INCREMENT

An increment is an amount by which something increases. In mathematics, an increment refers to the change in a variable as one moves from one value to another. For numeric sequences the increment is often assumed constant, and the symbol Δx is used for a finite increment.

In calculus and numerical analysis, increments are used to denote small changes; differential dx denotes an infinitesimal increment; step size h is the increment in numerical methods.

In computer science, an increment operation increases a numeric value by one. In languages with a postfix or prefix increment operator, such as C, C++, Java, and JavaScript, i++ returns the original value and then increments, while ++i increments first and then returns the new value. The shorthand i += 1 is equivalent to i = i + 1.

Increment operations are commonly used in loops and counters, but care is required with evaluation order and overflow. In some languages signed overflow is undefined, unsigned integers wrap around, etc.

Beyond programming, the term is used for software updates, data processing (incremental backups), and real-world contexts such as salary increments or price increments.

Etymology: from Latin incrementum meaning an increase; related to increscere to grow.