the.com/increment
The smallest step that still counts as progress, especially to a compiler.
means A small, measured increase or addition — one discrete step up from where something was before.
from From Latin incrementum, 'growth' or 'increase,' built from the verb increscere — in- ('into') plus crescere ('to grow,' the same root that gives us 'crescent' and 'crescendo'). It entered English in the 1500s mostly in mathematical and astronomical contexts, measuring growth step by step — a sense that made it the natural word centuries later for the tiny, countable nudges a loop variable takes in code.
- origin
- from Latin incrementum, to grow
- programming
- ++ adds exactly one, nothing poetic about it
- psychology trick
- small increments trick brains into finishing big tasks
- opposite
- decrement, the unsung hero of countdowns