State (computer Science) - Program State

Program State

Similarly, a computer program stores data in variables, which represent storage locations in the computer's memory. The contents of these memory locations, at any given point in the program's execution, is called the program's state.

Imperative programming is a programming paradigm (way of designing a programming language) that describes computation in terms of the program state and statements that change the program state. In contrast, in declarative programming languages the program describes the desired results, and doesn't specify changes to the state directly.

A more specialized definition of state is used in some computer programs that operate serially (sequentially) on streams of data, such as parsers, firewalls, communication protocols and encryption programs. In some of these programs, the history of previous data inputs affects the processing of current input, that is the program can be modeled as a state machine. These programs are described as "stateful", and variables which contain values from the previous processing cycle are called the state. In other serial programs the output only depends on the current input; these are called "stateless".

Read more about this topic:  State (computer Science)

Famous quotes containing the words program and/or state:

    “He swore that day till the leaves shook on the trees. Charming! Delightful! Never have I enjoyed such swearing before or since. Sir, on that memorable day he swore like an angel from Heaven!”
    —For the State of New Jersey, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)

    To the cry of “follow Mormons and prairie dogs and find good land,” Civil War veterans flocked into Nebraska, joining a vast stampede of unemployed workers, tenant farmers, and European immigrants.
    —For the State of Nebraska, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)