AP CS Midterm Vocab

Sequential Programming

Programs that are executed once through, from start to finish in linear order.

Non-sequential Programming

A programming paradigm where programs can have multiple tasks being completed at once or out of linear order.

Procedural Abstraction

The ability to use methods and programs that we do not fully understand, or are unable to write.

Documentation

Written instructions detailing the functions, methods, and variables available and how to use them.

Control Structure

A structure lets us change the flow of the code.

Sequencing

Step by step execution of instructions in the order they are given.

Parameters

Pieces of information you can give to functions when you define them. The variable in the declaration of the function.

Arithmetic Operators

include + addition, - subtraction, * multiplication, ÷ division, and % modulus. These operators are used to perform basic mathematical tasks.

Concatenate

Adding two strings together using the "+" operator.

Variable

A symbol or container that holds a value.

Iteration

Repetition of instructions a specified number of times, or until a condition is met.

Algorithm

A set of steps or rules to follow to solve a particular problem.

Function

like a command that you get to invent and name. It allows us to break our program into smaller parts, making the program easier to understand.

If Else Statement

Control structure that lets us run either one section of code or another depending on a test.

Continue

Rejects all the remaining statements in the current iteration of the loop and moves the control back to the top of the loop to continue to the next iteration. Can be used in both while and for loops.

Break

Exits the current loop and resumes execution at the next statement.

While Loop

Lets us repeat code as long as something is true.

For Loop

Lets us repeat code a fixed number of times.

Else statement

Executes code only if all conditions are false

If Statement

Lets you ask a question to the program and only run code if the answer is true.

Comparison Operator

Used to make comparisons between values. Examples <, >, <= etc

Logical Operators

Used to make associations between boolean values.  Examples: And, Or & Not.

Type Conversion

The process of converting the value of one data type (integer, string, float, etc.) to another data type.

Callback Function

A function passed as a parameter to another function in order to be called later.

Event

An action (such as clicking the mouse or pressing a key on the keyboard) that a program detects and uses as input.

Return

Exits a function, optionally passing back an expression to the caller. A ______ statement with no arguments is the same as _____ None.

Scope

In what part of the program the variable exists

Namespaces

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

Application Programming Interfaces

Simplify complex programming tasks by providing sets of clearly defined methods of communication among various computing components.

Local Variable

A variable that is restricted to use in a certain scope of a program.

Exceptions

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

Try and Except

Programming constructs that can be used to gracefully handle exceptions so that a program can continue in spite of them.

Immutable

Unable to change. If you take a substring of a tuple, or concatenate something to a tuple, the result is a brand new tuple, rather than a modification of the original.

Data Structure

A particular way of organizing data in our programs.

Tuple

A heterogenous, immutable data type that stores an ordered sequence of things.

Heterogeneous

The items stored can be of any type: numeric, string, boolean, etc.

List

A heterogenous, mutable data type that stores an ordered sequence of things.

Mutable

When something is changeable or has the ability to change.

join()

This method takes all items in a collection and joins them into one string

List Indexing

 Accessing certain elements in a list

count()

A method that counts occurrences of specific items in a list.

append()

Add a particular item to the end of a list.

extend()

Takes a list as an argument and extends the current list with the list given as an argument.

sort()

sorts the list in ascending order by default.

reverse()

reverses the sorting order of the elements.

remove()

removes the first occurrence of the element with the specified value.