CSA Unit 1 Vocab

Software Engineer

A person who designs, develops, and tests software for home, school, and business use.

Class Header

Consists of the class keyword and the name of the class.

Source Code

A collection of programming commands.

Syntax

The rules for how a programmer must write code for a computer to understand.

Comment

A text note that is ignored by the compiler to explain or annotate the code.

Syntax Error

A mistake in the code that does not follow a programming language's syntax.

Object-Oriented Programming (OOP)

An approach to creating and using models of physical or imagined objects.

Class

A programmer-defined blueprint from which objects are created.

Object

An instance of a class.

Attribute

A characteristic of an object.

Behavior

An action that an object can perform.

Constructor

A block of code that has the same name as the class and tells the computer how to create a new object.

Instantiate

To call the constructor to create an object.

Method

A named set of instructions to perform a task.

Dot Operator

Used to call a method in a class.

Parameter

Defines the type of value to receive when a method or constructor is called.

Argument

The specific value provided when a method or constructor is called.

String Literal

A sequence of characters enclosed in quotation marks (" ").

Algorithm

A finite set of instructions that accomplish a task.

Iteration Statement

A control structure that repeatedly executes a block of code.

Condition

Determines whether or not to execute a block of code.

Inheritance

An object-oriented programming principle where a subclass inherits the attributes and behaviors of a superclass.

Superclass

A class that can be extended to create subclasses.

Subclass

A class that extends a superclass and inherits its attributes and behaviors.

Tester Class

The class that contains the main method and from where the program starts running.

Method Signature

Consists of a name and parameter list.

Return Type

The value returned before a method completes its execution and exits.

Return

To exit a method and go back to the point in the program that called it with the requested value or information.

Void

Specifies that a method should not have a return value.

Programming Style

A set of guidelines and best practices for formatting program code.

Documentation

Written descriptions of the purpose and functionality of code.

Commit

An operation which saves the latest changes of the code and represents a snapshot of a project.

Code Review

The process of examining code and providing feedback to improve the quality and functionality of the program.

Selection Statement

A statement that only executes when a condition is true.

Variable

A container that stores a value in memory.

Data Type

The format of the data that can be stored in a variable.

Declaration

Giving a name and data type to a variable.

Assignment

Using the assignment operator (=) to initialize or change the value stored in a variable.

Decomposition

The process of breaking a problem down into smaller parts to write methods for each part.

Efficient

Getting the best outcome with the least amount of waste.

Redundant Code

Code that is unnecessary.

Pseudocode

A plain language description of the steps in an algorithm.

Two-Way Selection Statement

Specifies a block of code to execute when the condition is true and a block of code to execute when the condition is false.

Logical Operator

An operator that returns a Boolean value.