topic 3 - Introduction to Programming

• XML


  Powerful markup language for easy transportation of data between systems.
• Delimited files


  Store two-dimensional arrays in a structured, readable format.
• Plain text files


  Structured using spacing, new lines, or tabs.
• Binary files


  Not easily readable by a human.
• Text files


  Easily readable by a human.
• Pseudocode


  Representsalgorithmsusing structured English that does not rely on thesyntaxof any programming language.

  It can be converted to any language
• Mock-ups

  Annotated visual representations of the user interfaces of software solutions.
• Object descriptions

  Describe all of the relevant properties, methods, and events in an object.
• Data dictionaries


  Valuable as references when modifying code.
• Designs


  Represented using tools such as data dictionaries, object descriptions, mock-ups, and pseudocode.
• Scope


  The boundaries or parameters of the solution.
• Solution constraints

  Limit or restrict solution requirements.
• Solution requirements

  Describe what a client needs from a solution, general rather than technical descriptions.
• Design brief


  Written during the analysis stage of the problem-solving methodology.
• Objects

  Instantiations of classes.
• Inheritance


  Basing an object or class on another object or class, taking on its attributes and methods and potentially extending upon them.
• Classes

  Blueprints for creating objects.
• Records

  Collections of related data (fields) that may or may not have the same data types.

  
  

  They have fixed-lengths and are saved to random files

  
  

  The starting point to get them can start from anywhere, so read operations are very quick compared to serial files.
• Stacks


  Last in first out (LIFO).
• Queues

  First in first out (FIFO).
• dictionaries

  Types of associative arrays.
• Arrays


  Start at index value 0 in almost all programming languages.
• Data structures


  More complex than data types.
• Boolean values

  0 and 1, sometimes coded as true or false in a programming language.
• String


  A set or sequence of characters.
• Computer architecture


  Determines the data types available based on whether the computer runs on a 32-bit or 64-bit system.
• Integers


  Positive and negative whole numbers; floating point numbers can have decimal places.
• Variables


  Classified as particular data types and structures.
• Data types


  Consistent across all programming languages.
• XML


  eXtensible Markup Language, a metalanguage that allows for user-defined tags and rules for encoding documents in a format that is readable by humans and machines.
• version control system


  A software product that manages the revisions, changes, and parallel editing of source code and its related documentation.
• variable


  A method of storing and labeling data to be referenced and manipulated in a computer program.
• tree


  The structure of an XML file that contains a root element and all of its sub-elements.
• text file

  A structured file containing sequences of characters that are not encrypted.
• technical constraints


  Constraints related to the hardware and software available for the project.
• struct record


  A record used in database systems and programming languages.
• string

  A data type representing a set or sequence of character data types.
• stack


  A 'last in first out' data structure.
• solution requirements


  What the client needs from the solution in relation to its features.
• snake case


  A naming convention in programming where each word or abbreviation in the middle of a phrase is joined using an underscore.