Glossary
- activecode
- A unique interpreter environment that allows Python to be executed from within a web browser.
- algorithm
- A general step by step process for solving a problem.
- bug
- An error in a program.
- byte code
- An intermediate language between source code and object code. Many
modern languages first compile source code into byte code and then
interpret the byte code with a program called a virtual machine.
- codelens
- An interactive environment that allows the user to control the step by step execution of a Python program
- 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.
- compile
- To translate a program written in a high-level language into a
low-level language all at once, in preparation for later execution.
- debugging
- The process of finding and removing any of the three kinds of
programming errors.
- exception
- Another name for a runtime error.
- executable
- Another name for object code that is ready to be executed.
- 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 languages.
- high-level language
- A programming language like Python that is designed to be easy for
humans to read and write.
- interpret
- To execute a program in a high-level language by translating it one
line at a time.
- low-level language
- A programming language that is designed to be easy for a computer to
execute; also called machine language or assembly language.
- natural language
- Any one of the languages that people speak that evolved naturally.
- object code
- The output of the compiler after it translates the program.
- parse
- To examine a program and analyze the syntactic structure.
- portability
- A property of a program that can run on more than one kind of computer.
- print function
- A function used in a program or script that causes the Python
interpreter to display a value on its output device.
- problem solving
- The process of formulating a problem, finding a solution, and
expressing the solution.
- program
- A sequence of instructions that specifies to a computer actions and
computations to be performed.
- programming language
- A formal notation for representing solutions.
- Python shell
- An interactive user interface to the Python interpreter. The user of a
Python shell types commands at the prompt (>>>), and presses the return
key to send these commands immediately to the interpreter for
processing.
- runtime error
- An error that does not occur until the program has started to execute
but that prevents the program from continuing.
- semantic error
- An error in a program that makes it do something other than what the
programmer intended.
- semantics
- The meaning of a program.
- shell mode
- A style of using Python where we type expressions at the command
prompt, and the results are shown immediately. Contrast with
source code, and see the entry under Python shell.
- source code
- A program, stored in a file, in a high-level language before being compiled or interpreted.
- syntax
- The structure of a program.
- syntax error
- An error in a program that makes it impossible to parse — and
therefore impossible to interpret.
- token
- One of the basic elements of the syntactic structure of a program,
analogous to a word in a natural language.