Python Programming - Objects and Turtle Graphics

Vocabulary flashcards covering software objects, object references, memory management, list assignment vs copying, and Python turtle graphics.

Software Object

The fundamental component of object-oriented programming in Python. An object contains attributes (data stored in instance variables) and behaviors (actions provided by methods).

Attributes

The properties or data that a software object knows or holds, which are stored in instance variables.

Behaviors

The actions that a software object can perform, which are defined through a set of functions called methods.

Dot Operator (.)

An operator used in object-oriented programming to select and access a member or method of a given object, such as calling names_list.sort().

Object Reference

A stored value that points to the specific location of an object in memory.

Dereferenced Value

The actual underlying value stored in memory that a reference points to.

id() Function

A built-in Python function that returns the reference value (memory address location) where an object is stored.

Garbage Collection

An automatic process in Python that determines which memory locations are no longer referenced by any variable and deallocates them.

Memory Deallocation

The process of changing a memory location's status from "currently in use" to "available for reuse."

Shallow Copy

A copy operation that duplicates the top level of a structure but leaves nested sublists or lower-level structures shared between the original and the new list.

List Constructor list()

A built-in constructor function that can be used to create a shallow copy of an existing list (e.g., list2 = list(list1)).

Deep Copy

A copy operation that creates a complete, independent copy of an entire list structure, including all nested sublists.

deepcopy() Method

A method provided by Python's standard copy module used to create a deep copy of a structure (e.g., list2 = copy.deepcopy(list1)).

Turtle Graphics

A system provided by the standard turtle library module in Python for controlling graphical entities ("turtles") on a screen with $(x, y)$ coordinates.

Default Turtle State

The initial state of a newly created turtle, positioned at the center coordinate $(0, 0)$ with an arrowhead shape and a heading pointing right at $0^°$.

Absolute Positioning

Moving a turtle directly to a specified $(x, y)$ coordinate on the screen using methods such as setposition(x, y).

Relative Positioning

Moving or turning a turtle relative to its current position and orientation using methods like forward(), left(), and right().

Turtle Heading

The orientation attribute of a turtle specified in degrees, where $0^°$ points right, $90^°$ points up, $180^°$ points left, and $270^°$ points down.

penup() and pendown() Methods

Pen attribute methods that determine whether a turtle draws lines as it moves (pendown()) or moves across the screen without drawing (penup()).

pensize() Method

A turtle method used to set the line width in pixels when drawing.

pencolor() Method

A turtle method used to select drawing line colors using color string names or RGB component values.

register_shape() Method

A turtle screen method used to register custom turtle shapes using a tuple of polygon coordinates or a .gif image file.

stamp() Method

A turtle method that imprints an image of the turtle's current shape onto the canvas at its present position.

speed() Method

A method used to set a turtle's movement speed using integers from $0$ to $10$ or descriptive strings like 'fastest' ($0$), 'fast' ($10$), 'normal' ($6$), 'slow' ($3$), and 'slowest' ($1$).

Turtle() Constructor

The constructor method used to instantiate new individual turtle objects, enabling multiple turtles to exist on screen concurrently.