Glossary

Within these castle walls be forged Mavens of Computer Science ...

— Merlin, The Coder

A

Abstract Data Type

or ADT represents a model for a data structure; the model specifies behavior for the data type, supported operations, and how those operations are evaluated

API

an Application Programming Interface (API) connects computers or software to each other; a common example is logging-in to a third-party site via Google.

Array

a collection of items, more commonly referred to as elements, that can be identified and accessed by an index

ASCII

American Standard Code for Information Interchange; ASCII codes represent characters and text in computers and other electronic communication devices

B

Base

aka Number Base is the number of unique digits, including zero, used to represent numbers in a positional number system

Bash

aka Bourne-Again SHell, designed by Brian Fox for the GNU operating system, is the default shell for Linux and Mac operating systems

Binary System

is a number system that uses two digits (0 and 1) to represent a number); this is the system that computers use to store data.

Bit

aka "binary digit," the most basic unit of information or data in computing

Boolean

a data type that stores binary variables (true or false; 1 or 0; on or off)

Boolean Algebra

is the branch of algebra in which the values of the variables are true or false, usually represented as 0 or 1. It formalizes logical relations.

Boolean Function

a function that performs a logical operation on one or more binary inputs and produces one or more binary outputs

C

C

a low-level, general-purpose programming language, initially developed by Dennis Ritchie in 1972, many newer languages are based on C

Command-line Interface

or CLI allows the user to type commands for the computer to execute; a common command-line interface is bash

Conditional

or conditional statement is a line or lines of code that tell the program to execute actions based on whether a condition is met; common conditional statements include if, else, and else if

CSS

Cascading Style Sheets is a programming language that is commonly used with HTML and provides styling for a web page

D

Deprecated

describes a piece of software or technology that is no longer recommended for use due to its obsolescence, or imminent obsolescence

Directory

a logical grouping of related files (and potentially other directories)

Double

a data type that represents a 64-bit floating point number, or decimal

E

emacs

a powerful text editor and environment available on various operating systems, including Linux, Windows, and macOS

End User

a person who uses a particular product or software

F

File

either a destination or source for a stream of data, most often persisted on a storage device

Float

a data type that represents 32-bit floating point numbers or decimals.

G

Git

software used to track changes in files, usually used in software development teams

GitHub

a popular service used for source control and collaboration

GNU

aka "GNU is not Unix" or GNU Project is a Unix-like operating system, or collection of software programs, launched by Richard Stallman in the 1980s

GNU General Public License

or GNU GPL or GPL is a series of licenses that allow users to freely copy, modify, study, and share software, originally written by Richard Stallman

H

Hexadecimal System

is a number system that uses 16 digits to represent a number. The digits are 0-10 and then A-F, where A = 11, B = 12, … , F = 15.

HTML

HyperText Markup Language, is one of the essential building blocks for web pages. It defines the general structure of a web page, as well as its content. Every single website on the internet uses HTML in one form or another.

J

JavaScript

a high-level programming language, which can be used to fetch data via an API, modify HTML and CSS, and is the core of modern web pages

L

Logic Gate

an idealized or physical device implementing a Boolean function, typically represented using graphical symbols

Linux

refers to the Linux kernel developed by Linux Torvalds in the 1990's, and also the family of open-source operating systems developed around the Linux kernel; these operating systems run most major websites, Android; common Linux distributions include Debian and Ubuntu

N

Newsgroup

a discussion group around a certain topic, usually within the Usenet system.

O

Open-source Software

software that is made available under a license so that end users can freely edit, modify, copy, sell, and share that software

Operating System

or OS is a critical program in any computer that allocates resources, such as memory, processing time, and storage; the OS communicates between the hardware and software of a computer.

P

PHP

the most commonly used server-side language

Process

a program that is being executed by the operating system

Positional Notation

a method of encoding numbers that uses the same symbol for different orders of magnitude depending on its position; the value of a position is dependent on the location within the number (ex: 123 = 1*10² + 2*10¹ + 3*10⁰)

Python

a free, high-level open source programming language that can be used in both front-end and back-end development

S

Shell

a user interface that provides access to an operating system's services

String

a string of characters, a common data type in computer programming

Syntactic Sugar

syntax within a language which isn't strictly required but, in some manner, generally through increased clarity or readability, makes the syntax easier to understand for humans

Swift

a general-purpose, open-source programming language developed by Apple, a replacement for C-based languages

T

Terminal

a program that runs a shell and allows us to enter commands; a terminal is a command-line interface but not all CLIs are terminals

Terminal Emulator

a software application that mimics a computer terminal

Truth Table

a means to specify the required output(s) for the specified input(s), given particular boolean algebraic expressions

Tuple

in mathematics, is a finite ordered list of elements. In Python, a tuple is an immutable data structure that stores an ordered sequence of values.

U

Unix

a family of operating systems developed in the 1960's and 1970's at AT&T's Bell Labs, basis for Linux and GNU operating systems