CSC 202 Exam 1 Terms

Algorithm

A logical sequence of discrete steps that describes a complete solution to a given problem, computable in a finite amount fo time and space.

Abstraction

A model of a system that includes only the details essential to the perspective of the viewer of the system.

Big-O notation

A notation that expresses computing time(complexity) of the term in a function that increases most rapidly relative to the size of a problem.

Abstract Data Type

A programmer created type that encapsulates data and the operation on that data

Object

An instance of an Abstract Data Type

Observer

An operation that allows us to observe the state of an object without changing it.

Transformer

An operation that changes the internal state of an object

Exceptional situation

Associated with an unusual, sometimes unpredictable event, detectable by software or hardware, which requires special processing.

Precondition

Assumptions that must be true on entry into a method for it to work correctly.

Interface

Class like structure containing method declarations without bodies.

Queue

Data Structure that adds values at one end and removes values at the other end.

Linked List

Data structure consisting of zero or more nodes each of wich holds values and a link to the next node. 2

Stack

Data structure that adds and removes values from the same location.

Class

Java construct used to encapsulate an Abstract Data Type.

Constructor

Java operation that creates a new instance of a class and initializes the data of the class.

Array

Java provided data structure that holds multiple values of the same type with each value accessed with an index.

Information hiding

Keeping the details of an implementation from the client.

Parameter

Local variable of a method which receives a copy of the argument when the method is called.

Abstract method

Method declared in a class or an interface without a method body.

Graph

Nonlinear data structure of data nodes connected to one another. This connection is determined by the relationship one node had with another.

Tree

Nonlinear data structure that holds values that stored in a hierarchical pattern.

Stepwise Refinement

Process of breaking a problem up and solving each piece of the problem. These pieces can be further broken up until each piece is easily solved.

Inheritance

Programming mechanism allowing classes to share operations and build new classes from existing classes.

Data Abstraction

Separating the data type's logical properties from its implementation.

Bottom-up

Start with parts of the problem and use stepwise refinement to build the solution from small pieces.

Top-down

Start with the whole problem and use stepwise refinement to break it up.

Postcondition

Statements that describe what results are to be expected at the exit of a method.

Method signature

The distinguishing features of a method heading; the combination of a method name with the number and type(s) of its parameters in their given order.

Data structure

The mechanism used to organize data to make it easier to process the data.

Software verification

The process of determining the degree to which a software product fulfills its specifications.

Software validation

The process of determining the degree to which software fulfills its intended purpose.

Garbage collection

The process of finding all the unreachable objects and deallocatin their storage space.

Alias

The relationship two identifiers have when they share the same address.

Overloading

The repeated use of a method name with different signatures.

Data Encapsulation

The separation of the representation of data from the application that use the data at a logical level; a programming language feature that enforces information hiding.

Deskcheck

Working through the code of a program on paper to make sure that it works.