DEFINITIONS FOR DR. HALVERSON’S CLASSES

DEFINING TERMS A correctly formed DEFINITION of a term consists of 2 parts  Noun – statement of the basic nature of the term  Description – explanation that distinguishes the term from other similar terms  Context – must be in the context of the course 2

DEFINE: FOR LOOP A FOR LOOP is  A programming construct or instruction  But so is an assignment statement, a read or print statemen

DEFINE: FOR LOOP A FOR LOOP is  A programming construct or instruction  Allows for repetition of a set of instructions  So is a WHILE loop, so is not ‘distinguished’

DEFINE: FOR LOOP A FOR LOOP is  A programming construct or instruction  Allow for repetition of a set of instructions  Having a built in counting feature

DEFINE EFFICIENCY  A measure  What does it measure or how does it measure

DEFINE EFFICIENCY  A measure of effort or work  So is “speed” but not the same thing – Can something be efficient but not fast?...Yes  Can something have “bad” efficiency?...Yes

DEFINE EFFICIENCY  A measure of effort or work  Of an algorithm or computer system

DEFINE PROGRAMMING  A process

DEFINE PROGRAMMING  A process  Through which an algorithm is converted to a computer language for execution on a computer

DEFINE COMPUTER PROGRAM  A list of instructions  Specified in a computer language  To accomplish a task

NOTE  A statement may be “true” but not constitute a correct definition.  Examples:  A computer program runs on a computer.  A for loop is a counting loop.  A tree is green and brown.