CS Principles 2017

Unit 3 - Algorithms and Programming

Algorithm: A list of steps to finish a task.
High Level Programming Language: A programming language with many commands and features designed to make common tasks easier to program. Any high level functionality is encapsulated as combinations of low level commands.
Low Level Programming Language: A programming language that captures only the most primitive operations available to a machine. Anything that a computer can do can be represented with combinations of low level commands.

Algorithm: A list of steps to finish a task.
Iterate: To repeat in order to achieve, or get closer to, a desired goal.
Selection: A generic term for a type of programming statement (usually an if-statement) that uses a Boolean condition to determine, or select, whether or not to run a certain block of statements.
Sequencing: Putting commands in correct order so computers can read the commands.

Turtle Programming: a classic method for learning programming with commands to control movement and drawing of an on-screen robot called a "turtle". The turtle hearkens back to early implementations in which children programmed a physical robot whose dome-like shape was reminiscent of a turtle.

Abstraction: a simplified representation of something more complex. Abstractions allow you to hide details to help you manage complexity, focus on relevant concepts, and reason about problems at a higher level.
Function: A named bit of programming instructions.

Abstraction: a simplified representation of something more complex. Abstractions allow you to hide details to help you manage complexity, focus on relevant concepts, and reason about problems at a higher level.
Function: A named bit of programming instructions.
Top Down Design: a problem solving approach (also known as stepwise design) in which you break down a system to gain insight into the sub-systems that make it up.

API: a collection of commands made available to a programmer
Documentation: a description of the behavior of a command, function, library, API, etc.
Hexadecimal: A base-16 number system that uses sixteen distinct symbols 0-9 and A-F to represent numbers from 0 to 15.
Library: a collection of commands / functions, typically with a shared purpose
Parameter: An extra piece of information passed to a function to customize it for a specific need

Parameter: An extra piece of information passed to a function to customize it for a specific need

For Loop: Loops that have a predetermined beginning, end, and increment (step interval).
Loop: The action of doing something over and over again.

Abstraction: a simplified representation of something more complex. Abstractions allow you to hide details to help you manage complexity, focus on relevant concepts, and reason about problems at a higher level.