Unit 2 - Introduction to Mobile Apps & Pair Programming

open standard

a standard (such as TCP, HTTP) that is not owned or controlled by a private entity. It stands in contrast to 'proprietary' materials', which are owned or controlled by a private entity.

protocol

a system of rules that govern the behavior of some system.

data network

a telecommunications network which allows computers to exchange data.

boolean

a true/false condition. It is named after George Boole (1815-1864) an English mathematician.

high level language

a programming language that is human readable (App Inventor) and provides the programmer with easy to understand abstractions

disk drive

a randomly addressable and rewritable storage device.

transistor

a semiconductor device used to amplify or switch electronic signals and electrical power. These are the fundamental building blocks of electronic devices.

binary sequence

a sequence of 0s and 1s.

program

a sequence of instructions that controls the computer

processor

a shorthand way of referring to a microprocessor or CPU.

bit

a single binary digit, either 0 or 1. It is the smallest unit of data in a computer.

Tim Berners-Lee

he invented the World Wide Web (WWW).

IDE

software that provides comprehensive tools for programming such as UI design, code editing, and a way to interpret and run the program

decimal number system

a base-10 system that we use every day, consisting of the symbols 0 through 9.

hexadecimal number system

a base-16 system, consisting of the 16 symbols 0 through 9 and A through F.

octal number system

a base-8 system, consisting of the symbols 0 through 7.

Event Handler

a block of code that reacts to an event like a button click.

AND gate

a circuit with two inputs and one output defined such that its output is TRUE (or ON) only when both of its inputs are TRUE (or ON).

OR gate

a circuit with two inputs and one output defined such that its output is TRUE (or ON) when either or both of its inputs are TRUE (or ON).

whitelist

a generic name for a list of email address or IP addresses that are considered to be spam free.

blacklist

a generic term for a list of email addresses or IP addresses for organizations that known to be spammers.

network

a group of two or more computer systems linked together.

NOT gate

a is a circuit with one input and one output defined such that its output is TRUE (or ON) when its input is FALSE (or OFF) and vice versa.

computer

a machine that processes information under the control of a program

cyberspace

a metaphor for describing the non-physical terrain created by computer systems.

pseudocode

a notation for expressing algorithms, which is more precise that ordinary English but less formal than a programming language.

binary number system

a number system in which all numbers are represented in terms of the 2 binary digits, 0 and 1.

data center

a physical or virtual infrastructures used by enterprises to house computer, server and networking systems and components for the company's IT (information technology) needs.

algorithm

a precise sequence of instructions for processes that can be implemented by a programming language and executed by a computer.

browser

a program that displays web pages and is used to navigate the WWW.

machine language

a programming language that is directly readable by the computer's CPU

social network

a social structure made of nodes that are generally individuals or organizations. This represents relationships and flows between people, groups, organizations, animals, computers, or other information/knowledge processing entities.

general purpose computer

a type of computer that can run many different programs (e.g. a smartphone).

special purpose computer

a type of computer that has a fixed program (e.g. a simple calculator, a digital watch, a car's anti-lock braking system).

flowchart

a visual (i.e. graphical) notation for expressing algorithms.

User Events

actions by the user such as button clicks.

data

ahe distinct information that is formatted in a special way. This exists in a variety of forms, like text on paper or bytes stored in electronic memory.

flip flop

also called a latch, this is a digital circuit that has two states, ON or OFF, that can be used to store a 1 or a 0. It is the fundamental unit of computer memory.

World Wide Web (WWW)

an Internet application of interlinked web pages based on the HTTP protocol.

constant

an abstraction that represents a single thing, e.g., the value 5.

logic gate

an elementary building block of a digital circuit. Examples would be AND, OR, and NOT gates that perform basic digital operations.

chip

an informal way of describing an integrated circuit (IC) consisting of millions of tiny circuits

character

any symbol that requires one byte of storage.

variable

can be used to represent any number and is therefore more general and more abstract than a constant. (e.g. X)

Input

data sent to a computer for processing by a program and can be tactile, audible, visual, or text

byte

a group of eight binary digits or bits.

abstraction

a general representation of something -- of some person or place or event or process; this extracts common features from specific examples in order to generalize concepts. Words, symbols, maps, and models are all examples.

abstraction layers

The Internet is organized into several of these which are controlled by various protocols. From the bottom up, we have the link layer (Ethernet protocol), the Internet layer (IP), transport layer (TCP), and application layer (HTTP)."

motherboard

houses the computer's main electronic components.

procedural abstraction

in computer science this is the practice of organizing and encapsulating algorithms in named procedures that can then be invoked by name. An example would be the 'sqrt(x)', square root of x, which encapsulates the algorithm for calculating the square root of x.

data abstraction

in computer science this is the practice of organizing and encapsulating certain data into a more general representation. An example would be storing the text 'hello' in a single variable rather than having numerous occurrences of 'hello' in a program.

integrated circuit

informally a chip, this is an electronic circuit formed on a small piece of semiconducting material, that integrates billions of tiny transistors and logic gates.

CPU

is that part of the computer's hardware that carries out the instructions of a computer program.

control structure

one or more programming language statements that control the flow of a computer program.

UI Components

parts of the user interface such as Buttons, Labels, etc.

base

refers to the number of distinct digits or symbols used to represent numbers in that system. Our decimal system is base-10 because it uses 10 digits, 0 through 9.

RAM

stores the computer's programs and data temporarily while power is on.

IETF

the International Engineering Task Force (IETF) develops and oversees open standards such as HTTP (www) and SMTP (mail).

sequence

the application of each step of an algorithm in the order in which the statements are given.

Output

the data sent back from the program to the device and can be tactile, audible, visual, or text.

Internet

the global public network of independent and autonomous networks that are governed by the Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP)

User Interface

the part of computer application through which a user interacts with a program.

abstracting

the process of creating abstractions.

interpretation

the process of translating source code into machine language one instruction at a time and immediately executing instruction.

compilation

the process of translating the entire source code into a single binary file.

software

the programs that control the computer.

Moore's Law

the projection that the number of transistors per square inch on integrated circuits will roughly double every year since the integrated circuit was invented.

HTTP

the protocol that controls the behavior of the WWW.

repetition

the repeating of an algorithm for a specified number of times or until a true/false condition is met.

TCP/IP

the suite a protocols that determine the behavior of the Internet

positional number system

the value of a digit in a number depends on its place. For example, in the decimal number 545, the leftmost '5' represents 500 because it occurs in the hundreds place, but the rightmost '5' represents 5 because it occurs in the ones place.

hardware

this includes the electronic and mechanical components that carries out the instructions of a computer program.

iteration

this is another term for 'repetition'.

intellectual property

this refers to any property that is created using original thought. Traditional examples include patents, copyrights, and trademarks.

selection

uses a true or false condition to determine which of two parts of an algorithm is used.

Event-driven Programming

with this kind of programming, the program is activated by events such as button clicks.