TSA Coding Practice Test 2023 Vocabulary

Flashcards covering terms, definitions, and concepts from the 2023 TSA Coding Practice Test, including Scratch, C programming, and general computer science hardware and software engineering principles.

Testing Phase

The phase of the software development life cycle that is the process of finding bugs or defects in the software.

Library

A source file already written containing ready-made functions.

Software Characteristics

It is developed or engineered rather than manufactured; it does not "wear out"; and it can be custom built.

Software

A combination of instructions, data structures, and documents.

Whitespace

A coding element generally omitted at the end of a line.

main

The name of the primary function in a C program.

Linux

An example of both an Operating System and Open Source Software.

1 MB

Represents a million bytes of information.

1 Terabyte (Tb)

Equivalent to $1,024\,Gb$.

For Loop

A control structure used when writing code that needs to execute a specific number of times, such as fifteen times.

Ctrl + V

The word processor command used to paste content.

$$\backslash n$$

The character used to make a line break on the screen.

Infinite Loop

A loop that never ends.

Control Structure

The rules for writing control flow statements like 'if-then-else,' 'case-switch,' 'while-until,' and 'for'.

Motherboard

A component that allows for crucial communications between the CPU, memory, and other peripherals.

$$\backslash r$$

The character that returns the cursor to the left of the screen.

Byte

A unit of digital information that commonly consists of $8$ bits.

Sprite

The name given to a character in Scratch.

Utility program

A type of systems software that performs tasks like merging records from two files into one.

Forever command block

A Scratch command that runs the script inside over and over.

CPU

Stands for Central Processing Unit.

Assembler

A low-level programming language for a computer or other programmable device.

String

A finite sequence of characters.

Machine Code

The only language that computers understand directly.

Software piracy

The term used for copying a computer program without taking permission from its writer.

RAM

A form of computer data storage that stores data and machine code currently being used; it is also the memory used when declaring a variable.

Function

A named sequence of statements.

Stage information

The box in Scratch used to change the background on the screen.

Underscore " _ "

A character not encouraged at the beginning of variable names to avoid conflicts with library routines.

Spam

Unsolicited email.

Backpack

The location where sprites and scripts are stored in a Scratch screen.

Software Engineering

A field whose main aim is to produce reliable and cost-effective software.

Loader

A type of system software that always resides in main memory.

Coordinates

Used to change the location of a sprite on the stage in Scratch.

Memory

The device where information is stored.

double

The data type capable of storing decimal values like $15.9635$.

Word processing

Software used if you need to create, edit, and print documents.

Process

A program in execution.

Compiler

The program that translates code from a high-level language to binary language.

Bug

The part of a program that does not work.

Costume

In Scratch, this term refers to a different way a sprite looks.

Script

The list of commands in Scratch.