APCSP.Review - Programming

Program

a set of computer instructions assembled to help create, analyze, understand, and/or solve problems or to automate a process

Incremental development

Creating different parts of a program at different times; gradually adding new features

Iterative development

Repeatedly following a defined series of steps when creating and modifying a program; the steps usually involve brainstorming (coming up with an idea), designing (determining the best approach for your idea), implementing (writing the code and incorporating it into the program), and testing (debugging).

Program documentation

the information that describes software to customers; it includes users manuals, technical documents, and online information

Program development

the process of creating and maintaining software applications; analyzing, designing, coding, debugging and testing, and implementing and maintaining

Collaborative development

two or more persons working together to create a program

Sequential execution

running the lines of code in the order that they appear without skipping or repeating

Program instructions

orders given to a computer processor by a computer program

Program execution

the process by which a computer performs the instructions of a computer program

Process

a behavior that uses memory, a central processing unit, input, and output that can execute alone or at the same time as other processes

Executable program

a type of computer file that runs a program when it is opened; usually has a .exe extension on the filename; as opposed to data files which need to be viewed or analyzed in a program

Procedure

named grouping of programming instructions code used to manage complexity or repeated code in a program

Parameter

an input to a procedure

Data abstraction

the process of creating a data type to limit the types of data that a program can use; example data types include integers, real numbers, Boolean, characters, alphanumeric strings, etc.

Strings (string operations)

a data type used in programming to represent text; it can also contain spaces and numbers

Substring

a part of a string; a method for extracting a portion of the text from a string

Concatenation

the operation of joining two or more strings together

List

an abstract data type that represents or contains multiple values, where the same value may occur more than once; may be sorted or unsorted

Application Program Interface (API)

a system of tools and resources in an operating system, enabling developers to create software applications

Self-identifying variables

giving variables a descriptive name so that anyone reading the code will easily understand the purpose of each variable

Debugging

locating and correcting code errors in a computer program; part of the program development cycle

Functionality

the usefulness of a program; what the program can do for the user

Arithmetic operators

a mathematical function that takes two operands and performs a calculation on them using addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, manipulations of percentages, square roots, exponentiation, modulus, and logarithmic functions.

Comparison operators

a method for comparing two values; includes >,

Logical operators

operators that combine multiple Boolean expressions or values and provide a single Boolean output; AND, OR, and NOT

Boolean algebra

the branch of mathematics used to analyze logic gates and circuits

Syntax

the spelling and grammar of a programming language; determines the proper structure of computer code