Fundamentals of Programming Concepts and Techniques

Coding

giving commands to a computer

Precondition

what must be true before a function is called

Postcondition

what should be true after a function is called

Decomposition

breaking code down into smaller parts that are easy to understand

Top Down Design

breaking down a problem into smaller problems

Comment

text used to help another reader understand the code in a program

Abstraction

to reduce complexity Ex: Creating a function

API (Application Programming Interface)

a set of tool for building software (program)

Bug

a mistake in a program

Conditional

a statement that returns a true or false answer

Syntax

the rules of a programming language

Debugging

searching for syntax errors

Algorithm

a step by step set of instructions to solve a problem

Iteration

a specified number of repetitions

Program Quality

the quality of a program is based on its level of efficiency and clarity

Pseudocode

writing out our algorithm in English-like code to help us figure out how to write the program

Parameter

an input into a function

Control Structures

a block of code that determines the flow of execution based on, certain conditions Ex: if statement, if-else statement, for loop, and while loop

Programming Language

instructions given to a computer Ex: Python, Java, JavaScript, BASIC, Ruby, Perl, C, C++

Compiler

a special program that converts a computer program into binary machine code

Program

a set of executable algorithms written using a programming language

Variable

something that stores information in a program so that it can be used later

String

a variable type that consists of text, abbreviated str

Integer

a variable type that consists of a positive or negative whole number, abbreviated int

Float

a variable type that consists of a decimal, abbreviated float

Variable Type

a variable value that is a string (text), integer, or float (decimal)

Assignment Statement

a line of code that assigned a value to a variable

Concatenation

the operation of combining two or more strings or sequences into a single string or sequence

Input function

a function that prints a prompt and retrieves text from the user

Function composition

nesting of functions that are evaluated from inside out Ex: number = int(input("Number: "))

Mathematical Operators

operators that apply operations on numeric values Ex: + Add, - Subtraction, x Multiplication, / Divide, ** Exponentiation, % Modulus (Remainder), - Negation

Canvas

the visual output area of a program. The coordinate system is applied to it with (0,0) being the top left point. Positive x-values move to the right of the canvas and positive y-values move down the canvas.

Mouse Event

when a user clicks or moves a mouse

Callback Function

a function that gets called by your program in response to some event

Boolean

a variable type where something can be True or False

Logical Operators

allow one to connect and modify Boolean expressions

Comparison Operators

allow values to be compared

One equal sign

Mathematical Operator that is used to assign a value to a variable. Ex: my_number = 5

Two equal signs

Mathematical Operator that is used to compare values or variables. Ex: if my_number == guess_number

if statement

a programming construct that allows a program to behave differently, depending on circumstances

Key Event

when the user does something with the keyboard, like pushing down a key or releasing a key

for loop

a programming construct that allow you to execute code a predetermined number of times

while loop

a programming construct that allows you to repeatedly check a condition and execute code

Function

code that allows a program to be broken into smaller parts and makes it easier to understand

Return Value

the value that a function returns to the caller when the function is executed

Namespace

the collection of variable names that exist at a certain point in your code

Scope

the place where a variable exists within a program

Exceptions

Runtime errors in a program. By default, they stop the program.

try and except

a programming construct that can be used to gracefully handle exceptions so that a program can continue in spite of them

Data Structures

programming tools used for organizing and accessing different types of data efficiently

Tuples

a heterogenous, immutable (unchangeable) data type that stores an ordered sequence of things Ex: my_tuple = (1, "a", 5)

Lists

a heterogenous, mutable (changeable) data type that stores an ordered sequence of things Ex: my_list = [1, 4, 7, 10]

Concatenate

to link together

Index

the position of an element in a tuple or list. The first element has an index of 0. Ex: my_list[0] is 1, my_list[1] is 4, my_list[2] is 7, and my_list[3] is 10.

Simulation

a program that simulates some real-world situation

Data Abstraction

The process of simplifying complicated data into manageable chunks

Encoding

the process of converting data from one format to another

Decimal Number System

a base 10 number system that has 10 digits, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9

Binary Number System

a base 2 number system that has only two digits, 0 and 1

Hexadecimal Number System

a base 16 number system with 10 digits and 6 letters, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F

Bit

a binary digit, a 0 or 1

Bits and Values

1 bit -> 2^1= 2 possible values; 3 bits -> 2^3= 8 possible values; n bits -> 2^n possible values

Pixels

the building blocks of digital images that is the smallest element of a digital image

RGB Color Encoding

each pixel is encoded with a certain amount of the colors red, green, and blue, using numeric data in tuple. Each color receives a value in the range 0-255, which means that each color can be represented by 24 bits, 8 bits for each of the three color channel values

The Internet

a global system of computer networks that allows people to communicate, work together, share information, and so much more

Network

a group of two or more computer systems linked together

Bandwidth

the maximum possible bitrate of a connection

Bitrate

how many bits per second a connection upload or download

Latency

the time it takes for data to travel to and from another computer

IP Address

a unique address assigned to a device that uses the internet Ex: 93.184.216.34

Uniform Resource Locator (URL)

the location of a resource on the internet, which consists of a domain and path

Domain Name System (DNS)

a system that translates easy-to-type names into IP addresses

Routing

the process of sending data between two computers using a particular route through a sequence of routers

Redundancy

multiple paths that exist between two points, which create a fault tolerant system

Packets

the units of data that are sent over the internet

Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP)

a protocol that standardizes the language for talking to web servers to send and receive web resources

Distributed Denial of Service Attack

making a web server crash by spamming it with many requests (DDoS)

DNS Spoofing

feeding a computer the wrong IP address to a false website

Phishing

an email from a somewhat familiar address requesting for you to click on a link

Good Security Protocols

Use strong password and don't repeat password between websites; Install security updates; Think twice before clicking a link or installing a program

Types of Copyright Licenses

All rights reserved; Some rights reserved; Public domain

data

information (number, words, measurements, observations, ect) that is in a computer readable form

metadata

data about data (ex book’s meta data title, author, publisher, copyright data, table of contents.)

data visualization

using charts, graphs or images to visualize complex data

ways to collect data

surveys, sensors, transactions data from credit cards, websites storing information about you, crowdsourcing

survey vs crowdsourcing

survey administrators can control the direction of the feedback whereas crowdsourcing is more open ended

data sanitation

throwing out data that is not well formatted

cookie

small blocks of data created by a web server while a user is browsing a website, which allows the website to track, personalize, save information about each user

misleading visualization

truncated y axis: not starting from 0, omitting data: leading out data points to make points a fake trend, breaking conventions to trick the viewer

navigator

one of the role for pair programing that consists of reviewing the code and thinking of strategic alternatives

asynchronous input

the user is prompted for an input on the console and not form a pop up window EX:async function userChoice(){}