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                    <div id="mw-content-text" lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr"><div class="t-navbar" style=""><div class="t-navbar-sep">&#160;</div><div class="t-navbar-head"><a href="../../cpp.html" title="cpp"> C++</a><div class="t-navbar-menu"><div><div><table class="t-nv-begin" cellpadding="0" style="line-height:1.1em;">
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<p>This section provides definitions for the specific terminology and the concepts used when describing the C++ programming language.
</p><p>A C++ program is a sequence of text files (typically header and source files) that contain <a href="declarations.html" title="cpp/language/declarations">declarations</a>. They undergo <a href="translation_phases.html" title="cpp/language/translation phases">translation</a> to become an executable program, which is executed when the OS calls its <a href="main_function.html" title="cpp/language/main function">main function</a>.
</p><p>Certain words in a C++ program have special meaning, and these are known as <a href="../keywords.html" title="cpp/keyword">keywords</a>. Others can be used as <a href="name.html" title="cpp/language/identifiers">identifiers</a>. <a href="../comments.html" title="cpp/comment">Comments</a> are ignored during translation. Certain characters in the program have to be represented with <a href="escape.html" title="cpp/language/escape">escape sequences</a>.
</p><p>The <i>entities</i> of a C++ program are values, <a href="objects.html" title="cpp/language/objects" class="mw-redirect">objects</a>, <a href="reference.html" title="cpp/language/reference">references</a>, <a href="functions.html" title="cpp/language/functions">functions</a>, <a href="enum.html" title="cpp/language/enum">enumerators</a>, <a href="type-id.html" title="cpp/language/type">types</a>, class members, <a href="templates.html" title="cpp/language/templates">templates</a>, <a href="template_specialization.html" title="cpp/language/template specialization">template specializations</a>, <a href="namespace.html" title="cpp/language/namespace">namespaces</a>, <a href="parameter_pack.html" title="cpp/language/parameter pack">parameter packs</a>, and the <span class="t-c"><span class="mw-geshi cpp source-cpp">this</span></span> pointer.
</p><p>Entities are introduced by <a href="declarations.html" title="cpp/language/declarations">declarations</a>, which associate them with <a href="name.html" title="cpp/language/name" class="mw-redirect">names</a> and define their properties. The declarations that define all properties required to use an entity are <a href="definition.html" title="cpp/language/definition">definitions</a>. A program must contain only one definition of any non-inline function or variable that is <a href="definition.html" title="cpp/language/definition">odr-used</a>. 
</p><p>Definitions of functions include sequences of <a href="statements.html" title="cpp/language/statements">statements</a>, some of which include <a href="expressions.html" title="cpp/language/expressions">expressions</a>, which specify the computations to be performed by the program.
</p><p>Names encountered in a program are associated with the declarations that introduced them using <a href="lookup.html" title="cpp/language/lookup">name lookup</a>. Each name is only valid within a part of the program called its <a href="scope.html" title="cpp/language/scope">scope</a>. Some names have <a href="storage_duration.html" title="cpp/language/storage duration">linkage</a> which makes them refer to the same entities when they appear in different scopes or translation units.
</p><p>Each object, reference, and function in C++ is associated with a <a href="type-id.html" title="cpp/language/type">type</a>, which may be <a href="types.html" title="cpp/language/types">fundamental</a>, compound, or <a href="classes.html" title="cpp/language/classes">user-defined</a>, complete or <a href="incomplete_type.html" title="cpp/language/incomplete type" class="mw-redirect">incomplete</a>, etc.
</p><p>Named objects and named references to objects are known as <i>variables</i>.
</p>
<h3><span class="editsection">[<a href="http://en.cppreference.com/mwiki/index.php?title=cpp/language/basic_concepts&amp;action=edit&amp;section=1" title="Edit section: See also">edit</a>]</span> <span class="mw-headline" id="See_also">See also</span></h3>
<table class="t-dsc-begin">

<tr class="t-dsc">
<td colspan="2"> <div class="t-dsc-see"><span><a href="../../c/language/basic_concepts.html" title="c/language/basic concepts">C documentation</a></span> for <span class="t-dsc-see-tt"><span>Basic concepts</span></span></div>
</td></tr>

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