Python Programming Fundamentals and Algorithms

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering core Python language features, operators, control flow, data structures, and mathematical algorithms.

Python

A general-purpose, dynamic, high-level, and interpreted programming language designed to be simple, readable, and versatile.

Dynamic Typing

A feature of Python where variable types do not need to be explicitly declared; the interpreter automatically determines the data type based on the value assigned at runtime.

Identifier

A name used to identify a variable, function, class, module, or user-defined object. In Python, it must begin with a letter or an underscore and can contain letters, digits, and underscores, while being case-sensitive.

pip

The standard package manager for Python (standing for "Pip Installs Packages" or "Pip Installs Python") used to install, manage, and uninstall external libraries hosted on the Python Package Index (PyPI).

Module

A file containing Python code, functions, classes, and variables organized logically to allow code reuse across multiple programs via the import statement.

Floor Division ($//$)

An arithmetic operator that divides two operands and returns the largest integer that is less than or equal to the quotient (e.g., $20 // 3 = 6$).

Modulus Operator ($\%$)

An arithmetic operator that returns the remainder after dividing the first operand by the second operand (e.g., $20 \% 10 = 0$).

Membership Operators

The operators in and not in, which test whether a specified value is a member of a sequence such as a string, list, or tuple.

Identity Operators

The operators is and is not, which compare whether two variables refer to the exact same object in memory.

Break Statement

A loop control statement that immediately terminates the execution of the enclosing loop, regardless of whether the loop's terminating condition has been satisfied.

Continue Statement

A loop control statement that skips the rest of the current loop iteration and proceeds directly to the next iteration.

Tuple

An ordered, immutable collection of elements enclosed in parentheses (), meaning its contents cannot be altered, added, or removed once created.

List Comprehension

A concise Python syntax used to create and populate lists in a single line, following the general form [expression for item in iterable if condition].

Slicing

A technique used to extract a subset of elements from a sequence (such as a string, list, or tuple) by specifying a start, stop, and an optional step index.

Armstrong Number

A number that equals the sum of its own digits each raised to the power of the total number of digits (e.g., $153 = 1^3 + 5^3 + 3^3$ and $9474 = 9^4 + 4^4 + 7^4 + 4^4$).

Disarium Number

A number that equals the sum of its digits each raised to the power of its respective $1$-based position (e.g., $89 = 8^1 + 9^2$).

Happy Number

A positive integer that eventually reaches $1$ when repeatedly replaced by the sum of the squares of its digits; if the sequence enters an endless cycle not containing $1$, it is not happy.

Harshad Number

Also known as a Niven number; an integer that is evenly divisible by the sum of its own digits (e.g., $18$, since $1 + 8 = 9$ and $18 \% 9 = 0$).

Pronic Number

Also known as an oblong or rectangular number; a figurate number that is the product of two consecutive integers, defined as $P_n = n \times (n + 1)$.

Curzon Number

An integer $n$ for which the value $2^n + 1$ is evenly divisible by $2n + 1$ (e.g., for $n = 5$, $2^5 + 1 = 33$ is divisible by $2 \times 5 + 1 = 11$).

Fibonacci Sequence

A series of numbers starting with $0$ and $1$, where each subsequent number is the sum of the two preceding ones, governed by the recurrence relation $F(n) = F(n-1) + F(n-2)$ for $n > 1$.

Natural Numbers

A set of positive whole numbers greater than $0$ used to count and order objects, denoted mathematically as $N = \{1, 2, 3, 4, \dots\}$.

ASCII

American Standard Code for Information Interchange; a character encoding standard that assigns unique numeric values ranging from $0$ to $127$ (for $7$-bit) or $0$ to $255$ (for $8$-bit) to represent characters.

Monotonic Array

An array whose elements are ordered such that they are either entirely non-increasing or entirely non-decreasing.

Hamming Distance

The total number of positions at which corresponding characters differ between two strings of identical length.

Isogram

A word or phrase in which no letter is repeated, evaluated in a case-insensitive manner.

Least Common Multiple (LCM)

The smallest positive integer that is divisible by two or more integers without a remainder, defined mathematically for two numbers as $\text{LCM}(a, b) = \frac{|a \times b|}{\text{GCD}(a, b)}$.

Highest Common Factor (HCF)

The largest positive integer that divides two or more numbers without leaving a remainder; also referred to as the Greatest Common Divisor ($\text{GCD}$).

Body Mass Index (BMI)

A screening metric for body fatness calculated from height and weight, expressed in metric units as $\text{BMI} = \frac{\text{Weight in kg}}{(\text{Height in m})^2}$.

Quadratic Equation

A second-order polynomial equation in standard form $ax^2 + bx + c = 0$ (where $a \neq 0$), whose roots are determined using the quadratic formula $x = \frac{-b \pm \sqrt{b^2 - 4ac}}{2a}$.