L
label
  (1) An identifier within or attached to a set of data elements. T. (2) An identifier followed by a colon, used to identify a statement in a program. (3) In C and C++, the target of a goto switch statement.
labeled statement
  A statement preceded by a label. The statement may be empty.
last element
  The element accessed last in an iteration over a collection. Each collection has its own definition for last element. For example, the last element of a sorted set is the element with the largest value.
latched
  One of two states of a button.It remains in its pressed (latched) position until a user clicks it to release (unlatch) it.
late binding
  See dynamic binding.
LC_
  See locale category.
leaf
  In a tree, a node without children.
lexically
  Relating to the left-to-right order of units.
library
  (1) A collection of functions, function calls, subroutines, or other data. (2) A set of object modules that can be specified in a link command.
lifetime of an object
  The duration of an object from its definition until its destruction.
link
  (1) In computer programming, the part of a program, in some cases a single instruction or an address, that passes control and parameters between separate portions of a computer program. ANSI, I. (2) In hypertext, an author defined association between two information nodes. (3) In the AIX file system, a connection between an i-node and one or more file names associated with it. (4) In TCP/IP, a communications line. (5) To interconnect items of data or portions of one or more computer programs. See linker.
linked implementation
  An implementation in which each element contains a reference to the next element in the collection. Pointer chains are used to access elements in linked implementations.
linked list implementation
  See linked implementation.
linked sequence
  A sequence that uses a linked implementation.
linker
  A program that resolves cross-references among separately compiled object modules and then assigns final addresses to create a single executable program.
link library
  A partitioned data set from which load modules are fetched when they are referred to in execute (EXEC) statements and in ATTACH, LINK, LOAD, and transfer control (XCTL) macroinstructions. IBM. See dynamic link library, shared library.
listing
  A printout that lists the source language statements and the output resulting from execution of a program. A compiler listing file shows, at minimum, the options used by the compiler, any error messages, and a standard header.
literal
  (1) In programming languages, a lexical unit that represents a value given by the characters themselves; for example, 7 represents the integer 7, APRIL represents the string of characters APRIL, 3.0005E2 represents the number 300.05. (2) A symbol or a quantity in a source program that is itself data, rather than a reference to data. IBM. See constant.
loader
  A routine, commonly a computer program, that reads data into main storage. ANSI.
load module
  All or part of a computer program in a form suitable for loading into main storage for execution. A load module is usually the output of a linker. T.
local
  (1) In programming languages, pertaining to the relationship between a language object and a block, such that the language object has a scope contained in that block. I. (2) Pertaining to that which is defined and used only in one subdivision of a computer program. ANSI.
locale
  (1) A geographic region that shares a language, culture, and customs. (2) The international environment of a computer program defining the localized behavior of that program at run time.This information can be established from one or more sets of localization data. X-Open. (3) A definition of a user's linguistic and cultural environment, including appropriate date and time formatting, character classification, sorting, and text handling. This collection of processing variables specifies how a process will execute. Specification of a locale environment variable, such as en_US for United States English, identifies the tables for a specific mix of language, culture, and territory.
locale category
  POSIX categories, such as LC_COLLATE, LC_MONETARY, and LC_CTYPE, that define the user's sort sequence, monetary formatting, and character classification locales, respectively. See locale.
localization
  The process of adapting an internationalized product to a specific language, script, set of local customs, and coded character set. In localization, the semantics are preserved while the syntax may be changed. Also known as national language implementation. See internationalization.
local scope
  A name that can only be used in the block in which it is declared.
lvalue
  An expression that represents an object or function and can be both examined and altered. Contrast with rvalue.