Section 1.14 Glossary
Glossary Glossary
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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