Python Glossary & Terms

Question 1

problem solving

Answer 1

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

Question 2

high-level language

Answer 2

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

Question 3

low-level language

Answer 3

A programming language that is designed to be easy for a computer to run; also called “machine language” or “assembly language”.

Question 4

portability

Answer 4

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

Question 5

interpreter

Answer 5

A program that reads another program and executes it

Question 6

prompt

Answer 6

Characters displayed by the interpreter to indicate that it is ready to take input from the user.

Question 7

program

Answer 7

A set of instructions that specifies a computation

Question 8

print statement

Answer 8

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

Question 9

operator

Answer 9

A special symbol that represents a simple computation like addition, multiplication, or string concatenation.

Question 10

value

Answer 10

One of the basic units of data, like a number or string, that a program manipulates.

Question 11

type

Answer 11

A category of values. The types we have seen so far are integers (type int), floating-point numbers (type float), and strings (type str).

Question 12

integer

Answer 12

A type that represents whole numbers.

Question 13

floating-point:

Answer 13

A type that represents numbers with fractional parts.

Question 14

string

Answer 14

A type that represents sequences of characters.

Question 15

natural language:

Answer 15

Any one of the languages that people speak that evolved naturally.

Question 16

formal language

Answer 16

Any one of the languages that people have designed for specific purposes, such as representing mathematical ideas or computer programs; all programming languages are formal languages.

Question 17

token

Answer 17

One of the basic elements of the syntactic structure of a program, analogous to a word in a natural language.

Question 18

syntax

Answer 18

The rules that govern the structure of a program

Question 19

parse

Answer 19

To examine a program and analyze the syntactic structure.

Question 20

bug

Answer 20

An error in a program

Question 21

debugging

Answer 21

The process of finding and correcting bugs.

Question 22

variable

Answer 22

A name that refers to a value

Question 23

assignment

Answer 23

A statement that assigns a value to a variable.

Question 24

state diagram

Answer 24

A graphical representation of a set of variables and the values they refer to.

Question 25

keyword

Answer 25

A reserved word that is used to parse a program; you cannot use keywords like if, def, and while as variable names.

Question 26

operand

Answer 26

One of the values on which an operator operates.

Question 27

expression

Answer 27

A combination of variables, operators, and values that represents a single result.

Question 28

evaluate

Answer 28

To simplify an expression by performing the operations in order to yield a single value.

Question 29

statement

Answer 29

A section of code that represents a command or action. So far, the statements we have seen are assignments and print statements.

Question 30

execute

Answer 30

To run a statement and do what it says.

Question 31

interactive mode:

Answer 31

A way of using the Python interpreter by typing code at the prompt.

Question 32

script mode:

Answer 32

A way of using the Python interpreter to read code from a script and run it.

Question 33

script

Answer 33

A program stored in a file.

Question 34

order of operations:

Answer 34

Rules governing the order in which expressions involving multiple operators and operands are evaluated.

Question 35

concatenate

Answer 35

To join two operands end-to-end.

Question 36

comment

Answer 36

Information in a program that is meant for other programmers (or anyone reading the source code) and has no effect on the execution of the program.

Question 37

syntax error:

Answer 37

An error in a program that makes it impossible to parse (and therefore impossible to interpret).

Question 38

exception

Answer 38

An error that is detected while the program is running.

Question 39

semantics

Answer 39

The meaning of a program.

Question 40

semantic error:

Answer 40

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

Question 41

function

Answer 41

A named sequence of statements that performs some useful operation. Functions may or may not take arguments and may or may not produce a result.

Question 42

function definition:

Answer 42

A statement that creates a new function, specifying its name, parameters, and the statements it contains.

Question 43

function object:

Answer 43

A value created by a function definition. The name of the function is a variable that refers to a function object.

Question 44

header:

Answer 44

The first line of a function definition.

Question 45

body

Answer 45

The sequence of statements inside a function definition

Question 46

parameter

Answer 46

A name used inside a function to refer to the value passed as an argument.

Question 47

function call:

Answer 47

A statement that runs a function. It consists of the function name followed by an argument list in parentheses.

Question 48

argument

Answer 48

A value provided to a function when the function is called. This value is assigned to the corresponding parameter in the function

Question 49

local variable:

Answer 49

A variable defined inside a function. A local variable can only be used inside its function.

Question 50

return value:

Answer 50

The result of a function. If a function call is used as an expression, the return value is the value of the expression.

Question 51

fruitful function:

Answer 51

A function that returns a value.

Question 52

void function:

Answer 52

A function that always returns None.

Question 53

None:

Answer 53

A special value returned by void functions.

Question 54

module

Answer 54

A file that contains a collection of related functions and other definitions.

Question 55

import statement:

Answer 55

A statement that reads a module file and creates a module object.

Question 56

module object:

Answer 56

A value created by an import statement that provides access to the values defined in a module.

Question 57

dot notation:

Answer 57

The syntax for calling a function in another module by specifying the module name followed by a dot (period) and the function name.

Question 58

composition

Answer 58

Using an expression as part of a larger expression, or a statement as part of a larger statement.

Question 59

flow of execution:

Answer 59

The order statements run in.

Question 60

stack diagram:

Answer 60

A graphical representation of a stack of functions, their variables, and the values they refer to.

Question 61

frame

Answer 61

A box in a stack diagram that represents a function call. It contains the local variables and parameters of the function.

Question 62

traceback

Answer 62

A list of the functions that are executing, printed when an exception occurs.