Computer Programming Exam 1 Review

Computer Programming

detailed, step by step set of instructions telling a computer exactly what to do

Software

programs

Hardware

the physical machine

Anaylsis

process of examining algorithms and problems mathematically

CPU only accesses information stored where?

main memory (RAM or random access memory)

What type of memory does not hold storage when it loses power

Main Memory

Humans & Computers interaction through what?

input/output devices

Examples of input/output devices

keyboard, mouse, microphone, etc.

Operating Software

suite of software that controls the various hardware resources of a computer

Examples of operating software

Windows, mac OS, Linux

Bootstrap Loader

small program that is initially loaded into RAM when the computer is first turned on or restarted

Syntax

programming languages ‘precise form’ / grammar

Semantics

it’s precise meaning

Compiler

complex computer program that takes another program written in high level language and translates it into an equivalent program in the machine language of the same computer

Source Code

the high-level program

Interpreter

program that stimulates a computer that understands high level language

High level languages are more…

portable

What are needed every time in interpreting

the interpreter and the source code

Advantages of interpreters

more flexible programming and can be run interactively

Compiling is…

one shot translation

Advantages of compiling

can be run over and over again without repeated need for a compiler or source code, it’s also faster

print()

prints a blank line

fn+f5 automatically….

runs a function

What are the parts of the process of writing code?

Analyze the problem, determine specifications, create a design, implement the design, test/debug, and maintain

Analyze the problem

What are we trying to solve?

Determine the specifications

What will our program accomplish?

Create a design

Figure out the overall design of your program

Implement the design

Turn the design into computer language

Test/Debug

Find errors and fix them

Maintain

develop for the needs of your user

Names

must begin with “_” or a letter, no spaces, case sensitive, cannot use python keywords

Examples of python keywords

False, True, await, else, is, or, not, etc.

Expressions

fragments of code that produce or calculate new data values

Literal expressions

used to indicate a specific value

String Expressions

a sequence of printable characters (“ “)

Evaluation

turning an expression into an underlying data type

Operators

+, -, * , /, //, **, %

Concatenation

adding strings together

/n

new line

Evaluate an identifier numerically

eval()

commas

add spaces

Functions

objects that take inputs and return outputs

functions have…

parameters

end = “ “

Will end code on the same line

Assigning a literal to an identifier is as easy as…

setting the two equal

%

Modules. The remainder left over, ex. 5%2 = 1

//

Integer division. ex. 5//2 = 2

type()

tells you whether something is an int, a float, or a string

int

tells the reader that the value cannot be a fraction

float type

can only represent approximations to real numbers, includes decimals

operations on floats produce…

floats

operations on ints produce…

ints

int()..

truncates

round(x, y)

x = number, y= number of decimal points rounded to, it can be negative

Computer stores floats in…

binary

typecast

converting int, float, and str into int, float, or str

Object oriented

a sort of active data type that combines both data and operations

AKA Objects…

know stuff and do stuff

Opening a graphics window

win = GraphWin(“x”,y,z) where x = name of the window, and y and z are the size

win.close()

closes the window

GraphWin is by default what size?

200 × 200 pixels

__.draw(win)

draws the object

Class

describes the properties the instance (object) will have

Constructor

an expression that creates a brand new object

Methods

the set of messages that an object responds to

Accessor Methods

allows you to get information from the instance variables

Examples of accessor methods

p.getX(), p.getY()

Mutator Methods

methods that change the state of an object

Example of mutator methods

move()

Aliasing

when two different variables refer to exactly the same object and changes that are made to one variable also occur on the others

duplicates an object

_.clone()

set coordinates

win.setCoods( , , , )

Initially, (0,0) is where

Top left hand corner

API

Applications Programming Interface

what does autoflush=False do?

turns off automatic updating of a window

What question does computer science answer?

What can be computed?

Real-world chaotic behavior example

butterfly effect - computer models used to simulate and predict weather patterns are so sensitive that the effect of a single butterfly flapping its wing may make a difference

Location (address)

a string of numbers and letters, the place in a computer memory where this function’s definition is stored

Difference between high-level computing language and a low level one

high level is more portable

IPO

input, process, output

Garbage collection in python

Python automatically takes values that are no longer referred to by any variable and clears them out of the memory, opening space for new values

Accumulator

an accumulator is an algorithmic pattern that keeps track of the running total while doing repeated calculations

How does python deal with large integers

A python integer is not a fixed size and expands to accommodate the value it holds and as an integer value gets bigger, Python automatically converts to a representation using more bits