Glossary - Java Software Solutions: Foundations of Program Design - page 654

but it produces incorrect results. See also com-
pile-time error, run-time error, syntax error.
logical line of code— A logical programming
statement in a source code program, which may
extend over multiple physical lines. See also
physical line of code.
logical operator— One of the operators that
perform a logical NOT ( ! ), AND ( && ), or OR
( || ), returning a boolean result. The logical
operators are short-circuited, meaning that if
their left operand is sufficient to determine the
result, the right operand is not evaluated.
long— A Java reserved word that represents a
primitive integer type, stored using 64 bits in
two's complement format.
loop— See repetition statement.
loop control variable— A variable whose value
specifically determines how many times a loop
body is executed.
low-level language— Either machine language
or assembly language, which are not as con-
venient to construct software in as high-level
languages are.
machine language— The native language of
a particular CPU. Any software that runs on
a particular CPU must be translated into its
machine language.
main memory— The volatile hardware storage
device where programs and data are held when
they are actively needed by the CPU. See also
secondary memory.
maintenance— (1) The process of fixing errors
in or making enhancements to a released soft-
ware product. (2) The software life-cycle phase
in which the software is in use and changes are
made to it as needed.
mantissa— The portion of a floating point
value's internal representation that specifies the
magnitude of the number. See also exponent.

megabyte (MB)— A unit of binary storage,
equal to 2 20 (approximately 1 million) bytes.
member— A variable or method in an object
or class.
memory— Hardware devices that store pro-
grams and data. See also main memory, sec-
ondary memory.
memory location— An individual, addressable
cell inside main memory into which data can
be stored.
memory management— The process of control-
ling dynamically allocated portions of main
memory, especially the act of returning allo-
cated memory when it is no longer required.
See also garbage collection.
method— A named group of declarations and
programming statements that can be invoked
(executed) when needed. A method is part of
a class.
method call conversion— The automatic wid-
ening conversion that can occur when a value
of one type is passed to a formal parameter of
another type.
method definition— The specification of the
code that gets executed when the method is
invoked. The definition includes declarations of
local variables and formal parameters.
method invocation— A line of code that causes
a method to be executed. It specifies any values
that are passed to the method as parameters.
method overloading— See overloading.
mnemonic— (1) A word or identifier that speci-
fies a command or data value in an assembly
language. (2) A keyboard character used as a
alternative means to activate a graphical user
interface component such as a button.
modal— Having multiple modes (such as a
dialog box).
modem— A data transfer device that allows
information to be sent along a telephone line.