S

scalable

Useful and efficient when usage or requirements increase.

scientific notation

A useful representation for expressing very large or very small numbers. The letter E is used as shorthand for “times ten to the...”.

scope

A variable’s scope is the matching pair of open and closed curly braces that most tightly encloses the variable’s declaration.

serifs

Small decorations on the tips of letters that improve readability in medium to large fonts.

shifting

One of several operations that move the bits of an integral operand to the left or right by a certain number of positions.

short-circuit operator

An operator that does not evaluate its second operand if the value of the first operand is enough to determine the value of the operation.

signed

Supporting both positive and negative integer types.

side effect

A change in program state as a result of a method call.

source code

Code that must be translated into appropriate binary values before it can be executed by a computer.

stack trace

A listing of an application’s method call hierarchy at the moment an exception was thrown.

static

Associated with a class, rather than with an individual instance of a class.

string concatenation

The consecutive joining of strings, one after another.

subclass

A class that extends a superclass, inheriting its data and methods.

subtractive primary colors

The primary colors of paints and dyes (red, yellow, and blue). They combine to form green, orange, and purple.

superclass

A class from which a subclass inherits data and methods.