Programming Fundamentals Flashcards

Question	Answer
The process of formulating a problem, finding a solution, and expressing it.	problem solving
A programming language like Python that is designed to be easy for humans to read and write.	high-level language
A programming language that is designed to be easy for a computer to run; also called “machine language” or “assembly language”	low-level language
portability	A property of a program that can run on more than one kind of computer.
interpreter	A program that reads another program and executes it
Characters displayed by the interpreter to indicate that it is ready to take input from the user.	prompt
program	A set of instructions that specifies a computation.
An instruction that causes the Python interpreter to display a value on the screen.	print statement:
A special symbol that represents a simple computation like addition, multiplication, or string concatenation.	operator
One of the basic units of data, like a number or string, that a program manipulates.	value
A category of values. The types we have seen so far are integers (type int), floatingpoint numbers (type float), and strings (type str).	type
A type that represents whole numbers.	integer
A type that represents numbers with fractional parts.	floating-point:
A type that represents sequences of characters.	string
Any one of the languages that people speak that evolved naturally.	natural language:
Any one of the languages that people have designed for specific purposes, such as representing mathematical ideas or computer programs; all programming languages are formal languages.	formal language:
One of the basic elements of the syntactic structure of a program, analogous to a word in a natural language.	token
The rules that govern the structure of a program.	syntax
To examine a program and analyze the syntactic structure.	parse
An error in a program.	bug
The process of finding and correcting bugs.	debugging
A name that refers to a value.	variable
A statement that assigns a value to a variable.	assignment:
A graphical representation of a set of variables and the values they refer to.	state diagram:
A reserved word that is used to parse a program; you cannot use keywords like if, def, and while as variable names.	keyword
One of the values on which an operator operates.	operand
A combination of variables, operators, and values that represents a single result.	expression
To simplify an expression by performing the operations in order to yield a single value.	evaluate
A section of code that represents a command or action. So far, the statements we have seen are assignments and print statements.	statement
To run a statement and do what it says.	execute
A way of using the Python interpreter by typing code at the prompt.	interactive mode:
A way of using the Python interpreter to read code from a script and run it.	script mode:
A program stored in a file.	script
Rules governing the order in which expressions involving multiple operators and operands are evaluated.	order of operations:
To join two operands end-to-end.	concatenate
Information in a program that is meant for other programmers (or anyone reading the source code) and has no effect on the execution of the program.	comment
An error in a program that makes it impossible to parse (and therefore impossible to interpret).	syntax error:
An error that is detected while the program is running.	exception
The meaning of a program.	semantics
An error in a program that makes it do something other than what the programmer intended.	semantic error:
A named sequence of statements that performs some useful operation. Functions may or may not take arguments and may or may not produce a result.	function
A statement that creates a new function, specifying its name, parameters, and the statements it contains.	function definition:
A value created by a function definition. The name of the function is a variable that refers to a function object.	function object:
The first line of a function definition.	header
The sequence of statements inside a function definition.	body
A name used inside a function to refer to the value passed as an argument.	parameter
A statement that runs a function. It consists of the function name followed by an argument list in parentheses	function call:
A value provided to a function when the function is called. This value is assigned to the corresponding parameter in the function.	argument
A variable defined inside a function. A local variable can only be used inside its function.	local variable:
The result of a function. If a function call is used as an expression, the return value is the value of the expression.	return value:
A function that returns a value	fruitful function:
A function that always returns None	void function:
A special value returned by void functions.	None
A file that contains a collection of related functions and other definitions.	module
A statement that reads a module file and creates a module object.	import statement:
A value created by an import statement that provides access to the values defined in a module	module object:
The syntax for calling a function in another module by specifying the module name followed by a dot (period) and the function name	dot notation:
Using an expression as part of a larger expression, or a statement as part of a larger statement	composition
The order statements run in.	flow of execution:
A graphical representation of a stack of functions, their variables, and the values they refer to.	stack diagram:
A box in a stack diagram that represents a function call. It contains the local variables and parameters of the function	frame
A list of the functions that are executing, printed when an exception occurs.	traceback
A function that is associated with an object and called using dot notation.	method
A part of a program that can run repeatedly.	loop
The process of transforming a sequence of statements into a function definition	encapsulation
The process of replacing something unnecessarily specific (like a number) with something appropriately general (like a variable or parameter).	generalization
An argument that includes the name of the parameter as a “keyword”.	keyword argument:
A description of how to use a function, including the name and descriptions of the arguments and return value	interface
