AP CompSci P Unit 3

Algorithm

A finite set of instructions that accomplish a specific task.

Code statement

A part of program code that expresses an action to be carried out.

Expression

Can consist of a value, a variable, an operator, or a procedure call that returns a value; expressions are evaluated to produce a single value.

Execute

The process of running a computer software program, script, or command.

Behavior

How a program functions during execution; often described by how a user interacts with it.

Program inputs

Data sent to a computer for processing by a program; it can come in a variety of forms, such as tactile, audio, visual, or text.

Program outputs

Any data sent from a program to a device; can come in a variety of forms, such as tactile, audio, visual, or text.

Event

An occurrence; things that happen; usually associated with an action (i.e. mouse click, button pressed).

Event handler

A part of code that 'handles' or listens for a specific type of event; when that event occurs, the code inside the event handler is run.

Program documentation

A written description of the function of a code segment, event, procedure, or program and how it was developed.

Comments

A form of program documentation written into the program that helps explain what the code is doing. Comments in a program do not affect how a program runs.

Logic error

A mistake in the algorithm or program that causes it to behave incorrectly or unexpectedly.

Syntax error

A mistake in the program where the rules of the programming language are not followed.

Run-time error

A mistake in the program that occurs during the execution of a program; programming languages define their own run-time errors.

Overflow error

An error that occurs when a computer attempts to handle a number that is outside of the defined range of values.

Testing

Using defined inputs to ensure that an algorithm or program is producing the expected outcomes, in the development process.

Sequencing

The application of each step of an algorithm in the order in which the code statements are given.

Selection

Determines which part of an algorithm are executed based on a condition being true or false.

Nested conditional statements

Consist of conditional statements within conditional statements.

Iteration

A repeating portion of an algorithm; iteration repeats a specified number of times or until a given condition is met.

Variable

An abstraction inside a program that can hold a value; each variable has associated data storage that represents one value at a time.

Variable Types

Some programming languages provide types to represent data, including numbers, Booleans, arrays/lists, and strings.

Element

An individual value in an array/list that is assigned a unique index.

Index

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

String

An ordered sequence of characters.

String concatenation

Joins together two or more strings end-to-end to make a new string.

Substring

Part of an existing string.

Boolean value

A variable that is either true or false.

Data abstraction

Provides a separation between the abstract properties of a data type and the concrete details of its representation.