OLI Course

Question 1

What is computation?

Answer 1

a sequence of steps that can be executed by a computer

Question 2

What is a computer’s instruction set?

Answer 2

The primitive instructions a computer knows how to execute

Question 3

What is the SYNTAX of a programming language?

Answer 3

rules that determine what expressions are well-formed

Question 4

What are semantics of a programming language?

Answer 4

associating meaning with expressions (?)

Question 5

A LOW-LEVEL programming language is ____

Answer 5

closer to the instruction set of the computer

Question 6

A HIGH-LEVEL programming language is closer to ___

Answer 6

natural language of humans

Question 7

What is an interpreter?

Answer 7

a special program that converts high-level programming language instructions into low-level ones that can be executed by the computer

Question 8

An interpreter combines what 2 phases?

Answer 8

• translation to machine language
• execution

Question 9

What is imperative programming?

Answer 9

computation is described by a sequence of commands that change the state of data objects

Question 10

What data type represents real numbers?

Answer 10

FLOAT

Question 11

What data type contains a number with decimals?

Answer 11

FLOAT

Question 12

How is the type STRING represented in Python?

Answer 12

single OR double quotes (use double for better transfer to other languages)

Question 13

What type is returned by i / j (division) in Python?

Answer 13

ALWAYS A FLOAT

Question 14

What is meant by 100 // 50 in Python - what is it called, and what does it return?

Answer 14

integer (floor) division
returns 2 - the quotient as an integer, ignoring any remainder

Question 15

What is 50 // 100 in Python?

Answer 15

0 - the integer quotient, ignoring any remainder

Question 16

What is data type and value is 3e4 in Python?

Answer 16

FLOAT! 30000.0

Question 17

Why does -15//10 evaluate to -2 in Python?

Answer 17

In Python, floor division rounds DOWN to a lesser-value integer.

Question 18

How is Boolean false represented in Python?

Answer 18

False

Question 19

What is the assignment symbol in Python?

Answer 19

=
For example, x = 10 means that the value 10 is assigned to the variable named x

Question 20

What is the syntax for string concatenation?

Answer 20

+
“Susan” + “ “ + “Klefstad”

Question 21

What does the * do when used with a string?

Answer 21

concatenates int n copies of the string

Question 22

What is the difference between an expression and a statement?

Answer 22

an expression denotes a value, or evalutates operators to return a value
a statement is a command or instruction (like assignment) that changes the state of the computer (memory)

Question 23

What keyword is used to define a function?

Answer 23

def
def function_name (list of formal parameters):
function body

Question 24

What is the difference between parameters and arguments?

Answer 24

parameters are used in function definition, while arguments are the actual values bound during execution

Question 25

What syntax is required for a function body?

Answer 25

It must be indented

Question 26

What is the syntax for a comment in Python?

Answer 26

#

Question 27

A return statement can only be used where?

Answer 27

in the body of a function definition

Question 28

What are the syntax rules for indentation of a function body?

Answer 28

must be indented, any amount (customary 4 spaces), but all the SAME amount

Question 29

If there is no explicit value returned by a function, what does it return?

Answer 29

the special value called None

Question 30

What does -15//10 evaluate to in Python?

Answer 30

-2
because integer/floor division in Python always rounds down to a lesser number

Question 31

What does 15//10 evaluate to in Python?

Answer 31

1
because 1.5 rounds DOWN to the lesser integer

Question 32

What is a module in Python?

Answer 32

a file containing related definitions and statements, ending in .py and can be imported (without the .py)

Question 33

In Python, what does the function range(4) do?

Answer 33

creates a sequence of 4 integers, 0 1 2 3