The process of modifying a working program to improve function interfaces and other qualities of the code.	refactoring
A process for writing programs.	development plan:
A string that appears at the top of a function definition to document the function’s interface	docstring
A requirement that should be satisfied by the caller before a function starts	precondition
A requirement that should be satisfied by the function before it ends.	postcondition
An operator, denoted //, that divides two numbers and rounds down (toward negative infinity) to an integer.	floor division:
An operator, denoted with a percent sign (%), that works on integers and returns the remainder when one number is divided by another	modulus operator:
An expression whose value is either True or False	boolean expression:
One of the operators that compares its operands: ==, !=, >, <, >=, and <=.	relational operator:
One of the operators that combines boolean expressions: and, or, and not.	logical operator:
Astatement that controls the flow of execution depending on some condition	conditional statement:
The boolean expression in a conditional statement that determines which branch runs.	condition
A statement that consists of a header and a body. The header ends with a colon (:). The body is indented relative to the header.	compound statement:
One of the alternative sequences of statements in a conditional statement.	branch
A conditional statement with a series of alternative branches	chained conditional:
A conditional statement that appears in one of the branches of another conditional statement.	nested conditional:
A statement that causes a function to end immediately and return to the caller.	return statement:
The process of calling the function that is currently executing.	recursion
A conditional branch in a recursive function that does not make a recursive call.	base case:
A recursion that doesn’t have a base case, or never reaches it. Eventually, an infinite recursion causes a runtime error.	infinite recursion:
A variable used to store an intermediate value in a complex calculation	temporary variable:
Part of a program that can never run, often because it appears after a return statement.	dead code:
A program development plan intended to avoid debugging by adding and testing only a small amount of code at a time.	incremental development:
Code that is used during program development but is not part of the final version.	scaffolding
A programming pattern that uses a conditional statement to check for and handle circumstances that might cause an error.	guardian
Assigning a new value to a variable that already exists.	reassignment
An assignment where the new value of the variable depends on the old.	update
An assignment that gives an initial value to a variable that will be updated	initialization
An update that increases the value of a variable (often by one).	increment
An update that decreases the value of a variable.	decrement
Repeated execution of a set of statements using either a recursive function call or a loop.	iteration
A loop in which the terminating condition is never satisfied.	infinite loop:
A general process for solving a category of problems.	algorithm
Something a variable can refer to. For now, you can use “object” and “value” interchangeably	object
An ordered collection of values where each value is identified by an integer index	sequence
One of the values in a sequence.	item
An integer value used to select an item in a sequence, such as a character in a string. In Python indices start from 0.	index
A part of a string specified by a range of indices.	slice
A string with no characters and length 0, represented by two quotation marks.	empty string:
The property of a sequence whose items cannot be changed.	immutable
To iterate through the items in a sequence, performing a similar operation on each.	traverse
A pattern of traversal that stops when it finds what it is looking for.	search
A variable used to count something, usually initialized to zero and then incremented.	counter
A statement that calls a method.	invocation
A function or method argument that is not required.	optional argument:
A value that represents an open file.	file object:
A way of solving a problem by expressing it as an instance of a previously solved problem.	reduction to a previously solved problem:
A test case that is atypical or non-obvious (and less likely to be handled correctly	special case:
A sequence of values.	list
One of the values in a list (or other sequence), also called items.	element
A list that is an element of another list.	nested list:
A variable used in a loop to add up or accumulate a result.	accumulator
A statement that updates the value of a variable using an operator like +=.	augmented assignment:
A processing pattern that traverses a sequence and accumulates the elements into a single result.	reduce
A processing pattern that traverses a sequence and performs an operation on each element.	map
A processing pattern that traverses a list and selects the elements that satisfy some criterion.	filter
Something a variable can refer to. An object has a type and a value	object
Having the same value.	equivalent
Being the same object (which implies equivalence).	identical
The association between a variable and its value.	reference
A circumstance where two or more variables refer to the same object.	aliasing
A character or string used to indicate where a string should be split.	delimiter
A relationship in which each element of one set corresponds to an element of another set	mapping
A mapping from keys to their corresponding values.	dictionary
The representation of the mapping from a key to a value	key-value pair:
In a dictionary, another name for a key-value pair.	item
An object that appears in a dictionary as the first part of a key-value pair.	key
An object that appears in a dictionary as the second part of a key-value pair. This is more specific than our previous use of the word “value”.	value
A way of performing a computation.	implementation
The algorithm used to implement Python dictionaries.	hashtable
A function used by a hashtable to compute the location for a key.	hash function:
Atype that has a hash function. Immutable types like integers, floats and strings are hashable; mutable types like lists and dictionaries are not	hashable
