first-class object

first-class object (plural first-class objects)

1. (programming, languages) An entity that can be constructed at run-time, passed as a parameter, returned from a subroutine, or assigned into a variable.
2. (programming, languages) An entity that can pass a value as a parameter, can be returned from a subroutine, and can be assigned into a variable. (This is the definition according to Raphael Finkel, who uses the terms of second- and third-class objects.)

• first-class citizen
• first-class entity
• first-class value

• second-class object
• third-class object