SLR1 Programming basics Flashcards
Data type
“Provided by a programming language as building blocks. E.g. char, integer, float, Boolean.”
Integer
“A data type used to store positive and negative whole numbers.”
Real/float
“A data type used to store an approximation of a real number in a way that can support a trade-off between range and precision. A number is, in general, represented approximately to a fixed number of significant digits and scaled using an exponent.”
Boolean
“Used to store the logical conditions TRUE/FALSE. Often translated to On/Off, Yes/No, etc.”
Character
“A single alphanumeric character or symbol.”
String
“A sequence of alphanumeric characters and or symbols – e.g., a word or sentence.”
Date/time
“A special data time used to store real dates. Behind the scenes, the date and time are actually represented by a single whole integer number which is the number of seconds since January 1st 1970 00:00:00. Also known as the computing epoch.”
Pointer/reference
“An object whose value refers or points to another value store elsewhere in the computer memory using its memory address.”
Record
“A data structure which consists of a collection of elements, typically in fixed number and sequence and typically indexed by names. The elements of records may also be called fields.”
Array/List
“A set of data items of the same type grouped using a single identifier. Each of the data items is addressed by the variable name and a subscript.”
User-defined data type
“A user-defined data type (UDT) is a data type that derived from an existing data type. You can use UDTs to extend the built-in types already available and create your own customised data types.”
Assignment
“An assignment statement sets or resets the value stored in the storage location(s) denoted by a variable name; in other words, it copies a value into the variable. In most imperative programming languages, the assignment statement (or expression) is a fundamental construct.”
Subroutine
“A set of instructions designed to perform a frequently used operation within a program.”
Sequence
“One of the three basic programming constructs. Instructions happen one after the other in sequence.”
Selection
“One of the three basic programming constructs. Instructions which can evaluate a Boolean expression and then branch the code to one or more alternatives paths is branching/selection.”
Iteration
“One of the three basic programming constructs. A selection of code which can be repeated either a set number of times (count-controlled) or a variable number of times based on the evaluation of a Boolean expression (condition-controlled) is iteration.”
Count-controlled loop
“An iteration which loops a fixed number of times.”
Condition-controlled loop
“A way for computer programs to repeat one or more various steps depending on conditions set either by the programmer initially or real-time by the actual program.”
Integer division
“Division in which the fractional part (remainder) is discarded.”
==
“Equal to: A mathematical comparison operator which means ‘the same as’, often referred to as ‘equality.’”
!=
“Not equal to: A mathematical comparison operator which means ‘not equal to’ – sometimes <> is used instead.”
<
“Less than: A mathematical comparison operator which means ‘less than.’”
>
“Greater than: A mathematical comparison operator which means ‘greater than.’”
<=
“Less than or equal to: A mathematical comparison operator which means ‘less than or equal to.’”
> =
“Greater than or equal to: A mathematical comparison operator which means ‘greater than or equal to.’”
NOT
“A logical operator used within a program. NOT works by returning FALSE if the input is TRUE, and returning TRUE if the input is FALSE.”
AND
“A logical operator used within a program. AND works by only returning TRUE if both values being compared are TRUE.”
OR
“A logical operator used within a program. OR works by returning TRUE as long as either value being compared is TRUE.”
XOR
“A logical operator used within a program. XOR stands for exclusive OR. It will return TRUE if the two items being compared are different.”
Variable
“A value that can change, depending on conditions or on information passed to the program.”
Constant
“A value that cannot be altered by the program during normal execution – i.e., the value is constant.”
String operation: Length
“An operation available in most programming languages which can be performed in a string data type; it returns the length of the string as an integer.”
String operation: Position
“An operation available in most programming languages which can be performed in a string data type; it returns the position of a character you provide in another string you provide.”
String operation: Substring
“An operation available in most programming languages which can be performed in a string data type; it returns a substring of the first argument starting at the position specified in the second argument and the length specified in the third argument.”
String operation: Concatenation
“An operation available in most programming languages which can be performed in a string data type; it joins two separate string data types together into a single new string.”
String operation: Character è character code
“An operation available in most programming languages which can be performed in a string data type; it takes in a single character such as the ASCII value ‘A’ and returns the relevant ASCII integer code (e.g., 65).
