Attribute is a characteristic or property of an object in object-oriented programming. It's a fancy way of saying "variable," but we use "attribute" because it makes us sound smarter in front of the business folks.

How to use it in a sentence

• I was trying to debug this legacy Java code, and I couldn't figure out why the attribute wasn't being set correctly. Turns out, the previous developer thought it would be hilarious to name it "definitelyNotAnAttribute."

• In the latest version of our over-engineered JavaScript framework, we've decided to call attributes "reactive data bindings" because, apparently, that's what all the cool kids at Facebook are doing these days.

If you actually want to learn more...

• Language Features: Martin Fowler's blog dives into various programming concepts, including discussions on object-oriented design principles and best practices for working with attributes. It's a great resource if you want to impress your coworkers with your deep knowledge of software development.

• Data-Driven Domination: How Top Companies Leverage Data for Competitive Advantage: This Medium article explores how companies use data as a strategic asset, highlighting the importance of unique data sets (attributes) in gaining a competitive edge. It's perfect if you want to pretend you understand how machine learning works.

• Resources: Paul Graham's "Resources" page is a comprehensive collection of tools and documents related to Lisp and Scheme, which heavily utilize attributes. It's a must-read if you want to become one of those insufferable functional programming evangelists.

Note: the Developer Dictionary is in Beta. Please direct feedback to skye@statsig.com.