implicit type conversion
     
         (Or "coercion") The abilty of some compilers
        to automatically insert type conversion functions where an
        expression of one type is used in a context where another type
        is expected.
     
        A common example is coercion of integers to reals so that
        an expression like sin(1) is compiled as sin(integerToReal(1))
        where sin is of type Real -> Real.
     
        A coercion is usually performed automatically by the compiler
        whereas a cast is an explicit type conversion inserted by
        the programmer.
     
        See also subtype.
     
        (1997-07-28)