Class - Definition and Overview

The term "class", when used by itself, has several meanings in English.

• In sociology and economics, see social class.
• In computer science:
  • concerning classes in the object-oriented implementation of computer applications, see class (computer science).
  • an HTML attribute similar to id, but with multiple occurrence in one document allowed.
• In mathematical set theory, for classes as sets or collections of sets, see class (set theory).
• In biology, for classes as subdivisions used in Linnaean taxonomy: see class (biology).
• In the electric appliance manufacturing industry, there are three appliance classes.
• In various contexts where people (or individuals of any kind) are at any time in different stages of the same general process, and all of those in the same stage are considered to constitute a class, see:
  • the topic of class of students at specific colleges, universities, and other schools.
  • classes of US Senators
• In education, a class is also short period of teaching in a particular subject. See lesson.
• In sea warfare, where individual vessels of a class of naval watercraft share essentially the same design, see navy or, under an article for a specific country, the topic of its navy.
• In popular culture, see Class (movie).
• In philosophy, for a distinction between classes and types, see class (philosophy).
• In role-playing games, see character class.