NCSE201: Computer Programming with C++ Flashcards

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering Units 1 through 5 of the NCSE201 Computer Programming with C++ course, including OOP principles, inheritance, polymorphism, exception handling, and STL.

C++

A general-purpose programming language developed by Bjarne Stroustrup as an extension of the C programming language, combining procedural, object-oriented, and generic programming.

Class

A blueprint used to create objects that allows developers to model real-world entities.

Object

An instance of a class containing data and functions.

Encapsulation

One of the four pillars of OOP involving the wrapping of data and functions together into a single unit called a class.

Inheritance

One of the four pillars of OOP allowing a new class to acquire properties and behaviors from an existing class.

Polymorphism

One of the four pillars of OOP defined as "one interface, many forms," allowing a single function name or base-class pointer to perform different actions.

Abstraction

One of the four pillars of OOP focused on showing only essential details while hiding underlying complexity.

Using namespace std

A directive that allows direct access to standard library members without the $std::$ prefix.

cout

An object used for displaying output in C++.

cin

An object used for receiving input in C++.

Syntax Error

A violation of language rules, such as a missing semicolon, that prevents compilation.

Runtime Error

An error that occurs during program execution, such as division by zero ($x / y$ where $y = 0$).

Logical Error

An error where the program executes successfully but produces incorrect results, such as using $\text{area} = \text{length} + \text{breadth}$ instead of $\text{area} = \text{length} \times \text{breadth}$.

Data Binding

The association of data with methods inside a class.

Method Binding

The process of connecting a function call to the actual function code.

Public

An access specifier that makes class members accessible everywhere.

Private

An access specifier that makes class members accessible only inside the same class.

Protected

An access specifier that makes class members accessible inside the same class and its derived classes.

Base Class

The existing class being inherited from; also called a Parent Class or Super Class.

Derived Class

The class that inherits from another class; also called a Child Class or Sub Class.

IS-A Relationship

A relationship meaning a derived class is a specialized form of a base class, such as "Car IS-A Vehicle."

Single Inheritance

A type of inheritance where one child class inherits from exactly one parent class.

Multilevel Inheritance

An inheritance chain where a class inherits from a derived class, such as Animal $\rightarrow$ Mammal $\rightarrow$ Dog.

Hierarchical Inheritance

A type of inheritance where one parent class has multiple child classes.

Multiple Inheritance

A type where one child class inherits from multiple parent classes, such as a Professor inheriting from both Teacher and Researcher.

Hybrid Inheritance

A combination of two or more inheritance types, such as Hierarchical plus Multiple inheritance.

Static Polymorphism

Polymorphism resolved during compilation, also known as compile-time polymorphism or early binding (e.g., function overloading).

Dynamic Polymorphism

Polymorphism resolved during execution, also known as runtime polymorphism or late binding (e.g., virtual functions).

Function Overloading

A feature where multiple functions can have the same name if their parameter lists differ.

Operator Overloading

A feature that allows operators to work with user-defined objects, such as using $+$ to add complex numbers.

Method Overriding

Occurs when a derived class provides its own specific implementation of a method already present in the base class.

Virtual Functions

Functions that allow C++ to decide at runtime which version of a function should be executed based on the object type.

Pure Virtual Function

A function with no implementation in the base class, defined using the syntax $virtual\text{ void function()} = 0$, enforcing implementation in derived classes.

Abstract Class

A class containing at least one pure virtual function that cannot be instantiated and serves as a common interface.

Exception Handling

A mechanism used to handle runtime errors gracefully to prevent sudden program crashes.

try

A keyword used to define a block of code that may generate exceptions.

throw

A keyword used to generate an exception when an error is detected, transferring control to a catch block.

catch

A keyword used to define a block of code that handles an exception of a matching type.

Catch-All Handler

A handler using the syntax $catch(...)$ that can catch any type of exception.

Re-throwing

The process where a catch block passes its caught exception to another handler using the $throw;$ statement.

Templates

A feature used to write generic code where one implementation can work with multiple data types.

Generic Programming

A programming paradigm focused on writing algorithms and data structures independent of specific data types.

Template Specialization

Creating a specific version of a template for a particular data type that requires different behavior than the generic version.

STL

Standard Template Library; a collection of reusable template-based data structures and algorithms.

Iterators

Objects in the STL that behave like pointers and are used to traverse through containers.

Vector

An STL container implemented as a dynamic array providing fast random access.

List

An STL container implemented as a doubly linked list providing fast insertion and deletion.

Map

An STL associative container that stores unique key-value pairs.

Multimap

An STL associative container that allows multiple values per key (duplicate keys).