SNIPPET:
"Snippet" refers
narrowly to a portion of source code that is literally included by an editor
program into a file, and is a form of copy and paste programming. This
concrete inclusion is in contrast to abstraction methods, such as a function,
which is abstraction within the language, and processed by the compiler, or macros, which are abstractions using a
separate language, and processed by the preprocessor.
Snippets are thus primarily used when these alternative abstractions are not
available or not desired, such as in languages that lack abstraction, or for
clarity and absence of overhead (by contrast with the indirection of macros).
Snippets are similar to having
static preprocessing included in the editor, and do not require support by a
compiler: once a snippet is included into the text, no further processing
occurs. On the flip side, this means that snippets cannot be modified after the
fact (except via search and replace, assuming the code has not been changed),
and thus is vulnerable to all of the problems of copy and paste programming.
For this reason snippets are primarily used for simple sections of code (with
little logic), or for boilerplate, such as copyright notices, function
prototypes, or standard library imports.
A snippet is a small section of
text or source code
that can be inserted into the code of a program or Web page. Snippets provide
an easy way to implement commonly used code or functions into a larger section
of code. Instead of rewriting the same code over and over again, a programmer
can save the code as a snippet and simply drag and drop the snippet wherever it
is needed. By using snippets, programmers and Web developers can also organize
common code sections into categories, creating a cleaner development
environment.
Snippets used in software
programming often contain one or more functions written in C, Java, or another
programming language. For example, a programmer may create a basic
"mouse-down event" snippet to play an action each time the user
clicks a mouse button. Other snippets might be used to perform "Open
file" and "Save file" operations. Some programmers also use
plain text snippets to comment code, such as adding developer information at
the beginning of each source file.
In Web development, snippets often
contain HTML code. An
HTML snippet might be used to insert a formatted table, a Web form, or a block
of text. CSS snippets may
be used to apply formatting to a Web page. Web scripting snippets written in JavaScript, PHP, or another scripting
language may be used to streamline dynamic Web page development. For example, a
PHP snippet that contains database connection information can be inserted into
each page that accesses information from a database. Whether programming software or developing websites, using snippets
can save the developer a lot of time.
