Computer Programming Concepts: Pair Programming, Control Structures, and Development Processes

Pair Programming

A software development approach where two programmers work together at one workstation.

Program

A set of instructions that a computer can execute to perform a specific task.

Code Segment

A block or section of code in a computer program.

Behavior of a Program

How a program functions during execution and the results it produces.

Event

An action or occurrence, such as a mouse click or key press, that is recognized by a program.

Program Documentation

Written text or illustrations that accompany computer software or are embedded in the source code, explaining how the program works.

Comments

Programmer-readable explanations or annotations in the source code of a computer program that are ignored by the compiler or interpreter.

Iterative Development Process

A software development process that develops a system through repeated cycles (iterations) and in smaller portions at a time.

Incremental Development Process

A software development process where requirements are broken down into multiple standalone modules of the software development cycle.

Program Inputs

Data that is given to a computer program for processing.

Program Outputs

Data that a computer program produces as a result of processing.

Variable

A storage location paired with an associated symbolic name, which contains some known or unknown quantity of information referred to as a value.

Conditional Statements or If-Statements

A feature of a programming language that performs different computations or actions depending on whether a programmer-specified Boolean condition evaluates to true or false.

Boolean Value

A data type that has one of two possible values, typically denoted as true or false.

Nested Conditional Statements

A conditional statement that is placed inside another conditional statement.

Iteration Statements

A statement that causes a set of instructions to be executed repeatedly until a certain condition is met. Also known as a loop.

Procedure

A named sequence of statements or instructions that performs a specific task. Also known as a function or subroutine.

Parameters

Variables listed as part of a procedure's definition that are used to accept input values.

Arguments

The actual values that are passed to a procedure when it is called.