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Jackie #185615 07/02/09 01:31 PM
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"noun: (computing) an instruction that connects one part of a program or an element on a list to another program or list"

Interesting. The discussion may be too technical for this forum, but I don't immediately recall ever having heard or read it used quite this way; that is, as an "instruction."

In the verb form, we can refer to instructions that perform a link. But the code itself ... I can't say it's not done, only that I don't recall hearing it used that way. (No particular reason why they shouldn't, I guess.) When we're talking about code or instructions that perform a link, we refer to a "linkage."

In the usage I'm familiar with, a "link" is not an instruction, but might be part of an instruction. It's an address that might be an operand to an instruction.

I'm wondering if maybe that other usage might be a peculiarity of assembly language programmers. I've done a bit of that, but it's never been a big part of my job.

All this being said, if you used the term like that with a little context, I think most programmer types would follow what you were saying.

TheFallibleFiend #185623 07/02/09 04:20 PM
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Again guys thank you. But I am still wondering whether the highlighted/abbreviated link, as defined in Jackie's contribution (eg "Reply" typically at the bottom of a post), might have another more distinctive name


dalehileman
TheFallibleFiend #185624 07/02/09 04:52 PM
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"noun: (computing) an instruction that connects one part of a program or an element on a list to another program or list"

Hmm. Not sure, as is FF, what is being referred to in this definition. There is a phase in writing programs called linking. It comes after compilation of source code into binary object files whereby two or more binary object files are concatenated together into one single executable file. Another meaning of link, besides the HTML-oriented (hyper)link is a symbolic link. In the context of Unix-like file systems a symbolic link is similar to a Windows file shortcut. It is a kind of alias of a file. In the context of data structures, specifically a linked list, a link could be a synonym for a pointer (as was earlier mentioned).


Ceci n'est pas un seing.
zmjezhd #185631 07/02/09 06:37 PM
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"It comes after compilation of source code into binary object files whereby two or more binary object files are concatenated together into one single executable file."

Of course! Forgot to mention that one. There's a definite commonality between all these meanings - a link is something that is connecting things in a manner of speaking.

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