module

views updated May 23 2018

module
1. A programming or specification construct that defines a software component. Often a module is a unit of software that provides users with some data types and operations on those data types, and can be separately compiled. The module has an interface in the form of a heading that specifies the data types and operations the module provides its users. Mathematically, the syntax of the interface is a signature and the semantics of a module is a class of algebras of that signature. In some programming languages that provide modules, they are called by other names such as package, cluster, or object. The concept developed as a programming construct to support information hiding and abstract data types. The theory of program construction based on modules is a promising, but difficult, area of research.

2. A component of a hardware system that can be subdivided.

module

views updated May 18 2018

module.
1. Unit of length used in multiples to determine proportion, in Classicism the module is reckoned to be the diameter or the radius of a column-shaft at its base, subdivided into 60 or 30 minutes.

2. In modular design a unit of measurement in prefabricated construction, or industrialized building enabling ease of reproduction of repetitive standard components.

module

views updated May 29 2018

mod·ule / ˈmäjoōl/ • n. each of a set of standardized parts or independent units that can be used to construct a more complex structure, such as an item of furniture or a building. ∎  an independent self-contained unit of a spacecraft. ∎  Comput. any of a number of distinct but interrelated units from which a program may be built up or into which a complex activity may be analyzed.

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