built-in

adj : existing as an essential constituent or characteristic; "the

Ptolemaic system with its built-in concept of

periodicity"; "a constitutional inability to tell the

truth" [syn: {constitutional}, {inbuilt}, {inherent}, {integral}]

built-in

(Or "primitive") A built-in function or operator is one

provided by the lowest level of a language implementation.

This usually means it is not possible (or efficient) to

express it in the language itself. Typical examples are the

basic arithmetic and {Boolean} operators (in {C} syntax: :, -,

▫, /, %, !, &&, ||), bit manipulation operators (~, &, |, ^)

and I/O primitives. Other common functions may be provided in

libraries but are not built-in if they are written in the

language being implemented.

(1995-02-14)