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IB Topic 4
Computational Thinking, problem-solving, and programming
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Subprocedures | can be called by higher-level procedures as part of their operation |
Abstraction | act of representing essential features without including the background details or explanations |
Condition | logical expression |
Iteration | a single pass through a block of statements |
Pre-condition | something that must always be true just prior to the execution of some section of code or before an operation in a formal specification |
Post-condition | something that must always be true just after the execution of some section of code or before an operation in a formal specification |
Exceptions | an event, which occurs during the execution of a program, that disrupts the normal flow of the program's instructions |
Concurrent processing | a program-structuring technique in which there are multiple threads of control |
Decomposition | breaking down a complex problem or system into smaller parts that are more manageable and easier to understand |
Successive decomposition | sequential breaking down of a complex problem or system into smaller parts that are more manageable and easier to understand |
Sequential search | algorithm to find an element within a list by sequentially checking each element of the list until a match is found or the whole list has been searched |
Binary search | algorithm to locate an item in a sorted array by repeatedly dividing the search interval in half |
Bubble sort | algorithm that repeatedly steps through the list, compares adjacent pairs and swaps them if they are in the wrong order |
Selection sort | algorithm where the unsorted element with the smallest (or largest) value is moved to its proper position in the array |
Collection Addition | boolean add(E obj) void add(int index, E obj) |
Collection Retrieval | void get(int index, E obj) E remove(int index) |
Flowchart | diagramatic representation of an algorithm |
Pseudocode | lines of instructions written in a language close to English but with common programming terms used where possible |
Algorithm | unambiguous specification of how to solve a problem |
Efficiency | the ratio of useful work to resources (processor and storage) expended |
Fundamental operations | input, processing, output, and storage |
Compound operations | involves a number of stages of evaluation |
Fixed vocabulary | reserved words and keywords of a language |
Unambiguous meaning | statement that can only be interpreted one way |
Consistent grammar and syntax | always using the same style for declaring, indenting, and formatting |
Machine Code | is a collection of binary digits or bits that the computer reads and interprets |
Higher Level Language | enables a programmer to write programs that are more or less independent of a particular type of computer and are close to human language |
Translation process | programming language processor that converts a computer program from one language to another while identifying errors |
Compiler | special program that processes statements written in a particular programming language and turns them into machine language or "code" that a computer's processor uses |
Interpreter | computer program that directly executes instructions written in a programming or scripting language, without requiring them previously to have been compiled into a machine language program |
Virtual Machine | an emulation of a computer system |
Variable | value that can change, depending on conditions or on information passed to the program |
Constant | a value that cannot be altered by the program during normal execution |
Operator | character that represents an action |
Object | a particular instance of a class |
Collection | grouping of some variable number of data items (possibly zero) that have some shared significance to the problem being solved and need to be operated upon together in some controlled fashion |