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

CPU

or Central Processing Unit is the "brain" of the computer, and executes instructions from computer programs, the operating system, and other computer parts

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

Dictionary

an iterable data structure that stores information in key-value pairs. The keys and values can be any data type, but all keys must be the same data type, and all values must be the same data type. Keys are unique and can be used to identify the values.

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

For-Loop

a type of logic flow statement that specifies iteration and allows code to be repeated. In Swift, also called a for-in loop.

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

GitHub Repository

or GitHub repo is the .git/ folder in a project that tracks all the changes made to the project files

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

SaaS

or "Software as a Service" is a cloud-based software licensing and delivery model, where the user access a software via the internet

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

W

While Loop

a logic flow statement that allows code to be repeated based on a Boolean statement

X

XML

or extensible Markup Langauge is a markup language much like HTML and designed much like JSON to store and transport data. XML has been used for years to transfer data — seen in applications like SOAP APIs — and is capable of enforcing data structure standards and transmitting data.