👥 A group of representatives 🤝 Giving responsibility 💻 Passing tasks

delegation

1 5.5

Letting one part of a program pass tasks to another part

noun
/ˌdɛlɪˈɡeɪʃən/

Specialized

: delegación

Using delegation in code design means that one object can focus on its functionality while another handles specific behaviors.

Examples

The delegation of tasks to a separate object can help manage complex systems more efficiently.
I mean, this method of sort of delegation of financial tasks might never be experienced by either person as a power differential.
The purpose of the rule is to increase flexibility in demonstrating equivalency and to offer additional alternative processes for delegation.

Academic text (2001)
Despite the rise of the 'audit society' (Laspsey, 2008) and a delegation of auditing to regional health agencies and hospitals, accountability is still lacking.

Academic text (2017)
In this comment, Part I introduces the historical perspective of zoning, from the roots of zoning to the delegation of the zoning power in the United States.

Academic text (2001)
From the late 1540s, the standard of the Camerlenghi pictures had suffered as a result of the ailing Bonifacio's delegation of more and more work to his students.

Academic text (2000)
In software engineering, delegation allows objects to pass responsibilities to helper classes, simplifying the design.

Surface Forms

delegation singular

delegations plural

Morphology

delegation = delegate (semi-transparent) = delegate + ation

Morphemically clear ('delegate' + '-ation'), but the programming/design-pattern sense is a technical extension of the everyday meaning and may not be fully inferable by general learners.

Etymology

Delegation comes from the Latin root legare 'to send', and in software it keeps the same idea: one object 'sends' a task to a helper object, which is why delegation means passing responsibility to someone else.