Dereferencing

/ˌdiːˈrɛfərənsɪŋ/ verb

Definition

The process of accessing the actual value that a pointer or reference indicates, rather than working with the address or reference itself.

Etymology

Present participle of 'dereference,' used in programming to describe the ongoing or repeated action of accessing values through pointers, common in discussions of computer science.

Kelly Says

Dereferencing happens millions of times in your applications without you seeing it—it's one of those invisible computational gymnastics that make modern software possible.

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