address
1. {e-mail address}.
2. {Internet address}.
3. {MAC address}.
4. An unsigned integer used to select
one fundamental element of storage, usually known as a {word}
from a computer's {main memory} or other storage device. The
{CPU} outputs addresses on its {address bus} which may be
connected to an {address decoder}, {cache controller}, {memory
management unit}, and other devices.
While from a hardware point of view an address is indeed an
integer most {strongly typed} programming languages disallow
mixing integers and addresses, and indeed addresses of
different data types. This is a fine example for {syntactic
salt}: the compiler could work without it but makes writing
bad programs more difficult.
(1997-07-01)