initialise

programming To give a variable its first value. This may

be done automatically by some languages or it may require

explicit code by the programmer. Some languages allow

initialisation to be combined with variable definition,

e.g. in C:

int i = 0;

Failing to initialise a variable before using it is a common

programming error, but one which compilers and automatic

checkers like lint can easily detect.

(1997-06-08)