decrement

1 the amount by which something decreases [syn: decrease] [ant: increase]

2 a process of becoming smaller or shorter [syn: decrease] [ant: increase, increase]

English

Noun

decrement

1. A small quantity removed or lost. One of a series of regular subtractions.

Verb

1. To decrease a value by a basic quantity unit. Opposite of increment. Typically used in computer programming. If A=3, and you decrement A, then A=2.

An increment is an increase, either of some fixed amount, for example added regularly, or of a variable amount. For example, a salary may receive an annual increment. A decrease would rather be called a decrement.

Incremental may also refer to gradual change as opposed to massive, instant change.

Use in science and technology

Use in programming languages

Incrementing is of constant use in computer programming, such as in loops that iterate through a set of items one at a time.

For example, in JavaScript, the increment operator works like the following: x++ Where the decrement operator is: x-- In addition, the increment operator can be written both as x++ and ++x, with separate meanings. For example: var y = ++x is shorthand for: x = x+1 var y = x however, var y = x++ is shorthand for: var y = x x = x+1 --x instead of x-- follows similar behaviour.

See also

• Stride of an array
• Successor function
• Counting

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