Dereferenced

/ˌdiːˈrɛfərənst/ adjective

Definition

In programming, having been dereferenced; describing a pointer or reference whose actual value has been accessed rather than its address.

Etymology

Past tense and past participle of 'dereference,' used as an adjective in programming documentation and code to describe the state of a pointer after dereferencing.

Kelly Says

In programming, this word describes a moment of transformation—you've gone from looking at metadata to holding the actual thing, which is why it's so crucial to getting code to actually do something.

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