type

n 1: a subdivision of a particular kind of thing; "what type of

sculpture do you prefer?" [ant: {antitype}]

2: a person of a specified kind (usually with many

eccentricities); "a strange character"; "a friendly

eccentric"; "the capable type"; "a mental case" [syn: {character},

{eccentric}, {case}]

3: (biology) the taxonomic group whose characteristics are used

to define the next higher taxon

4: printed characters; "small type is hard to read"

5: a small block of metal bearing a raised character on one

end; produces a printed character when inked and pressed

on paper; "he dropped a case of type so they made him pick

them up"

6: all of the tokens of the same symbol; "the word `element'

contains five different types of character"

v 1: write by means of a typewriter [syn: {typewrite}]

2: identify as belonging to a certain type; "Such people can

practically be typed" [syn: {typecast}]

type

(Or "data type") A set of values from

which a variable, constant, function, or other expression may

take its value.

Types supported by most programming languages include

{integers} (usually limited to some range so they will fit in

one {word} of storage), {Booleans}, {real numbers}, and

characters. {Strings} are also common, though they may be

represented as {lists} of characters in some languages.

If s and t are types, then so is s -> t, the type of

{functions} from s to t; that is, give them a term of type s,

functions of type s -> t will return a term of type t.

Some types are {primitive} - built-in to the language, with no

visible internal structure - e.g. Boolean; others are

composite - constructed from one or more other types (of

either kind) - e.g. lists, {structures}, {unions}.

Some languages provide {strong typing}, others allow {implicit

type conversion} and/or {explicit type conversion}.

(1999-09-19)