# Language construct

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> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Language_construct.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_construct
> Source revision: 1349456636
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{{Short description|Syntactically valid part of a program formed from lexical tokens}}
{{More sources|date=January 2021}}

In [computer programming](/source/computer_programming), a '''language construct''' is a [syntactically](/source/Syntax_(programming_languages)) allowable part of a [program](/source/Computer_program) that may be formed from one or more [lexical token](/source/lexical_token)s in accordance with the rules of the [programming language](/source/programming_language), as defined by in the [ISO/IEC 2382](/source/ISO%2FIEC_2382) standard ([ISO/IEC JTC 1](/source/ISO%2FIEC_JTC_1)).<ref name="ISO/IEC 2382">{{cite web |title=ISO/IEC 2382, Information technology — Vocabulary |url=https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#iso:std:iso-iec:2382:ed-1:v1:en}}</ref>
A '''term''' is defined as a "linguistic construct in a [conceptual schema](/source/conceptual_schema) language that refers to an entity".<ref name="ISO/IEC 2382"/>

While the terms "language construct" and "control structure" are often used synonymously, there are additional types of logical constructs within a computer program, including [variables](/source/variable_(computer_science)), [expressions](/source/expression_(computer_science)), [functions](/source/function_(computer_science)), or [modules](/source/modular_programming).

[Control flow](/source/Control_flow) statements (such as [conditionals](/source/Conditional_(computer_programming)), [foreach loop](/source/foreach_loop)s, [while loop](/source/while_loop)s, etc.) are language constructs, not [function](/source/Subroutine)s. So <syntaxhighlight inline lang=php>while (true)</syntaxhighlight> is a language construct, while <syntaxhighlight inline lang=php>add(10)</syntaxhighlight> is a function call.

==Examples of language constructs==
In [PHP](/source/PHP) <syntaxhighlight inline lang=php>print</syntaxhighlight> is a language construct.<ref>{{Cite web |title=PHP: print - Manual |url=https://www.php.net/manual/en/function.print.php |access-date=2022-11-18 |website=www.php.net}}</ref>
<syntaxhighlight lang="php">
<?php
print 'Hello world';
?>
</syntaxhighlight>

is the same as:

<syntaxhighlight lang="php">
<?php
print('Hello world');
?>
</syntaxhighlight>

In Java a [class](/source/Class_(programming)) is written in this format:<syntaxhighlight lang="java">
public class MyClass {
    //Code . . . . . .
}
</syntaxhighlight>

In C++ a class is written in this format:<syntaxhighlight lang="c++">
class MyCPlusPlusClass {
    //Code . . . .
};
</syntaxhighlight>
==References==
{{reflist}}{{Compu-lang-stub}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Language Construct}}
Category:Programming constructs

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Language construct](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_construct) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_construct?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.