Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Liane \Li*ane"\ (l[-i]*[=a]n"), Liana \Li*a"na\
   (l[-i]*[=a]"n[.a]), n. [F. liane; prob. akin to lien a band,
   fr. L. ligamen, fr. ligare to bind. Cf. {Lien}, n. ] (Bot.)
   A luxuriant woody plant, climbing high trees and having
   ropelike stems. The grapevine often has the habit of a liane.
   Lianes are abundant in the forests of the Amazon region.

Source : WordNet®

liana
     n : a woody climbing usually tropical plant

Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

Liana
     
         A {C}-like, interpretive, {object-oriented
        programming} language, {class} library, and integrated
        development environment designed specifically for development
        of {application programs} for {Microsoft Windows} and {Windows
        NT}.  Designed by Jack Krupansky  of
        {Base Technology}, Liana was first released as a commercial
        product in August 1991.  The language is designed to be as
        easy to use as {BASIC}, as concise as {C}, and as flexible as
        {Smalltalk}.
     
        The {OOP} {syntax} of {C++} was chosen over the less familiar
        syntax of {Smalltalk} and {Objective-C} to appeal to {C}
        programmers and in recognition of C++ being the leading OOP
        language.  The syntax is a simplified subset of {C/C++}.  The
        {semantics} are also a simplified subset of C/C++, but
        extended to achieve the flexibility of Smalltalk.
     
        Liana is a typeless language (like {Lisp}, {Snobol} and
        {Smalltalk}), which means that the datatypes of variables,
        function parameters, and function return values are not needed
        since values carry the type information.  Hence, variables are
        simply containers for values and function parameters are
        simply pipes through which any type of value can flow.
        {Single inheritance}, but not {multiple inheritance}, is
        supported.  {Memory management} is automatic using {reference
        counting}.
     
        The library includes over 150 {classes}, for {dynamic arrays},
        {associative lookup} tables, windows, menus, dialogs,
        controls, bitmaps, cursors, icons, mouse movement, keyboard
        input, fonts, text and graphics display, {DDE}, and {MDI}.
     
        Liana provides flexible OOP support for Windows programming.
        For example, a {list box} automatically fills itself from an
        associated {object}.  That object is not some sort of special
        object, but is merely any object that "behaves like" an array
        (i.e., has a "size" member function that returns the number of
        elements, a "get" function that returns the ith element, and
        the text for each element is returned by calling the "text"
        member function for the element).
     
        A related product, C-odeScript, is an embeddable application
        scripting language.  It is an implementation of Liana which
        can be called from C/C++ applications to dynamically evaluate
        expressions and statement sequences.  This can be used to
        offer the end-user a macro/scripting capability or to allow
        the C/C++ application to be customized without changing the
        C/C++ source code.
     
        Here's a complete Liana program which illustrates the
        flexibility of the language semantics and the power of the
        class library:
     
         main
         {
           // Prompt user for a string.
           // No declaration needed for "x" (becomes a global variable.)
           x = ask ("Enter a String");
     
           // Use "+" operator to concatenate strings. Memory
           // management for string temporaries is automatic.  The
           // "message" function displays a Windows message box.
           message ("You entered: " + x);
     
           // Now x will take on a different type.  The "ask_number"
           // function will return a "real" if the user's input
           // contains a decimal point or an "int" if no decimal
           // point.
           x = ask_number ("Enter a Number");
     
           // The "+" operator with a string operand will
           // automatically convert the other operand to a string.
     
           message ("You entered: " + x);
     
           // Prompt user for a Liana expression.  Store it in a
           // local variable (the type, string, is merely for
           // documentation.)
           string expr = ask ("Enter an Expression");
     
           // Evaluate the expression. The return value of "eval"
           // could be any type.  The "source_format" member function
           // converts any value to its source format (e.g., add
           // quotes for a string.)  The "class_name" member function
           // return the name of the class of an object/value.
           // Empty parens can be left off for member function calls.
           x = eval (expr);
           message ("The value of " + expr + " is " + x.source_format +
               " its type is " + x.class_name);
         }
     
        The author explained that the "Li" of Liana stands for
        "Language interpreter" and liana are vines that grow up trees
        in tropical forests, which seemed quite appropriate for a tool
        to deal with the complexity of MS Windows!  It is also a
        woman's name.
     
        ["Liana for Windows", Aitken, P., PC TECHNIQUES, Dec/Jan
        1993].
     
        ["Liana: A Language For Writing Windows Programs", Burk, R.,
        Tech Specialist (R&D Publications), Sep 1991].
     
        ["Liana v. 1.0." Hildebrand, J.D., Computer Language, Dec
        1992].
     
        ["Liana: A Windows Programming Language Based on C and C++",
        Krupansky, J., The C Users Journal, Jul 1992].
     
        ["Writing a Multimedia App in Liana", Krupansky, J.,
        Dr. Dobb's Journal, Winter Multimedia Sourcebook 1994].
     
        ["The Liana Programming Language", R. Valdes, Dr Dobbs J Oct
        1993, pp.50-52].
     
        (1999-06-29)