In computing, a line number is a method used to specify a particular sequence of characters in a text file. The most common method of assigning numbers to lines is to assign every line a unique number, starting at 1 for the first line, and incrementing by 1 for each successive line.
In the C programming language the line number of a source code line is one greater than the number of new-line characters read or introduced up to that point.
Line numbers were a required element of syntax in some older programming languages such as GW-BASIC. The primary reason for this is that most operating systems at the time lacked interactive text editors; since the programmer's interface was usually limited to a line editor, line numbers provided a mechanism by which specific lines in the source code could be referenced for editing, and by which the programmer could insert a new line at a specific point. Line numbers also provided a convenient means of distinguishing between code to be entered into the program and direct mode commands to be executed immediately when entered by the user (which do not have line numbers).
Largely due to the prevalence of interactive text editing in modern operating systems, line numbers are not a feature of most programming languages.
Read more about Line Number: Line Numbers and Style, Line Numbers and GOTOs, Line Numbers and Syntax Errors
Famous quotes containing the words line and/or number:
“What is line? It is life. A line must live at each point along its course in such a way that the artist’s presence makes itself felt above that of the model.... With the writer, line takes precedence over form and content. It runs through the words he assembles. It strikes a continuous note unperceived by ear or eye. It is, in a way, the soul’s style, and if the line ceases to have a life of its own, if it only describes an arabesque, the soul is missing and the writing dies.”
—Jean Cocteau (1889–1963)
“In a number of other cultures, fathers are not relegated to babysitter status, nor is their ability to be primary nurturers so readily dismissed.... We have evidence that in our own society men can rear and nurture their children competently and that men’s methods, although different from those of women, are imaginative and constructive.”
—Kyle D. Pruett (20th century)