Hello, I have just a terminology question. I have read that if, foreach etc. are statements but what does it mean in the terminology - are these commands? It is maybe "lost in the translation" problem
+3
A:
In computer programming a statement can be thought of as the smallest standalone element of an imperative programming language. A program is formed by a sequence of one or more statements. A statement will have internal components (e.g., expressions).
Many languages (e.g. C) make a distinction between statements and definitions, with a statement only containing executable code and a definition declaring an identifier. A distinction can also be made between simple and compound statements; the latter may contain statements as components.
In a nutshell it is one of many instructions in the language that makes the program to perform some very basic action. Through combining statements you define a complex activity that makes sense to you as an author. You define it by using little building blocks namely those statements.
Developer Art
2010-09-15 11:31:25
Thanks, also they are statements, so they are "commands" as they are executable
Bornemix
2010-09-15 11:32:55
+2
A:
A command and a statement is generally the same thing.
However, when talking about commands, it's usually something that a user enters directly rather than a statement in a program.
Also, while a command generally is an instruction to do something, a statement can also be instructions that doesn't actually perform anything, like for example declaring a constant value:
const int Answer = 42;
Guffa
2010-09-15 11:35:41
@leppie: Good point. Let's use a declaration that is a statement as example instead. :)
Guffa
2010-09-15 12:12:42
@Guffa: That is still primarily a declaration, the fact that the compiler 'magically' store and initialize the value is kinda irrelevant.
leppie
2010-09-15 13:59:29
@leppie: So any expression that ends with a semicolon is a statement, *except* if it happens to declare something also? Or is it just when I write something that it isn't a statement? ;)
Guffa
2010-09-15 16:12:06
@Guffa: Declarations end with a `;` too, but i'm getting tired. Go read the C# grammar, you might be surprised :)
leppie
2010-09-15 17:15:17
A:
A statement is an expression that has no return value (or void or unspecified).
leppie
2010-09-15 11:43:22
@Guffa: If you terminate any expression with a `;`, it becomes a statement.
leppie
2010-09-15 13:53:43
@Stefan Steinegger: You can find this in the C# spec, grammar section. Pretty much goes for any 'procedural' language. (procedural is not quite correct, but I cant think of an easier description)
leppie
2010-09-15 13:57:18