class

class, in taxonomy: see classification.

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(1) In object technology, a user-defined data type that defines a collection of objects that share the same characteristics. An object, or class member, is one instance of the class. Concrete classes are designed to be instantiated. Abstract classes are designed to pass on characteristics through inheritance. See instantiate.

(2) In networking, a categorization of a packet based on attributes such as protocol, port and source and destination addresses.

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1.	(programming)	class - The prototype for an object in an object-oriented language; analogous to a derived type in a procedural language. A class may also be considered to be a set of objects which share a common structure and behaviour. The structure of a class is determined by the class variables which represent the state of an object of that class and the behaviour is given by a set of methods associated with the class. Classes are related in a class hierarchy. One class may be a specialisation (a "subclass") of another (one of its "superclasses") or it may be composed of other classes or it may use other classes in a client-server relationship. A class may be an abstract class or a concrete class. See also signature.
2.	(programming)	class - See type class.
3.	(networking)	class - One of three types of Internet addresses distinguished by their most significant bits.
4.	(language)	class - A language developed by the Andrew Project. It was one of the first attempts to add object-oriented features to C.