Unit 6: Lists, Loops, and Traversals Overview

List

an ordered collection of elements

Element

an individual value in a list that is assigned a unique index

Index

a common method for referencing the elements in a list or string using numbers

Iteration

a repetitive portion of an algorithm which repeats a specified number of times or until a given condition is met. (Loops are a type of iteration.)

Infinite loop

occurs when the ending condition will never evaluate to true.

Traversal

the process of accessing each item in a list one at a time.

Data abstraction

manage complexity in programs by giving a collection of data a name without referencing the specific details of the representation.

Append

add elements to the end of a list

Loops (iteration statements)

change the sequential flow of control by repeating a set of statements zero or more times, until a stopping condition is met

Logic Error

a mistake in the algorithm or program that causes it to behave incorrectly or unexpectedly. Such as incorrect >,< statements

Simulation

abstractions of more complex objects or phenomena for a specific purpose. For example we can simulate rolling of a dice by picking a random number from 1-6.

Substring

part or piece of an existing string

Length of a list

how many elements it contains. Lists can grow or shrink as elements are added or removed.

Data abstraction in lists

They allow us to name and program with large collections of information while ignoring the low level details of how the data is stored, organized, etc.