Unit l (Chapter l)

problem solving: The process of formulating a problem, finding a solution, and expressing it.
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 run;
also called "machine language" or "assembly language".
portability: A property of a program that can run on more than one kind of computer.
interpreter: A program that reads another program and executes it
prompt: Characters displayed by the interpreter to indicate that it is ready to take input from
the user.
program: A set of instructions that specifies a computation.
print statement: An instruction that causes the Python interpreter to display a value on the
screen.
operator: A special symbol that represents a simple computation like addition, multiplication,
or string concatenation.
value: One of the basic units of data, like a number or string, that a program manipulates.
type: A category of values. The types we have seen so far are integers (type int), floating point
numbers (type float), and strings (type str).
integer: A type that represents whole numbers.
floating-point: A type that represents numbers with fractional parts.
string: A type that represents sequences of characters.
natural language: Any one of the languages that people speak that evolved naturally.
formal language: 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 langnages.
token: One of the basic elements of the syntactic structure of a program, analogous to a word in
a natural language.
syntax: The rules that govern the structure of a program.
parse: To examine a program and analyze the syntactic structure.
bug: An error in a program.
debugging: The process of finding and correcting bugs.

Unit 2 (Chapter 2)

variable: A name that refers to a value.

assignment: A statement that assigns a value to a variable.
state diagram: A graphical representation of a set of variables and the values they refer to.
keyword: A reserved word that is used to parse a program; you cannot use keywords like if,
def, and while as variable names.
operand: One of the values on which an operator operates.
expression: A combination of variables, operators, and values that represents a single result.
evaluate: To simplify an expression by performing the operations in order to yield a single
value.
statement: A section of code that represents a command or action. So far, the statements we
have seen are assignments and print statements.
execute: To run a statement and do what it says.
interactive mode: A way of using the Python interpreter by typing code at the prompt.
script mode: A way of using the Python interpreter to read code from a script and run it.
script: A program stored in a file.
order of operations: Rules governing the order in which expressions involving multiple
operators and operands are evaluated.
concatenate: To join two operands end-to-end.
comment: 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.
syntax error: An error in a program that makes it impossible to parse (and therefore impossible
to interpret).
exception: An error that is detected while the program is running.
semantics: The meaning of a program.
semantic error: An error in a program that makes it do something other than what the
programmer intended.

Unit 2 (Chapter 3)

function: 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.
function definition: A statement that creates a new function, specifying its name, parameters,
and the statements it contains.
function object: A value created by a function definition. The name of the function is a
variable that refers to a function object.
header: The first line of a function definition.
body: The sequence of statements inside a function definition.
parameter: A name used inside a function to refer to the value passed as an argument.
function call: A statement that runs a function. It consists of the function name followed by an
argument list in parentheses.
argument: A value provided to a function when the function is called. This value is assigned to
the corresponding parameter in the function.
local variable: A variable defined inside a function. A local variable can only be used inside its
function.
return value: The result of a function. If a function ca11 is used as an expression, the return
value is the value of the expression.
fruitful function: A function that returns a value.
void function: A function that always returns None.
None: A special value returned by void functions.
module: A file that contains a collection of related functions and other definitions.
import statement: A statement that reads a module file and creates a module object.
module object: A value created by an import statement that provides access to the values
defined in a module.
dot notation: The syntax for calling a function in another module by specifying the module
name followed by a dot (period) and the function name.
composition: Using an expression as part of a larger expression, or a statement as part of a
larger statement.
flow of execution: The order statements run in.
stack diagram: A graphical representation of a stack of functions, their variables, and the
values they refer to.
frame: A box in a stack diagram that represents a function call. It contains the local variables
and parameters of the function.
traceback: A list of the functions that are executing, printed when an exception occurs.

Unit 3 (Chapter 5)

floor division: An operator, denoted //, that divides two numbers and rounds down (toward
negative infinity) to an integer.
modulus operator: An operator, denoted with a percent sign(%), that works on integers and
returns the remainder when one number is divided by another.
boolean expression: An expression whose value is either True or False.
relational operator: It compares its operands:=. !=, >.<,>=, and <=.
logical operator: One of the operators that combines boolean expressions: and, or, and not.
conditional statement: A statement that controls the flow of execution depending on some
condition.
condition: The boolean expression in a conditional statement that determines which branch
runs.
compound statement: A statement that consists ofa header and a body. The header ends with
a colon(:). The body is indented relative to the header.
branch: One of the alternative sequences of statements in a conditional statement.
chained conditional: A conditional statement with a series of alternative branches.
nested conditional: A conditional statement that appears in one of the branches of another
conditional statement.
return statement: A statement that causes a function to end immediately and return to the
caller.
recursion: The process of calling the function that is currently executing.
base case: A conditional branch in a recursive function that does not make a recursive call.
infinite recursion: A recursion that doesn't have a base case, or never reaches it. Eventually, an
infinite recursion causes a runtime error.