(Or "primitive") A
built-in function or operator is one
provided by the lowest level of a language implementation.
This usually means it is not possible (or efficient) to
express it in the language itself. Typical examples are the
basic arithmetic and
Boolean operators (in
C syntax: +, -,
*, /, %, !, &&, ||), bit manipulation operators (
built-in, &, |, ^)
and I/O primitives. Other common functions may be provided in
libraries but are not
built-in if they are written in the
language being implemented.
(1995-02-14)