Range Checking
A range check is a check to make sure a number is within a certain range, for instance that a value about to be assigned to say a sixteen-bit integer is within the capacity of a sixteen-bit integer. This is not quite the same as type checking. Other range checks may be more restrictive, for example a variable to hold the number of a calendar month may be declared to accept only the range 1 to 12. This is often used with arrays, as using a number outside of the upper range in an array may cause the program to crash, or may introduce security vulnerabilities (see buffer overflow). In Java, the interpreter automatically does a range-check when items in an array are accessed, and throws an exception if the item is out of range.
Read more about this topic: Bounds Checking
Famous quotes containing the word range:
“Compared to football, baseball is almost an Oriental game, minimizing individual stardom, requiring a wide range of aggressive and defensive skills, and filled with long periods of inaction and irresolution. It has no time limitations. Football, on the other hand, has immediate goals, resolution on every single play, and a lot of violence—itself a highlight. It has clearly distinguishable hierarchies: heroes and drones.”
—Jerry Mander, U.S. advertising executive, author. Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television, ch. 15, Morrow (1978)