passing. The rules differ between languages, so the language context matters.

Example sentences

  1. Both variables hold a reference to the same configuration object.

  2. Keep a reference to the subscription so that you can cancel it later.

Common collocations

  • object reference
  • hold a reference
  • pass by reference
  • pointerA value that refers to a memory location, allowing code to access an object or data stored at that location.
  • objectA unit in a program that groups related data and the functions that work on it, for example a user object with a name, an email and a login method.
  • variableA name in a program that stores a value, such as a number, text or list, so that the code can use or change that value later.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Programming Concepts

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