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Glossary.md

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Glossary

This file provides brief definitions of programming and math terms that may be unfamiliar

Programming

  • Syntax: A set of programming rules that the language has to follow. This includes any structure rules or keywords that are necessary for the computer to interpret the code. Examples in python include if():, not, **, for():, tab, etc.

  • Delimiter: A marker used to denote the boundry between different areas. For python, whitespaces serve as delimiters. 

    if(something):
    some_command
    some_command2

    In the above case, if something is false, neither command will be executed

    if(something):
    some_command
some_command2

    In this case, some_command2 will always be executed, even if something is false

  • Whitespace: In python, the space between different blocks of the code marks them as separate. See above for an additional example of whitespace delimiting in python. 

    if(somethingandother_thing):

    Will check one variable named 'somethingandother_thing' for true or false

    if(something and other_thing):

    While the above will check two variables 'something' and 'other_thing' and execute if they are both true

  • Arguments: An argument is a input for any procedure in programming. The argument represents the real value or object given to the procedure to operate on. 

    true_or_false = false
saved_value = 1
if(true_or_false):
    multiply_by_10(saved_value)

    The definition of argument is often interchangable with the definition of parameter, so the arguments in this example are true_or_false or false for the if(): statement and saved_value or 1 for multiply_by_10()

  • Variable Types: A variable can have many different types which dictates what kind of information is stored within it and how different functions will respond to it.

    • int: integers. e.g 1, -10, 212
    • float: numbers including decimals. e.g 1.0, -2.1, 341.212
    • boolean: True or False.
    • string: A collection of any number of characters. e.g "a", "212", "Hello world!"
    • list: A collection of any number of objects, strings, numbers. Denoted by []. e.g [1.0, "Jones", True, 212, 212]
    • set: A collection similar to a list, however elements cannot be repeated and it is not ordered. Denoted by {}. e.g [1.0, "Jones", True, 212]
    • tuple: A collection similar to list, however it's contents and size cannot be changed. Denoted by (). e.g (1, "Toby", 2.34)

  • Elements: Anything contained within a list or a tuple. e.g 1, "Jones", True, 212 are the elements of [1, "Jones", True, 212]

  • Conditional: A statement that performs an action depending on some sort of condition. Different conditionals include if statements, switch statements, or other comparison statements 

    if(condition):
    do something

    If the conditional evaluates to true, the something will be executed, otherwise the commands contained within the indent will be ignored.

  • Nesting: Nesting is the process of putting multiple conditional statements within one another. This is usually indicated through various levels of indentation in most programming languages, and is key in python as whitespaces serve as a delimiter for different blocks of code. 

    if(something):
    some_command

    if(something_different):
        different_command

        if(something_different_2):
            different_command_2

    while(some_other_conditional):
        some_other_command

    In the above example, if(something_different) and while(some_other_conditional) are both nested within if(something) and if(something_different_2) is nested within if(something) and if(something_different)

  • Iterate: Iteration is the repetition of some block of code until a specified condition is met. This is done in programming through creating some sort of loop. 

    while(condition_evaluates_to_true):
    some_repeated_command

    In the above example, the while loop is iterated until the condition evaluates to false.

    list = [1, 2, 3]
for(element in list):
    element = element+1
    print(element)

    In the above example, the loop iterates through the list, meaning that it will perform the command for each element in list. Specifically in this example, the for loop will print each element plus 1. The output will be 2 3 4

  • Instance: An instance in programming is an object that has been created. Creating an object from a class is called instantiating it for this reason. 

    string1 = "tree"
string2 = "bush"

    In the above code, we instantiate an object, string1 and 'string2', of class string. The power of instances is that different instances can contain different variables. In this case, string1 and string2 are both objects of class string, however they contain different strings.

  • Index: The index of an object is it's position in a list, array, string, etc. The first position is at index '0'. 

    string1 = "tree"
list1 = [1, 2.0, "three"]

    In the above example, string1[0] would be 't', list1[0] would be 1, string1[1] would be 'r', list1[1] would be 2.0, string1[-1] would be 'e', and list1[-1] would be "three".

Math