Programming Basics and Branches Study Guide

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering the fundamentals of programming basics, data types, and conditional logic found in Chapters 2 and 3.

Programming

Writing step-by-step instructions that tell a computer exactly what to do in a clear and correct order.

Pseudocode

A rough draft of a program written in plain English that helps programmers plan steps without worrying about syntax.

Variable

A labeled storage box where the label is the name and the value inside is the information.

Variable Declaration

The process of creating a variable and telling the computer what type of information ($integer$, $float$, etc.) it can store.

Assignment Operator

The $=$ symbol used to store the value on the right side into the variable on the left side.

Expression

Anything that evaluates to one value, such as $x + 1$, $5 \times 4$, or $price \times quantity$.

Identifiers

Names for variables and functions that must start with a letter, are case-sensitive, and cannot contain spaces or reserved words.

Operator Precedence

The order the computer evaluates expressions: parentheses, unary minus, multiplication/division/modulo ($\times$, $/$, $(mod)$), and finally addition/subtraction ($+$, $-$).

Incremental Development

A strategy of writing a small amount of code, testing it, and fixing mistakes before continuing.

Integer

A data type consisting of whole numbers used for counting.

Float

A data type consisting of decimal numbers used for measurements.

Boolean

A data type that stores only true or false, similar to a light switch that is either ON or OFF.

Functions

Reusable blocks of code; examples in Coral include $SquareRoot()$, $RaiseToPower()$, $AbsoluteValue()$, and $RandomNumber()$.

Pseudo-random

A term for numbers that appear random but are actually generated mathematically.

Type Conversion

The process of changing one data type into another, such as integer to float or using type casting to force conversion.

Constants

Variables that store values that never change while the program runs, often written in ALL_CAPS.

Branches

A logic structure that lets the computer choose between different actions based on a condition.

Nested Branch

An if statement located inside another if statement.

Equality Operators

Symbols used to compare values: $==$ means equal to, and $!=$ means not equal to.

Relational Operators

Comparison symbols including $<$, $>$, $<=$, and $>=$.

Logical Operators

Operators used for conditions: AND (both must be true), OR (at least one must be true), and NOT (reverses the truth value).

Floating Point Comparison

A programming practice of avoiding the use of $==$ with decimal values because they may not be represented exactly in memory.