variables/constants

• What is essential for assisting future program updates?

  Writing clear code
• What are programs sequences of?

  Instructions for a computer
• What are units of information in computing called?

  Data
• What different types can data be?

  Integers, characters and Boolean
• In programs, what is data usually referred to as?

  Values
• What is a variable?

  A named memory location
• What does RAM stand for?

  Random Access Memory
• What happens to the data stored in RAM when a computer is turned off?

  It is lost
• What usually happens to the value held in a variable as a program runs?

  It changes
• What is a variable's name known as?

  An identifier
• What two things can a variable identifier contain?

  Letters and numbers
• What must a variable identifier start with?

  A letter
• Which special character can be used in variable identifiers?

  Underscore
• Why should a variable name be meaningful?

  Represent the value it holds
• Why do variables make it easy for a program to store values in memory?

  The computer keeps track of locations
• What must the programmer remember when using variables?

  The name of the identifier
• What is required of a variable in some programming languages before assigning a value to it?

  It must be declared
• Why is declaring variables considered good practice?

  Ensures memory location is ready
• What data type will the variable 'score' hold if it is declared as 'Dim score as integer'?

  Integer values
• What is giving a variable a value known as?

  Assignment
• What must happen to a variable before it can be used?

  It must be assigned
• What does a constant enable to be assigned?

  A value assigned a name
• What is the primary difference between a variable and a constant?

  Constants cannot be changed
• Why are constants useful?

  Can be referred to repeatedly
• For what types of values are constants typically used?

  Values unlikely to change
• How are constants usually named to differentiate them from variables?

  In uppercase
• What is the area of a program where a variable is accessible called?

  Its scope
• Where can a global variable be accessed and changed?

  Throughout the whole program
• Where are local variables typically confined?

  To a subprogram
• Where is a local variable declared?

  Within the subprogram
• What is a potential problem when using global variables with the same name as local variables?

  Updating the wrong version
• What benefit does using local variables provide in programming?

  Easier debugging
• Why should global variables be avoided as much as possible?

  Difficult debugging
• How does Python handle global variables within a subprogram?

  Must be declared as global
• What keyword would you use in Python to access the global variable 'ID' within a function?

  global ID = 75
• Where is a global variable declared?

  Outside of a subprogram
• What part of the computer stores data?

  Memory
• What is RAM?

  Volatile, constantly written memory
• What type of number is an integer?

  A whole number
• What is assignment in programming?

  Giving a value to a variable