New Microsoft Excel Worksheet. Flashcards
accessor method
a method that accesses an object but does not change it
actual parameter
the expression supplied for a formal parameter of a method by the caller
ACK
acknowledgment message. message containing the sequence number of the correctly received packet sent by the receiver back to the sender to acknowledge correct receipt of the message
address
a location in memory at which a binary number (usually a byte, or value of 8 bits) is stored. The location in memory can itself be identified by a binary number this number, the absolute or explicit address, gives the absolute location of the address in memory, while a relative address specifies a location memory (some other address only in relation to the current, or base, address. All access to memory is access to to a cell of memory found at a specified address.
algorithm
a well-ordered collection of unambiguous and effectively computable operations that, when executed, produces a result and halts in a finite amount of time (an unambiguous, executable, and terminating specification of a way to solve a problem)
API
(Application Programming Interface) A code library for building programs. Another way to think of it is as the specification of the interface for how to make use of libraries or software interfaces. The API documentation for Java provides information about each class in the Java library
argument
an actual parameter in a method call, or one of the values combined by an operator
arithmetic/Logic Unit (ALU)
the arithmetic/logic unit is the subsystem that performs such mathematical and logical operations as addition, subtraction, and comparison for equality. IN modern machines, the ALU and the control unit are integrated in the CPU. The ALU is made up of the registers, interconnections between components, and the ALU circuitry, which are together called the data path.
ARQ Algorithm
automatic repeat request the basis for all data link control protocols, transforms a bit pipe into a message pipe by a series of rules guaranteeing the correct transmission of packets of information between senders and receivers through the use of acknowledgment messages
ASCII
The American Standard Code for Information Exchange - a character-encoding scheme based on the English alphabet used to represent text in computers. It uses 8 bits to represent each character, so it is able to encode a total of 2^8 = 256 different characters. These are assigned the integer values 0 to 255. Only 32 to 126 have been assigned to printable characters. The ASCII has been largely supplanted by UNICODE and the UCS (universal character set), which are backwards compatible with it (commonly encoded using UTF-8, UTF-16, and UTF-32 representing character sets using 8, 16, and 32 bits respectively. UTF-16 can represent 65,536 characters.)
assembly language
low-level programming language for computers that implements a symbolic representation of the machine codes and other constants needed to program a given CPU architecture. It is specific to a certain physical or virtual computer architecture. Each symbolic assembly language instruction is translated into exactly one binary machine-language instruction.
binary
the binary, or the base-2, positional numbering system represents numerical values using only two symbols, 0 and 1
bit
a contraction of binary digit; the smallest unit of information, having two possible values: 0 and 1. A data element consisting of n bits has 2? possible
boolean
a data type with two possible value representing true and false.
boolean expression
an expression in a programming language that produces a boolean value when evaluated, i.e., true or false
boolean operator
an operator that can be applied to Boolean values. Java has 3 boolean, or logical, operators: &&, ||, and !.
byte
a number made up of 8 bits. Essentially, all currently manufactured computers use a byte as the smallest unit of storage in memory
bytecode
instructions for the Java virtual machine
cache memory
a special, super-high-speed memory unit. Operating on the principle of locality, which says that when the computer uses something it will probably use it again very soon, when the computer references a piece of data for the first time, it stores that data in cache memory, and when it needs to fetch a piece of information, it first looks in cache memory before performing a memory fetch. Since accessing cache memory is so much faster (typically 5 to 10 times faster) than accessing RAM, it is still faster to access cache memory first and then look in RAM if the data is not found (the cache hit rate tells us just how much faster).
cast
Explicitly converting a value from one type to a different type
Church-Turing thesis
If there exists an algorithm to do a symbol manipulation task, then there exists a Turing machine to do that task.
class
a programmer defined data type (that is, the type of an object), the blueprint or template for creating an object
compiler
a program that translates code in a high-level language (such as Java) to machine instructions (such as bytecode for the Java virtual machine).
computability
solvable by a computing device/that which can be done by symbol manipulation algorithms
computer network
a set of independent computer systems connected by telecommunication links for the purpose of sharing information and resources
computer science
the study of algorithms, including their formal and mathematical properties, their hardware realizations, their linguistic realizations, and their applications
computing agent
idealized computing machine that can: 1. Accept input. 2. Store information in and retrieve it from memory. 3. Take actions according to alogorithm instructions; the choice of what action to take may depend on the present state of the computing agent, as well as on the input item presently being processed. 4. Produce output.
constructor
A set of statements initializing the instance variables of an object
control unit
Unit within the computer that actually carries out the operations of a program. the control unit does three things: fetches from memory the next instruction to be executed, decodes it, and executes it by issuing the appropriate command to the ALU, memory, or I/O controllers. It halts when the last instruction in the program is reached.
DASD
Direct Access storage device. Mass storage system in which every unit of information has a unique address but where the time needed to access that information depends on its physical location and the current state of the device (includes hard disks, floppy disks, CDs, DVDs, etc. Access time depends on seek time, latency, and transfer time
DNS
Domain Name System. Special internet applications that converts from a symbolic host name (www.thisismysymbolichostname.com) to its IP address (141.140.1.5).
encapsulation
a fundamental concept in the strategy of information hiding (and of object-oriented programming more generally) The hiding of implementation details
ethernet
broadband technology originally designed at Xerox PARC in the 70s to operate at 10 Mbps. Fast ethernet operates at 100 Mbps
explicit parameter
A parameter of a method other than the object on which the method is invoked
flops
floating-point operations per second
formal parameter
a variable in a method definition; it is initialized with an actual parameter value when the method is called
gigabyte
1 billion bytes. In binary, technically 2^30 bytes, or 1 073 741 824 bytes
Halting Problem
the Halting Problem, which is meant to demonstrate the limits of computation, is as follows: Decide, given any collection of Turing machine instructions together with any initial tape contents, whether that Turing machine will ever halt if started on that tape.
HTTP
Hypertext Transfer Protocol. The protocol that defines communication between web browsers and web servers
I/0 buffer
memory stored in the I/O controller for transfer between RAM and an I/O device (such as characters from memory to a screen, or from a mass storage device to memory).
I/O controller
a device that handles the details of input/output and compensates for any speed differences between I/O devices and other parts of the computer. Contains a small amount of memory, called an I/O buffer, and enough I/O control and logic processing capability to handle the mechanical functions of the I/O device, such as the read-write head, paper feed mechanism, and screen display. It is also able to transmit to the processor a special hardware signal, called an interrupt signal, when an I/O operation is done.
IDE
Integrated development environment, such as Eclipse: A software application that provides comprehensive facilities to computer programmers for software development. An IDE normally consists of: a source code editor, a compiler and/or an interpreter, build automation tools, a debugger
implicit parameter
The object on which a method is invoked. For example, in the call x.f(y), the object x is the implicit parameter of the method f.
interface (in Java)
a type with no instance variables, only abstract methods and constants, used to express common operations or services so that a variety of types can make use of them
inheritance (in Java)
the is-a relationship between a more general superclass and a more specialized subclass. hierarchical relationship between classes in Java where all subclasses inherit the properties of their superclass. Inheritance enables a class to reuse the fields and methods of the existing class without having to write (and debug!) them over. A subclass inherits all the members (fields, methods, and nested classes) from its superclass. Constructors are not members, so they are not inherited by subclasses, but the constructor of the superclass can be invoked from the subclass.