- A set of rules that defines the combinations of symbols that are considered to be a correctly structured document or fragment in a language. This applies both to programming languages, where the document represents source code, and to markup languages, where the document represents data. The syntax of a language defines its surface form. Text-based computer languages are based on sequences of characters, while visual programming languages are based on the spatial layout and connections between symbols (which may be textual or graphical). Documents that are syntactically invalid are said to have a syntax error. When designing the syntax of a language, a designer might start by writing down examples of both legal and illegal strings, before trying to determine general rules from these examples. ← Wikipedia
This term is sponsored by: your name/company?
- Previous term: Syntactic sugar
- Next term: Syntax analysis
- Random term: GNU Project (webglossary.info/random 🎲)