College Placement and Coding Readiness: Penn Highlands ACCUPLACER and South Hills Foundations

Vocabulary flashcards covering academic placement concepts for the Penn Highlands ACCUPLACER (reading, writing, arithmetic, and algebra) and technical programming competencies for South Hills Software Development & Programming readiness.

ACCUPLACER

An untimed college placement assessment used by Penn Highlands covering reading, writing/English, and mathematics, including Arithmetic, Quantitative Reasoning, Algebra & Statistics (QAS), and Advanced Algebra & Functions.

Concise

Brief while still communicating the needed information clearly.

Inference

A conclusion derived from reasoning and context rather than an explicitly stated fact.

Subject-Verb Agreement

A grammatical rule requiring the verb form to match the number of its subject (for example, the singular subject 'list' takes the singular verb 'is').

Difference of Squares

An algebraic factoring identity defined by the formula $a^2 - b^2 = (a - b)(a + b)$, used to factor binomials such as $x^2 - 9$ into $(x - 3)(x + 3)$.

Slope

The steepness or rate of change between two coordinates, calculated by dividing the vertical change by the horizontal change: $\frac{y_2 - y_1}{x_2 - x_1}$.

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

The computer hardware component that executes program instructions and performs core calculations.

Random Access Memory (RAM)

Temporary working memory that holds data and instructions being actively used by the computer.

Variable

A named storage location in a computer program used to hold a value.

Conditional Statement (if/else)

A programming control structure used to evaluate conditions and choose behavior based on whether a condition is true or false.

Loop

A control structure designed to repeat a block of instructions multiple times while a specified condition is met.

Function

A reusable block of instructions that performs a specific task and packages program behavior.

Algorithm

A step-by-step procedure for solving a problem or transforming inputs into desired outputs.

Binary Search

An efficient search algorithm for sorted datasets that repeatedly divides the search range in half to find a target value.

Database Table

A structured set of data organized into horizontal rows (records) and vertical columns (fields).

Unique Identifier (Key)

A database field, such as a Customer ID, that uniquely distinguishes each individual record in a table even when other values repeat.

HTML (HyperText Markup Language)

The standard language used primarily to describe and structure web-page content.

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)

A web technology that controls the visual presentation and layout of web pages.

JavaScript

A programming language commonly used to add interactive behavior and dynamic functionality to web pages.

Debugging

The systematic process of reproducing, isolating, identifying, and correcting bugs or errors in software code.

Version Control (e.g., Git)

A software tool used to track changes to code, maintain revision history, facilitate safe collaboration, and recover earlier project states.

Software Development Life Cycle

The multi-step process of engineering software: requirements $\rightarrow$ design $\rightarrow$ code $\rightarrow$ test $\rightarrow$ debug $\rightarrow$ revise $\rightarrow$ deliver/maintain.

Array

A numbered, indexed collection of data elements starting at index $0$ (for example, indices $0$ through $7$ contain $8$ total elements).

Binary Number System

A base-$2$ numerical system using $0$ and $1$; for example, binary $1010$ represents the decimal value $10$ through the place-value sum $1 \times 8 + 0 \times 4 + 1 \times 2 + 0 \times 1 = 10$.

Phishing

A social engineering attack where urgent messages containing unfamiliar links prompt users to reveal sensitive credentials such as passwords.

Software Development and Programming (AST)

A South Hills degree program emphasizing application development, programming, databases, web development, data structures and algorithms, object-oriented programming, version control, quality testing, and a $12$-week internship.