Exam 1 CS 1301 (Online) 2026, Joyner

line of code

a single instruction for the computer to perform

program

an independent collection of lines of code that serves one or more overall functions

input

data that is fed into a program for it to operate upon

output

what the computer provides in return after running some lines of code

compile

to translate human-readable computer code into instructions the computer can execute

execute

running some code and having it actually perform its operations

console

an output medium for a program to show exclusively text-based output

graphical user interface (GUI)

an output medium that uses more than just text, like forms, buttons, tabs, and more

computing

the basic principles of working with computers

programming

writing code through an iterative process of writing lines of code, attempting to execute them, and evaluating the results

debugging

resolving problems in code, whether it be errors thrown in compilation or running or mismatches between the desired and observed output

print

output some text to the console

boolean

a simple true or false value

compilation errors

errors that occur during the computer's read through of the code

runtime errors

errors that arise when trying to actually execute the code

nameError

an error that usually occurs when you use a variable name that doesn't yet exis

typeError

an error that occurs when we try to perform an operation on an object that doesn't make sense with the operation

attributeError

an error occurs when we ask for information about a variable that doesn't make sense

syntaxError

an error that occurs when the line of code we've written can't be read by the computer because it doesn't match the computer's expectation for the programming language's grammar

print debugging

a form of debugging where print statements are added throughout the code to check how the program is flowing

scope debugging

a form of debugging where print statements are added to check the status of the variables in the program at different stages to see how they are changing

rubber duck debugging

a form of debugging where the programmer explains the logic, goals, and operations to an inanimate listener to methodically step through the code

function

a segment of code that performs a specific task, sometimes taking some input and sometimes returning some output

method

a function that is part of a class in-object oriented programming (interchangeable with function)

object-oriented programming

a programming paradigm where programmers define custom data types that have custom methods embedded within them

event-driven programming

a type of programming where the program generally awaits and reacts to events rather than running code linearly

comments

notes from the programmer supplied in-line alongside the code itself, designated in a way that prevents the computer from reading or attempting to execute them as code

documentation

collected and set-aside descriptions and instructions for a body of code

self-documenting code

code whose variables and functions are named in a way that makes it clear what their underlying content and operations are to the reader

variables

alphanumeric (letters and numbers) identifiers that hold values, like integers, strings of characters, and dates

value

the content of some variable

null

the "value" a variable has when it doesn't actually have a value

data type

the type of content a variable holds, like an integer or a string of characters

str(variable)

takes as input some variable and returns a string representation of the variable's value

int(variable)

takes as input some variable (usually a string) and attempts to convert it to an integer, returning the integer if successful or raising a valueError if unsuccessful.

bool(variable)

takes as input some variable (usually a string) and attempts to convert it to a boolean, returning the boolean value if successful or raising a valueError if unsuccessful

float(variable)

takes as input some variable (usually a string) and attempts to convert it to a float, returning the float if successful or raising a valueError if unsuccessful

operators

specific, simple functions that act on primitive data types, like integers and strings

mathematic operators

operators that perform mathematical functions, such as adding two numbers together

logical operators

operators that perform logical operations, such as comparing relative values

relational operators

operators that check the relationships between multiple variables

numeric comparison operators

operators that facilitate numeric comparison between values (>, >=,

non-numeric equality comparisons

any kind of data, that is not numerical, that you can compare for equality

set operators

check to see if a value is a member of a set of multiple values

boolean operators

operators like "and" and "or" that act on pairs of boolean value, or that act on single boolean values like "not"

and

an operator that acts on two boolean values and evaluates to "true" if and only if both are true

or

an operator that acts on two boolean values and evaluates to "true" if and only if at least one is true

not

an operator that acts on one boolean value and evaluates it to the opposite value

truth tables

tables that map out the results of a statement in boolean logic, depending on the values of the individual variables

assignment operator

an operator that takes the output of an expression and assigns it to a variable

modulus

the remainder function, returns the remainder of one number divided by another

len( )

a function that takes as input a variable with a length, such as a string of characters or a list of items, and returns its length

self-assignment

a common programming pattern where a variable is assigned to the output of an expression that included the variable itself

increment

repeatedly adding a constant, typically one, to a variable

control structures

lines of code that control when other lines of code run

conditional statements

programming statements that control what code is executed based on certain conditions; usually of the form "if", "else if", and "else"

loop

a programming control structure that executes a segment of code multiple times

exception

an error that a program might want to anticipate and catch instead of outright avoiding

exception handling

a control structure that catches certain anticipated errors and reacts to them accordingly

indentation

spaces at the beginning of a line that are used to group together blocks of code. All consecutive lines of code at the same level of indentation are in a single code block

scope

the portion of a program's execution during which a variable can be seen and accessed

if-then statement

a conditional control structure that runs a block of code only if a certain condition is true

else statement

a conditional control structure that runs a block of code if all preceding if-then and else-if statements have been false

else-if statement

conditional control structure that runs a block of code if all preceding if-then and else-if statements have been false and some other conditions are met

nested conditional

a conditional statement that is itself controlled by another conditional statement

for loop

a loop control structure that runs a block of code a predetermined number of times

iteration

a single execution of a repeated task or block of code

while loop

a loop control structure that runs a block of code until a certain logical expression is satisfied

loop control variable

a variable whose value is the number of times a loop has run (used to check if the loop should keep running)

range(begin, end)

takes as input two variables, a first number and a last number, and provides the list of numbers for a for loop to iterate over

zero-indexing

first item in the sequence in the list is item 0

for-each loop

a loop control structure that runs a block of code a predetermine number of times, where the number of times comes from the length of some list and the items in the list are automatically loaded into a variable for usage in the block of code

iterate

to repeat code a number of times

continue

skip the rest of the current iteration of the loop and continue with the next iteration of the loop

break

skip the rest of the current iteration of the loop and break out of the loop altogether

pass

designate an 'empty' body for a control structure

function call

a place where a function is actually used in some code

function definition

a segment of code that creates a function, including its name, parameters, and code, to be used by other portions of a program

parameter

a variable for which a function expects to receive a value when called

function header

the name and list of parameters a function expects

function body

the code that a function runs when called

return statement

the line of code that defines what output will be sent back at the end of a function

arguments

values passed into parameters during a function call

parameter mismatch

we gave a function more or fewer parameters than it expected

scope error

we tried to use a variable in a function that was created outside the function or vice vers

keyword parameters

special kind of optional parameter to which the program may choose to assign an argument during a function call, or may ignore

catching errors

using error handling to prevent a program from crashing when an error is encountered

uncaught error

an error that is not handled by error handling code, and thus usually forces the program to crash

try statement

a control structure that sets aside a block of code in which an error might occur so that the computer will look for error handling capabilities

except statement

a control structure that designates what error it anticipates in a try block and provides the code to execute if that error arises

finally statement

a control structure that designates some code to run after a try and catch structure regardless of whether or not an error arose