Definition
An object is first-class when it
- can be stored in variables and data structures
- can be passed as a parameter to a subroutine
- can be returned as the result of a subroutine
- can be constructed at run-time
- has intrinsic identity (independent of any given name)
The term "object" is used loosely here, not necessarily referring to objects in object-oriented programming. The simplest scalar data types, such as integer and floating-point numbers, are nearly always first-class.
Read more about this topic: First-class Citizen
Famous quotes containing the word definition:
“According to our social pyramid, all men who feel displaced racially, culturally, and/or because of economic hardships will turn on those whom they feel they can order and humiliate, usually women, children, and animals—just as they have been ordered and humiliated by those privileged few who are in power. However, this definition does not explain why there are privileged men who behave this way toward women.”
—Ana Castillo (b. 1953)
“It is very hard to give a just definition of love. The most we can say of it is this: that in the soul, it is a desire to rule; in the spirit, it is a sympathy; and in the body, it is but a hidden and subtle desire to possess—after many mysteries—what one loves.”
—François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)
“One definition of man is “an intelligence served by organs.””
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)