Computer Programming Basics: Keywords, Commands, and Syntax

base 16

hexadecimal

a few basic commands which the computer can execute directly

machine code

Interactive Development Environment

IDE

Do one small thing that the problem requires; Test it; If it does not work, fix it and go back to step 2; If it does work, then go back to step 1

successive refinement

a process which tries every possible combination to produce a result

brute force algorithm

a step-by-step process which is guaranteed to produce a specific result

algorithm

symbols which are easier to read and interpret than machine code

mnemonics

Example of a high-level language

FORTRAN

what symbols are allowed, and in what kinds of combinations

syntax

what the symbols mean in certain combinations and contexts

semantics

a piece of software (a program) that converts a program specified in a text file (called the source code) into something that can be run on a computer

compiler

a tool that reads and executes code line-by-line

interpreter

command to display some text on the computer screen

print

assignment operator

=

marks that surround a string of characters

quotation marks

command to get a value from the user

input

display what the user typed in

echo

a (usually) unseen marker which tells the program where to write the next output character

cursor

causes the cursor to move to the next line

newline character

var1 = 5; var2 = 3; var3 = 4; var4 = 2; var5 = var1 - var2 + var3 * var4; print(var5)

11

What is a prompt?

The text that precedes a user input

Why is it important to move the cursor?

If we don't, all output will be on one line, which will look weird

special characters

escape sequences

includes less common characters such as Greek letters, specialized math symbols, etc

extended character set

converting data into the input into another data type

type casting

format an integer

%d

any series of characters which are used primarily to format output

padding

\n

newline

using a plus sign when printing character strings

concatenation

adding spaces to make output line up

padding

assignment operator

=

marks that surround a string of characters

quotation marks

command to get a value from the user

input

a (usually) unseen marker which tells the program where to write the next output character

cursor

What is the output of the following code if the input is 7? No output

What is the output of the following code if the input is "CMPSC 101"?

CMPSC 101 rules!

var1 = 11; var2 = 11.11; var3 = 42; var4 = int(var2/var2); var5 = int(var4)/3; var6 = int(var5)/1; print(var1, var2, var3, var4, var5, var6)

11 11.11 42 1 0 0.0

Var1 = 10; Var2 = 3; result = Var1 / Var2; print(result)

3.333

Var1 = 10; Var2 = 3; total = Var1 // Var2 + Var1 % Var2

4