Boolean Logic

/ˈbuːliən ˈlɑːdʒɪk/

noun … “Algebra of true/false values.”

Boolean Logic is a system of mathematics and reasoning that operates on binary values—typically true (1) and false (0)—to perform logical operations. It is the foundation of logic gates, digital circuits, and computer programming, enabling decision-making, conditional execution, and binary computation. Boolean expressions combine variables and operators such as AND, OR, NOT, NAND, NOR, XOR, and XNOR to define logical relationships.

Reference Counting

/ˈrɛfərəns ˈkaʊntɪŋ/

noun … “Track object usage to reclaim memory.”

Reference Counting is a memory management technique in which each object maintains a counter representing the number of references or pointers to it. When the reference count drops to zero, the object is no longer accessible and can be safely deallocated from heap memory. This method is used to prevent memory leaks and manage lifetimes of objects in languages like Python, Swift, and Objective-C.

Key characteristics of Reference Counting include:

Dynamic Array

/daɪˈnæmɪk əˈreɪ/

noun … “Resizable contiguous memory collection.”

Dynamic Array is a data structure similar to an array but with the ability to grow or shrink at runtime. Unlike fixed-size arrays, dynamic arrays allocate memory on the heap and can expand when more elements are added, typically by allocating a larger block and copying existing elements. They balance the efficiency of indexed access with flexible memory usage.

Key characteristics of Dynamic Array include:

Array

/əˈreɪ/

noun … “Contiguous collection of elements.”

Array is a data structure consisting of a sequence of elements stored in contiguous memory locations, each identified by an index or key. Arrays allow efficient access, insertion, and modification of elements using indices and are foundational in programming for implementing lists, matrices, and buffers. They can hold primitive types, objects, or other arrays (multidimensional arrays).

Key characteristics of Array include:

Pointer Arithmetic

/ˈpɔɪntər ˌærɪθˈmɛtɪk/

noun … “Calculating addresses with pointers.”

Pointer Arithmetic is a programming technique that performs mathematical operations on pointers to navigate through memory locations. It allows programmers to traverse arrays, structures, and buffers by adding or subtracting integer offsets from a pointer, effectively moving the reference to different memory addresses. This technique is widely used in low-level languages like C and C++ for efficient memory access and manipulation.

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