initiative

adj : serving to set in motion; "the magazine's inaugural issue";

"the initiative phase in the negotiations"; "an

initiatory step toward a treaty"; "his first (or

maiden) speech in Congress"; "the liner's maiden

voyage" [syn: {inaugural}, {initiatory}, {first}, {maiden}]

n 1: readiness to embark on bold new ventures [syn: {enterprise},

{enterprisingness}, {go-ahead}]

2: the first of a series of actions; "he memorized all the

important chess openings" [syn: {first step}, {opening

move}, {opening}]

initialise

To give a {variable} its first value. This may

be done automatically by some languages or it may require

explicit code by the programmer. Some languages allow

initialisation to be combined with variable definition,

e.g. in {C}:

int i ◦ 0;

Failing to initialise a variable before using it is a common

programming error, but one which compilers and automatic

checkers like {lint} can easily detect.

(1997-06-08)