A dictionary operation that takes a key and finds the corresponding value.	lookup
A dictionary operation that takes a value and finds one or more keys that map to it.	reverse lookup:
A statement that (deliberately) raises an exception.	raise statement:
A list (or other sequence) with a single element.	singleton
A diagram that shows every frame created during the execution of a program, with an arrow from each caller to each callee.	call graph:
A computed value stored to avoid unnecessary future computation	memo
A variable defined outside a function. Global variables can be accessed from any function.	global variable:
A statement that declares a variable name global.	global statement:
boolean variable used to indicate whether a condition is true.	flag
A statement like global that tells the interpreter something about a variable.	declaration
An immutable sequence of elements.	tuple
An assignment with a sequence on the right side and a tuple of variables on the left. The right side is evaluated and then its elements are assigned to the variables on the left.	tuple assignment:
The operation of assembling a variable-length argument tuple.	gather
The operation of treating a sequence as a list of arguments.	scatter
The result of calling a built-in function zip; an object that iterates through a sequence of tuples.	zip object:
An object that can iterate through a sequence, but which does not provide list operators and methods	iterator
A collection of related values, often organized in lists, dictionaries, tuples, etc.	data structure:
An error caused because a value has the wrong shape; that is, the wrong type or size	shape error:
Pertaining to a program that does the same thing each time it runs, given the same inputs.	deterministic
Pertaining to a sequence of numbers that appears to be random, but is generated by a deterministic program.	pseudorandom
The value given to an optional parameter if no argument is provided.	default value:
To replace a default value with an argument.	override
The process of choosing between data structures by implementing alternatives and testing them on a sample of the possible inputs	benchmarking
Debugging by explaining your problem to an inanimate object such as a rubber duck. Articulating the problem can help you solve it, even if the rubber duck doesn’t know Python.	rubber duck debugging:
Pertaining to a program that runs indefinitely and keeps at least some of its data in permanent storage.	persistent:
An operator, %, that takes a format string and a tuple and generates a string that includes the elements of the tuple formatted as specified by the format string.	format operator:
A string, used with the format operator, that contains format sequences.	format string:
A sequence of characters in a format string, like %d, that specifies how a value should be formatted.	format sequence:
A sequence of characters stored in permanent storage like a hard drive.	text file:
A named collection of files, also called a folder.	directory:
A string that identifies a file.	path:
A path that starts from the current directory.	relative path:
A path that starts from the topmost directory in the file system.	absolute path:
To prevent an exception from terminating a program using the try and except statements.	catch:
: A file whose contents are organized like a dictionary with keys that correspond to values.	database
An object similar to a string.	bytes object:
A program that allows users to type commands and then executes them by starting other programs.	shell:
An object that represents a running program, allowing a Python program to run commands and read the results.	pipe object:
A programmer-defined type. A class definition creates a new class object.	class:
: An object that contains information about a programmer-defined type. The class object can be used to create instances of the type.	class object
An object that belongs to a class.	instance:
To create a new object.	instantiate:
: One of the named values associated with an object.	attribute
An object that is stored as an attribute of another object.	embedded object:
To copy the contents of an object, including any references to embedded objects; implemented by the copy function in the copy module.	shallow copy:
To copy the contents of an object as well as any embedded objects, and any objects embedded in them, and so on; implemented by the deepcopy function in the copy module.	deep copy:
A diagram that shows objects, their attributes, and the values of the attributes	object diagram:
A development plan that involves writing a rough draft of a program, testing, and correcting errors as they are found.	prototype and patch:
A development plan that involves high-level insight into the problem and more planning than incremental development or prototype development.	designed development:
A function that does not modify any of the objects it receives as arguments. Most pure functions are fruitful.	pure function:
A function that changes one or more of the objects it receives as arguments. Most modifiers are void; that is, they return None.	modifier:
A style of program design in which the majority of functions are pure.	functional programming style:
A condition that should always be true during the execution of a program.	invariant:
A statement that check a condition and raises an exception if it fails	assert statement:
A language that provides features, such as programmer defined types and methods, that facilitate object-oriented programming.	object-oriented language:
A style of programming in which data and the operations that manipulate it are organized into classes and methods.	object-oriented programming:
A function that is defined inside a class definition and is invoked on instances of that class.	method:
The object a method is invoked on.	subject:
An argument that does not include a parameter name, so it is not a keyword argument.	positional argument:
Changing the behavior of an operator like + so it works with a programmer-defined type.	operator overloading:

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Programming Fundamentals Flashcards

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	Created by Lilith Rayne-Martin about 7 years ago