DS Vocab Words Flashcards
Calling
Using a function by giving it inputs
Contract
A statement of the name, domain, and range of the function.
Design Recipe
A sequence of steps that helps people document, tests and write functions.
Domain
The type of data that a function expects.
Library
A collection of functions that can be made available to our program by using include.
Name
How we refer to a function or value defined in a language (examples: +, *, star, circle).
Programming Language
A set of rules for writing code that a computer can evaluate.
Purpose Statement
A brief description of what a function does.
Range
The type of data that a function produces.
Syntax
The set of rules that defines a language, whether it be spoken, written, or programmed.
Variable
Something that changes.
Arguments
The inputs to a function
..follow the name of the function…
…expressions for arguments…
Categorical Data
Values or classifications that do not follow a numerical progression, and are not subject to the laws of arithmetic. Used to classify, not measure. They don’t have count (1, 2, 3, 4…) or measurement.
Data Row
Part of a table showing information about a particular individual in a sample.
Data Science
The study of using data to answer questions about the world.
Definitions Area
The text box in the Editor, where definitions for values and functions are written.
Editor
Software in which you can write and evaluate code.
Error Message
Information from the computer about errors in code.
Header
The titles of each column of a table, usually shown at the top.
Interactions Area
The text box in the Editor, where we enter expressions to evaluate.
Quantitative Data
Number values for which arithmetic makes sense (e.g. -taking the average of a column). How much?
Pyret
A new programming language inspired by Python but superior to Python for education.
Boolean
Of or relating to a data type having two possible values representing “true” or “false”.
Method
A function that is associated with particular object, such as Table or Structure. It consumes inputs and produces an output based on the object and those inputs.
Lookup Questions
Can be answered simply by looking up a single value in the table and reading it out. Ex: “Is the Mitten fixed?”
Compute Question
Can be answered by computing an answer across a single row or column. Ex: “How much does the heaviest animal weigh?”
Relate Questions
Can be answered by looking for relationships between multiple columns. Ex: “Do cats tend to be adopted faster than dogs?”
Histogram
A quantitative bar chart displaying how frequent a number shows up.
Correlation
A number that summarizes the linear relationship between two quantitative variables by reporting its strength and direction.
Line of Best Fit
A straight line that best represents the data on a linear scatter plot. Also called the ’regression line’.
Outlier
An observation point that is distant from other observations, perhaps due to experimental natural variability or measurement error.
Linear Regression
The process of modeling the relationship between two quantitative variables with a line that makes the best predictions of responses (y values) given explanatory (x) values.
Predictor
A function which, given a value from one data set, tries to predict a related value in a different data set
r
A number between -1 and 1 that measures the strength and direction of a linear relationship between two variables.
Threats to Validity
Factors than undermine the confidence in a conclusion.
Box Plot (a.k.a. box-and-whisker pot)
A way of displaying the distribution of data based on the five-number summary: minimum, first quartile, median, third quartile, and maximum.
Interquartile Range
The interquartile range (IQR) is a measure of spread, and is calculated by subtracting the first quartile (Q1) from the third quartile (Q3).
Mean
Reports the center of a quantitative data set by dividing the sum of all the values by the number of values.
Median
The middle of a quantitative data set: half the values are above it, and half are below.
Mode
The most commonly appearing value in a (quantitative or categorical) data set.
Quartile
Numbers that divide a data set into four, equally-sized groups. The lowest quartile (Q1) is the middle of the bottom half of the data. Q2 (the median) is the middle of the entire sample. Q3 is the middle of the top half of the data.
Skew
Lack of balance in a dataset’s shape, arising from more values that are unusually low or high. Such values tend to trail off, rather than separated by a gap (as with outliers).
Spread
How much values typically vary from a given assessment point such as center.
