Lincrement

Lincrement is a term used in computing to describe the operation of increasing a linear index or pointer by a fixed amount, effectively generating an arithmetic progression of indices. The word blends “linear” and “increment,” and its usage is not standardized across programming languages or formal literature, often appearing as a descriptive rather than a formal construct.

Definition and behavior: In a one-dimensional data structure such as an array A indexed by i, with a fixed step s, lincrement advances i to i + s. In code this is commonly expressed as i += s or i = i + s. In memory addressing, lincrement corresponds to moving a pointer forward by s elements, assuming constant element size.

Applications: Lincrement is a practical concept for traversing arrays with a specified stride, implementing range generation with a given step, or processing data laid out with non-contiguous memory organization. It is also relevant in algorithms that sample, downsample, or process blocks of data where indices follow an arithmetic progression.

Variants: A circular lincrement wraps around modulo n, useful in ring buffers or periodic tasks. A negative lincrement moves in the reverse direction. If the step varies, the operation is better described as irregular indexing or a variable stride rather than a true lincrement.

Performance considerations: Each lincrement step is typically constant time, assuming constant-time arithmetic and memory access. Compilers may optimize loops that use a known stride through vectorization or loop unrolling when appropriate.

See also: Increment operation, Stride, Arithmetic progression, Pointer arithmetic.