Python for Everybody: Chapter 1

media computation

process millions of picture elements or sound fragments or movie frames

ranges

sections of data

ASCII

American Standard Code for Information Interchange; a standard encoding of numbers to letters

semantic error

An error in a program that makes it do something other than what the programmer intended.

bug

An error in a program.central processing unit The heart of any computer. It is what runs the software that we write; also called "CPU" or "the processor".

print function

An instruction that causes the Python interpreter to display a value on the screen.

JES

Jython environment for students, a programming environment

secondary memory

Stores programs and data and retains its information even when the power is turned off. Generally slower than main memory. Examples of secondary memory include disk drives and flash memory in USB sticks.

main memory

Stores programs and data. Main memory loses its information when the power is turned off.

machine code

The lowest-level language for software, which is the language that is directly executed by the central processing unit (CPU).

semantics

The meaning of a program.

problem solving

The process of formulating a problem, finding a solution, and expressing the solution.

parse

To examine a program and analyze the syntactic structure.

interpret

To execute a program in a high-level language by translating it one line at a time.

compile

To translate a program written in a high-level language into a low-level language all at once, in preparation for later execution.

compiler: translates all at once; interpreter: translates line-by-line

What is the difference between a compiler and an interpreter?

Store information for the long term, even beyond a power cycle

What is the function of the secondary memory in a computer?

prompt

When a program displays a message and pauses for the user to type some input to the program.

number

a byte is called a ___

software

a collection of computer programs (recipes) that accomplish a task

program

a description in a programming language of a process that achieves some result that is useful to someone

algorithm

a description of a process in a step-by-step manner, not tied to any programming language

Jython

a form of Python that is particularly effective for programming in multimedia that will work across multiple computer platforms

Python

a popular programming language, used very often for web and media programming

byte

a set of 8 bits

analog

a signal - how phonograph recordings capture sound continuously

reserved words

and, as, assert break class, continue def, del elif, else, except finally, for, from global if, import, in, is lambda nonlocal, not or pass raise, return try while, with yield

encodings

computers use ___ of numbers

data representation

creating layers of encoding and interpretation so that the computer is working with the right units for a given problem

computational thinking

critical thinking skills that use a computer to automate processes

database

way to keep track of lots of data and access it quickly

programming language

what computer scientists write their programs in (Python, Java, C++, Scheme)

source code

A program in a high-level language.

high-level language

A programming language like Python that is designed to be easy for humans to read and write.

low-level language

A programming language that is designed to be easy for a computer to execute; also called "machine code" or "assembly language".

portability

A property of a program that can run on more than one kind of computer.

program

A set of instructions that specifies a computation.

interactive mode

A way of using the Python interpreter by typing commands and expressions at the prompt.

bit

each wire; if it has a voltage on it, encode 1; if no voltage, encode 0

networking

emergent properties of programs, millions of programs talking to one another

memory

filled with bytes; everything that a computer is working with at a given instant is stored here (.jpg, .xls, .doc, e-mail, etc.)

human-computer interface

how people understand and make use of programs

process

how we or computers do things, how we specify what we do, and how we specify what the stuff is that we are processing; important to nearly every field

binary

number system of zeros and ones

constants

numbers that appear as plain old numbers not as variables

pixel

picture element

digitization

the process of encoding media into little bits

data structures

the study of computer science units