“Provided by a programming language as building blocks. E.g. char, integer, float, Boolean.”
Data type
“A data type used to store positive and negative whole numbers.”
Integer
“A data type used to store an approximation of a real number in a way that can support a trade-off between range and precision. A number is, in general, represented approximately to a fixed number of significant digits and scaled using an exponent.”
Real/float
“Used to store the logical conditions TRUE/FALSE. Often translated to On/Off, Yes/No, etc.”
Boolean
“A single alphanumeric character or symbol.”
Character
“A sequence of alphanumeric characters and or symbols – e.g., a word or sentence.”
String
“A special data time used to store real dates. Behind the scenes, the date and time are actually represented by a single whole integer number which is the number of seconds since January 1st 1970 00:00:00. Also known as the computing epoch.”
Date/time
“An object whose value refers or points to another value store elsewhere in the computer memory using its memory address.”
Pointer/reference
“A data structure which consists of a collection of elements, typically in fixed number and sequence and typically indexed by names. The elements of records may also be called fields.”
Record
“A set of data items of the same type grouped using a single identifier. Each of the data items is addressed by the variable name and a subscript.”
Array/List
“A user-defined data type (UDT) is a data type that derived from an existing data type. You can use UDTs to extend the built-in types already available and create your own customised data types.”
User-defined data type
“An assignment statement sets or resets the value stored in the storage location(s) denoted by a variable name; in other words, it copies a value into the variable. In most imperative programming languages, the assignment statement (or expression) is a fundamental construct.”
Assignment
“A set of instructions designed to perform a frequently used operation within a program.”
Subroutine
“One of the three basic programming constructs. Instructions happen one after the other in sequence.”
Sequence
“One of the three basic programming constructs. Instructions which can evaluate a Boolean expression and then branch the code to one or more alternatives paths is branching/selection.”
Selection
“One of the three basic programming constructs. A selection of code which can be repeated either a set number of times (count-controlled) or a variable number of times based on the evaluation of a Boolean expression (condition-controlled) is iteration.”
Iteration
“An iteration which loops a fixed number of times.”
Count-controlled loop
“A way for computer programs to repeat one or more various steps depending on conditions set either by the programmer initially or real-time by the actual program.”
Condition-controlled loop
“Division in which the fractional part (remainder) is discarded.”
Integer division
“Equal to: A mathematical comparison operator which means ‘the same as’, often referred to as ‘equality.’”
==
“Not equal to: A mathematical comparison operator which means ‘not equal to’ – sometimes <> is used instead.”
!=
“Less than: A mathematical comparison operator which means ‘less than.’”
<
“Greater than: A mathematical comparison operator which means ‘greater than.’”
>
“Less than or equal to: A mathematical comparison operator which means ‘less than or equal to.’”
<=
“Greater than or equal to: A mathematical comparison operator which means ‘greater than or equal to.’”
> =
“A logical operator used within a program. NOT works by returning FALSE if the input is TRUE, and returning TRUE if the input is FALSE.”
NOT
“A logical operator used within a program. AND works by only returning TRUE if both values being compared are TRUE.”
AND
“A logical operator used within a program. OR works by returning TRUE as long as either value being compared is TRUE.”
OR
“A logical operator used within a program. XOR stands for exclusive OR. It will return TRUE if the two items being compared are different.”
XOR
“A value that can change, depending on conditions or on information passed to the program.”
Variable
“A value that cannot be altered by the program during normal execution – i.e., the value is constant.”
Constant
“An operation available in most programming languages which can be performed in a string data type; it returns the length of the string as an integer.”
String operation: Length
“An operation available in most programming languages which can be performed in a string data type; it returns the position of a character you provide in another string you provide.”
String operation: Position
“An operation available in most programming languages which can be performed in a string data type; it returns a substring of the first argument starting at the position specified in the second argument and the length specified in the third argument.”
String operation: Substring
“An operation available in most programming languages which can be performed in a string data type; it joins two separate string data types together into a single new string.”
String operation: Concatenation
“An operation available in most programming languages which can be performed in a string data type; it takes in a single character such as the ASCII value ‘A’ and returns the relevant ASCII integer code (e.g., 65).
String operation: Character è character code
