Lecture 1

Question 1

Define what ‘programming’ means

Answer 1

“the process or activity of writing computer programs”

Question 2

What is a ‘computer program’?

Answer 2

“a series of coded software instructions to control the operation of a computer or other machine”

Question 3

What is a programming language?

Answer 3

• purely instructive
• computers have no common sense, so you have to be very precise
• bridge between machine code and human language

Question 4

What are the different types of languages (or translators)?

Describe the differences.

Answer 4

a) interpreted language
- runs line for line
- can be modified whilst program is running
- starts right away after having been given instructions
- runs directly
b) compiled language
- translated all instructions in one go (takes a bit longer to prepare)
- runs very quickly once compiled
- cannot be modified whilst running

Question 5

There are different levels of languages in programming. Lists these levels.

Answer 5

4. Hardware
5. Machine language
6. Assembly language
7. High-level language

Question 6

What function do you use to find the length of a list?

Answer 6

len()

Question 7

What function do you use to find the type of a value?

Answer 7

type()

Question 8

Describe what assembly language consists of

Answer 8

• lowest level of a language humans can practically use

- communicates directly with a computer’s hardware

Question 9

What does a ‘machine language’ consist of?

Answer 9

• binary code
• easily understandable for machines
• considered a low-level language

Question 10

What does a ‘high-level language’ consist of?

Answer 10

• easily understandable for humans

- requires a translator or compiler for translation

Question 11

What is the difference between domain specific languages and general purpose languages?

Answer 11

Domain specific languages are specialized to a specific application domain. In example, HTML is only used for webdesign. General purpose languages can be used for a wide array of applications; not one specific task.

Question 12

What elements are applicable to Python? Pick one option for each section:
A. High-level/assembly/machine language
B. Interpreted / compiled
C. Domain specific / general purpose
D. Object oriented, yes or no?

Answer 12

A. high level
B. interpreted
C. General purpose
D. Yes, it’s object oriented

Question 13

What does IDE stand for?

Answer 13

Integrated Development Environment.

It’s a seperate program used to write code in. For example: PyCharm.

Question 14

What is a syntax?

Answer 14

“rules that define the structure of a language”

Question 15

Do all programming languages have a syntax?

Answer 15

Yes, however, they each use a different one. This means that in each programming language, different rules apply.

Question 16

What is a console?

Answer 16

a text-only computer interface. it’s a way to interact with the computer system through text.

Question 17

What is the difference between static and dynamic typing? What does Python use?

Answer 17

static typing = having to declare the type of a variable before you can alter it in any way

• variables have types
• values have types

e.g. String name;
name = "peter"
name CANNOT be 34, as this is not a string but an integer.
dynamic typing = no need to redeclare a variable when assigning a new variable to it or altering it in any way. 
- variables have no type
- values have types
--> name = "peter"
     name = 34

Python uses dynamic typing

Question 18

integer + float = ?

Answer 18

float

Question 19

integer + boolean = ?

Answer 19

integer