reativo

Reativo is a term used in several Romance languages to describe responsiveness or the tendency to react. In practice, its meaning varies by language and domain, spanning chemistry, computing, and everyday speech.

In Spanish, re activo or reactivo functions both as a noun and as an adjective. As a noun, reactivo commonly means a chemical reagent—an substance used to cause or participate in a chemical reaction. As an adjective, reactivo describes something that is reactive or readily responds to stimuli, for example a substance that is chemically reactive or a system that responds to inputs.

In Italian, the standard form is reattivo (masculine) or reattiva (feminine), not reativo, and it similarly covers notions of reactivity in science and everyday use. The Italian term is used for objects or systems that respond to stimuli, and in chemistry, one speaks of reattivi in the sense of reactive substances, though the precise usage depends on context.

In computing and information technology, the phrase programación reactiva (Spanish) or programmazione reattiva (Italian) denotes the reactive programming paradigm. This approach emphasizes data streams and the propagation of changes, enabling software components to react to events asynchronously.

In general usage, reativo can describe people or processes that tend to respond to external triggers rather than initiating actions, or systems designed to respond to changing conditions.

See also: reactivity, reagent, reactive programming, responsive design.