📏 In a line 📎 To embed 💻 Expanded code

inline

6.9

A small piece of code the computer inserts where it is used to make it run faster

adjective
/ˈɪnˌlaɪn/

Specialized

: en línea

Using inline code helps reduce the overhead associated with traditional function calls.

Examples

It doesn't do inline rescaling, and this is actually really cool how it goes from horizontal to vertical Portugal landscape.
It doesn't do inline rescaling, and this is actually really cool how it goes from horizontal to Portugal landscape.
So instead of writing def, I have inline defined a function.
We're just dropping this inline function in here, and it's going to compute this from this.
As a related point, inline JavaScript, that is, JavaScript that is on the page and not on an external style sheet, shouldn't come between CSS and other resources.

Blog text (27)
An inline function is expanded directly at the point where it is called, improving execution speed.
The compiler optimized the code by replacing the normal function with an inline version during compilation.

Compounds

dual inline package switch

Specialized

7.4

A small row of tiny switches on a computer board used to set hardware options

How Inlined

inlining

Specialized

1 7.5

macro

Specialized

40 6.8

inline

Specialized

6.9

function call

Specialized

1 4.4

Surface Forms

inline positive

Morphology

inline = line (semi-transparent) = in + line

The computing sense ('expanded into the call site') is related to 'in' + 'line' but is a specialized technical extension not obvious to non-programmers. [Postprocessing: moved 'in' from base_words to prefix]

Etymology

Inline in computing keeps the same idea: in + line means 'put inside the place where it is used'. An inline function is placed directly where the code uses it, so the program does not need to jump to another place to run it.