Message - Definition and Overview

Message in its most general meaning is the object of communication. Depending on the context, the term may apply to both the information contents and its actual presentation.

In the communications discipline, a message is information which is sent from a source to a receiver. Some common definitions include:

• Any thought or idea expressed briefly in a plain or secret language, prepared in a form suitable for transmission by any means of communication.
• An arbitrary amount of information whose beginning and end are defined or implied.
• Record information, a stream of data expressed in plain or encrypted language (notation) and prepared in a format specified for intended transmission by a telecommunications system.

In computing, under certain object-oriented programming languages such as Smalltalk and Objective-C, a message is an instruction to an object to perform some task. A message is similar to a member function, however in certain run-time environments such as Objective-C, messages can be forwarded if an object does not recognize — respond to — a certain message.

See also: instant messaging

References

• Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms
• Federal Standard 1037C