Truncation is the act or process of shortening something by removing part of it. It can also refer to the state of being shortened. To truncate means to cut or shorten something, such as a board that is too long with an electric saw, a chainsaw or even a karate kick. In IT, truncation is “cutting something or removing parts of it to make it shorter”.
Truncation in mathematics involves shortening a number by removing some of the digits after the decimal. In scientific and medical contexts, truncation often involves cutting a part of something parallel to its base (or perpendicular to its side). Truncation can also involve the removal of the beginning, end, top, or other part of something. Truncation is not only used for physical things; it can also be used in debates.
For example, responses can be truncated to 60-second sound bites. In code, a truncation operation can take a number with several digits to the left of the decimal point and truncate that number into an integer. Truncation can also be used as an adjective with the same meaning as shortened truncated, as if a part had been cut off. For example, a tree trunk can be truncated by cutting it down to the stump.
In politics, truncation can be used to take advantage of a recall campaign period to court the state into electing someone as its chief executive. In general, truncation reduces resources needed to store something and can help bring equilibrium back to something that has been harmed by its truncation. It is important to note that truncation does not interrupt the process but rather one of its phases.
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