What is the word for something that is non-divisible?


I'm looking for a generic word, an adjective, that means non-divisible. Like the opposite of compound.


I am looking for a word I can use in the context of programming, where you can have data types that are compound of other data types. I want a word to identify the "indivisible" data types.



Answer



The best word for something that cannot be split in a programming context is atomic.


This is used a lot, and is essential for interruptible programming. For example, in a signal handler you should only touch variables of type sig_atomic_t and storage class volatile, as explained here.


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