CSC1001: Introduction to Computer Science - Programming Methodology

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering computer architecture, number representation, Python basics, flow control, functions, string methods, file handling, and core data collections (lists, dictionaries, and tuples).

Von Neumann Architecture

A theoretical computer architecture proposed by John Von Neumann that outlines the modern computer structure consisting of a Central Processing Unit (containing a Control Unit and an Arithmetic/Logic Unit), a Memory Unit, Input Devices, and Output Devices.

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

The primary hardware component that executes instructions and coordinates computation within a computer, containing both a Control Unit (CU) and an Arithmetic/Logic Unit (ALU).

Control Unit (CU)

A sub-unit of the CPU responsible for fetching commands and instructions from memory.

Arithmetic/Logic Unit (ALU)

A sub-unit of the CPU containing electrical circuits and adders that execute commands and perform arithmetic and logic calculations following binary rules.

Main Memory (RAM)

Fast, volatile primary internal memory that temporarily holds actively running programs and their immediate data, losing its contents when electrical power is lost.

Secondary Storage

Persistent, non-volatile storage hardware (such as hard disk drives [HDDs] and solid-state drives [SSDs]) that retains files and installed programs even when the power is turned off.

Positional Notation

A method of representing numbers using a base and a fixed set of symbols where each digit represents a positional value multiplied by a base weight ($N = \sum a_i \times \text{base}^i$).

Assembler

A utility program that converts low-level assembly language code, which has a direct one-to-one correspondence with architecture-specific machine instructions, into executable binary machine code.

Operating System (OS)

A low-level system program that provides fundamental services to manage computer activities, allocate system resources, monitor processes, and schedule operations (e.g., Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android).

Logic-Inspired Approach to Intelligence

A computing paradigm emphasizing that the essence of intelligence is reasoning, accomplished by using symbolic rules to manipulate symbolic expressions, prioritizing knowledge representation over learning.

Biologically-Inspired Approach to Intelligence

A computing paradigm emphasizing that the essence of intelligence is learning connection strengths within a neural network, prioritizing understanding learning mechanisms before reasoning.

Compiler

A program that translates an entire program written in a source programming language into a target language or permanent machine/object code file before execution.

Interpreter

A program that translates and executes source code instructions on the fly during runtime line-by-line without pre-compiling into permanent machine code.

Bytecode

An intermediate, optimized instruction set generated by compilers like CPython that is executed on the fly by an internal virtual machine rather than compiling directly to native machine instructions.

Variable

A named location in memory determined by programmers that stores data which can later be retrieved and modified during program execution.

Reserved Words

Predefined words in Python syntax (such as def, if, else, while, for, in, try, except, return, True, False, None) that carry dedicated syntactic meanings and cannot be used as variable names.

Floor Division (//)

An arithmetic operator that divides two operands and rounds the mathematical quotient down to the nearest integer (for example, $143 // 25$ yields $5$, while $143.4 // 25$ yields $5.0$).

divmod()

A built-in Python function that takes two numbers and returns a tuple containing their quotient from floor division and their remainder ($\text{quotient}, \text{remainder}$).

Simultaneous Assignment

A syntax pattern allowing multiple variables to be assigned values at the same time in a single statement, such as swapping variables via $c, o = o, c$.

Augmented Assignment

A shortcut assignment syntax combining a binary operation with variable reassignment, having the general structure = (e.g., $x \mathrel{+}= 7$ is equivalent to $x = x + 7$).

eval()

A built-in Python function that accepts a string argument, parses it, and executes it dynamically as a Python expression, returning the evaluated outcome.

George Boole

English mathematician (1815–1864) who invented mathematical logic and made significant contributions to differential and difference equations, establishing the foundations of Boolean logic.

Boolean Type

A built-in Python data type consisting strictly of two logical values: True and False. Numeric $0$ and empty sequences evaluate to False, while non-zero numbers evaluate to True.

Comparison Operators

Operators (including $==$, $!=$, $<$, $<=$, $>$, and $>=$) that evaluate expressions to produce a True or False outcome without altering the operands' values.

Indentation

Leading whitespace used in Python to define code block structures and scope, increased after a colon (:) following statements such as if, for, while, or def, and decreased to terminate a block.

try / except Structure

An error-handling control flow structure where potentially error-prone code is placed within the try block; if an error occurs, execution jumps safely into the except block without crashing the program.

Indefinite Loop

A loop constructed with a while statement that executes repeatedly as long as a logical condition evaluates to True, running an unpredictable number of times until the condition becomes False.

Definite Loop

A loop constructed with a for statement that iterates explicitly through all members of an ordered sequence or set a predictable, predetermined number of times.

break Statement

A loop control statement that immediately terminates the active loop and jumps execution directly to the statement following the loop body.

continue Statement

A loop control statement that terminates the current iteration immediately and jumps directly to the beginning of the next iteration.

is Operator

A logical identity operator that tests whether two variables point to the exact same object in memory, representing a stronger condition than equality ($==$).

Function

A named, reusable block of code defined using the def keyword that accepts input arguments, executes instructions, and optionally passes back a result using a return statement.

Parameter vs Argument

A parameter is a variable identifier listed in the function definition header that acts as a handle; an argument is the real value passed to the function when it is invoked.

Fruitful Function

A function that computes a result and uses an explicit return statement to pass that calculated value back to the caller expression.

Local Variable vs Global Variable

A local variable is defined inside a function and can only be accessed within that function's scope; a global variable is defined outside all functions and can be read across the program, or modified inside functions using the global keyword.

Immutable Object

A data type whose contents cannot be modified in-place after instantiation (such as Python strings and tuples); any modification requires generating an entirely new object.

Mutable Object

A data type whose contents and internal elements can be modified in place without changing its identity in memory (such as Python lists and dictionaries).

String Slicing

Extracting a subset of a string using the slice syntax s[start:stop:step], which includes the character at start up to, but not including, the character at stop.

File Handle

A file object returned by the open() function that acts as a pointer and interface to perform reading, writing, or seeking operations on persistent storage files.

Newline Character (\n)

A special single character used in text files and strings to mark the termination of one line and the beginning of another.

List

A mutable, ordered sequence of items surrounded by square brackets ([]) where elements are indexed positionally beginning at index $0$.

Dictionary

A mutable, unordered collection of key-value pairs surrounded by curly braces ({}) that allows fast retrieval of values using unique lookup keys rather than numeric indices.

get() Method (Dictionary)

A dictionary method that takes a lookup key and a fallback default value, returning the key's value if present or the default value if the key does not exist, avoiding a KeyError.

Tuple

An immutable ordered sequence of values enclosed in parentheses (()) that is indexed positionally from $0$ and offers greater memory efficiency and speed than a list.

Double Split Pattern

A string-parsing pattern where split() is first called on a line of text to isolate a specific token, and split() is called again on that isolated piece with a different delimiter to extract desired data.