Coding Terms

coding

telling a computer what to do

command

a specific action for the computer to perform

sequence

the order in which the commands are given

bug

an error in your code

debugging

the process of identifying and fixing the error

function

a collection of commands grouped together and given a name. The set of commands can then be run with just the name of the function whenever the set is needed.

for loop

runs a block of code over and over for a set number of times

condition

something you test that results in true or false

conditional code

a block of code that will run only if something is true.

Boolean

a value that can only be either true or false

logical operator

a symbol or word like "and," "or," and "not" that connects two or more Booleans to make conditional decisions more specific

&&

AND

II

OR

!

NOT

composition

the process of combining small parts of a program to solve a larger problem

while loop

a loop that runs a block of code as long as a given condition is true. When the condition is false, the loop stops running.

algorithm

a step-by-step set of rules or instruction

pseudocode

an informal description of code or a concept that's intended for human reading

variable

a named container that stores a value. The value can change over time.

type

a named grouping of properties (the features) and methods (the behaviors) of a kind of data

initialization

the act of creating a new instance of a type, which includes setting initial values for any properties of the type.

string

(text): stores a series for characters, such as "Hello world!"

int

(numbers): stores an integer - a number that has no decimal, such as 10 or -42

bool

(true or false): stores a value of either true or false

parameter

extra information that gets passed to a function