Comp Sci 11/24

Persist data

to save data in a way that remains intact and accessible even after the power to the system is turned off

local database

a storage space on a device used to store information from an app

database

a structured set of data held in a computer, especially one that is accessible in various ways

index

a specific location by order for an individual element in a list. The position of an item in a list is often called its index. In MIT App Inventor, the first item in a list has an index of 1, the second has an index of 2, and so on. In Python, the first index is represented by 0. The plural form is indices.

API

specifications for how the procedures in a library behave and can be used

hacking

the act of exploiting technical vulnerabilities in a computer system or network to gain unauthorized access, often to steal or manipulate data

authorized hacking

ethically testing a system to find and fix weaknesses

endpoint

a physical device that connects to a network and serves as the point where data is exchanged

algorithms

a set of steps to accomplish a specific task. An algorithm can be expressed in many kinds of notation, such as programming or natural language, pseudocode, and flowcharts. Algorithms are essential to the way computers process data because they contain the specific instructions for what a computer or program does.

POST

an HTTP method that accepts data from the client, such as posting a comment on a website. This method is used any time the state of the server will be changed.

GET

an HTTP command to retrieve data from a server, an FTP command to download a file, or a programming request to get the next record from an input file

increment

a loop that changes the value of a count by a certain amount every time an event occurs

Turing Award

the A.M. Turing Award, sometimes referred to as the "Nobel Prize of Computing," named in honor of Alan Mathison Turing (1912–1954), a British mathematician and computer scientist. This award is given annually for contributions of lasting and major importance to the computer science field.

procedural abstraction

the process of applying or using a procedure and only knowing what the procedure does, without knowing how it does it

usability

how easy it is for a user to use an app without any explanation outside of the app

Abstraction

a technique or process that manages complexity in a program or computer system. Abstraction "hides" details or removes duplication, allowing the programmer to focus on high

decompose

a computer science technique for breaking down a large, complex problem or system into smaller, more manageable sub

procedure

to direct a program to execute or reference a certain procedure. A procedure is a subroutine that is stored only once but can be called many times in a program to execute when needed.

function

in programming, a named section of a program that performs a specific task. A function is a block of organized and reusable code that performs a single action. A function can be a procedure or a subroutine. In a sense, many of the blocks in MIT App Inventor can be thought of as functions.

method

a predefined set of instructions that can be used to accomplish a task. It is available on a specific object.

modulo

a mathematical operator that performs division but returns the remainder