What is an Expression?

An expression is a unit of code that can produce a value.  You can use the word expression to mean a statement, or a sub-unit of code within a statement.  For example, if a function requires a numeric value as a parameter, you may provide any of:

      a number  (5)

      a variable that holds a numeric value  (x)

      another function that returns a numeric value:  sqrt(25)

      a calculation that returns a numeric value:   (3 + 5 / 2 ).  

Rather than list all four options, we would simply say that the parameter must be "any expression that returns a numeric value".  You will see the word "expression" used most often in this context.