Flag

What Does Flag Mean?

A flag is one or more data bits used to store binary values as specific program structure indicators. A flag is a component of a programming language’s data structure.

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A computer interprets a flag value in relative terms or based on the data structure presented during processing, and uses the flag to mark a specific data structure. Thus, the flag value directly impacts the processing outcome.

Techopedia Explains Flag

A flag reveals whether a data structure is in a possible state range and may indicate a bit field attribute, which is often permission-related. A microprocessor has multiple state registers that store multiple flag values that serve as possible post-processing condition indicators such as arithmetic overflow.

The command line switch is a common flag format in which a parser option is set at the beginning of a command line program. Then, switches are translated into flags during program processing.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…