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Chapter 10 |
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| # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
| AJAX | A collection of technologies that allows the creation of Web applications that can update information on a page without requiring the user to do a page refresh or leave the page. |
| ActionScript | A programming language included in Flash; similar to JavaScript in its keywords, operators, and classes. |
| Active Server Pages (ASP) | A scripting environment in which users combine HyperText Markup Language (HTML), scripts, and reusable Microsoft ActiveX server components to create dynamically generated Web pages. |
| Adobe Flash | A software product for developing Web-based multimedia. |
| algorithm | A set of specific, sequential steps that describe in natural language exactly what a computer program must do to complete its task. |
| assembly language | A language that enables programmers to write their programs using a set of short, English-like commands that speak directly to the central processing unit (CPU) and give the programmer very direct control of hardware resources. |
| base class | The original object class from which other classes derive. |
| binary decision | A decision point that can be answered in one of only two ways: yes (true) or no (false). |
| beta version | An application that is still under development. |
| C | The predecessor language of C ; developed originally for system programmers by Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie of AT&T Bell Laboratories in 1978. It provides higher-level programming language features (such as if statements and for loops) but still allows programmers to manipulate the system memory and central processing unit (CPU) registers directly. |
| C# | A programming language released by Microsoft to compete with Java. Pronounced see sharp. |
| C++ | The successor language to C. Developed by Bjarne Stroustrup, C uses all of the same symbols and keywords as C but extends the language with additional keywords, better security, and more support for the reuse of existing code through object-oriented design. |
| class | A collection of descriptive variables and active functions that together define a set of common properties. Actual examples of the class are known as objects. |
| code editing | The step in which programmers actually type code into the computer. |
| coding | The process of translating an algorithm into a programming language. |
| comment (remark) | A plain English notation inserted into program code for documentation. The comment is not ever seen by the compiler. |
| compilation | The process by which code is converted into machine language, or the language the central processing unit (CPU) can understand. |
| compiler | The program that understands both the syntax of the programming language and the exact structure of the central processing unit (CPU) and its machine language. It can “read” the source code and translate the source code directly into machine language. |
| control structure | The general term used for keywords in a programming language that allow the programmer to control, or redirect, the flow of the program based on a decision. |
| data | Numbers, words, pictures, or sounds that represent facts, figures, or ideas. |
| data type (field type) | An attribute of a data field that determines what type of data can be stored in the database field or memory location. |
| data-flow diagram | A design that traces all data in an information system from the point at which data enters the system to its final destination (storage or output). |
| debugger | A tool that helps programmers step through a program as it runs to locate errors. |
| debugging | The process of repeatedly running a program to find errors and to make sure the program behaves in the way it should. |
| decision point | A point at which a computer program must choose from a set of different actions based on the value of its current inputs. |
| derived class | A class created based on a previously existing class (i.e., a base class). Derived classes inherit all of the member variables and methods of the base class from which they are derived. |
| documentation | A description of the development and technical details of a computer program, including how the code works and how the user interacts with the program. |
| dynamic decision making | A mechanism that allows a Web page to decide how to display itself, based on the choices the reader makes as he or she looks at the page. |
| editor | A tool that helps programmers as they enter code, highlighting keywords and alerting the programmers to typos. |
| error handling | In programming, the instructions that a program runs if the input data is incorrect or another error is encountered. |
| executable program | The binary sequence (code) that instructs the central processing unit (CPU) to perform certain calculations. |
| Extensible Markup Language (XML) | A language that enables designers to define their own tags, making it much easier to transfer data between Web sites and Web servers. |
| Extensible HyperText Markup Language (XHTML) | A standard established by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) that combines elements from both Extensible Markup Language (XML) and HyperText Markup Language (HTML). XHTML has much more stringent rules than HTML does regarding tagging. |
| fifth-generation language (5GL) | A computer language that uses natural language processing or expert systems to make the programming experience better matched to human thinking processes. |
| first-generation language (1GL) | The actual machine language of a central processing unit (CPU); the sequence of bits—1s and 0s—that the CPU understands. |
| flowchart | A visual representation of the patterns an algorithm comprises. |
| For | Keyword in Visual Basic used with the Next keyword to implement a loop. |
| fourth-generation language (4GL) | A sophisticated level of programming language such as a report generator or database query language. |
| HyperText Markup Language (HTML) | A set of rules for marking up blocks of text so that a Web browser knows how to display them. It uses a series of tags that defines the display of text on a Web page. |
| if else | In the programming language C , keywords for a binary decision within an algorithm. |
| information | Data that has been organized or presented in a meaningful fashion. |
| information system | A system that includes data, people, procedures, hardware, and software and that is used to gather and analyze information. |
| inheritance | The ability of a new class of objects to pick up all of the data and methods of an existing class automatically and then extend and customize those to fit its own specific needs. |
| initial value | A beginning point in a loop. |
| integrated development environment (IDE) | A development tool that helps programmers write, compile, and test their programs. |
| interpreter | A software program that translates source code into an intermediate form line by line. Each line is then executed as it is translated. |
| Java | A platform-independent programming language that Sun Microsystems introduced in the early 1990s. It quickly became popular because its object-oriented model enables Java programmers to benefit from its set of existing classes. |
| Java applet | A small Java-based program. |
| Java Server Pages (JSP) | An extension of the Java servlet technology with dynamic scripting capability. |
| JavaScript | A scripting language often used to add interactivity to Web pages. JavaScript is not as fully featured as Java, but its syntax, keywords, data types, and operators are a subset of Java’s. |
| keyword | (1) A specific word a user wishes to query (or look for) in an Internet search. (2) A specific word that has a predefined meaning in a particular programming language. |
| logical error | A mistake in the design and planning of the algorithm itself rather than in the use of syntax in the coding. |
| loop | An algorithm that performs a repeating set of actions. A logical yes/no expression is evaluated. As long as the expression evaluates to TRUE (yes), the algorithm will perform the same set of actions and continue to loop around. When the answer to the question is FALSE (no), the algorithm breaks free of the looping structure and moves on to the next step. |
| machine language | A set of instructions executed directly by the central processing unit (CPU). |
| method (behavior) | An action associated with a class of objects. |
| Next | In the Visual Basic programming language, the keyword used to implement a loop. |
| object | A variable in a program that is an example of a class. Each object in a specific class is constructed from similar data and methods. |
| object-oriented analysis | An approach to software design that differs from the traditional “top-down” design. In object-oriented (OO) analysis, programmers first identify all of the classes (collections of data and methods) that are required to describe completely the problem the program is trying to solve. |
| operator | Any of the coding symbols that represent the fundamental actions of a computer language. |
| Pascal | The only modern computer language that was specifically designed as a teaching language; it is seldom taught now at the college level. |
| PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) | A scripting language used to produce dynamic Web pages. |
| portability | The capability to move a completed solution easily from one type of computer to another. |
| problem statement | A clear description of which tasks the computer program must accomplish and how the program will execute these tasks and respond to unusual situations. It is the starting point of programming work. |
| program development life cycle (PDLC) | A number of stages, from conception to final deployment, which a programming project follows. |
| programming | The process of translating a task into a series of commands a computer will use to perform that task. |
| programming language | A kind of “code” for the set of instructions the central processing unit (CPU) knows how to perform. |
| prototype | A small model of a computer program, often built at the beginning of a large project. |
| pseudocode | A text-based approach to documenting an algorithm. |
| rapid application development (RAD) | A method of system development in which developers create a prototype first, generating system documents as they use and remodel the product. |
| reusability | The ability to reuse existing classes of objects from other projects, enabling programmers to produce new code quickly. |
| runtime error | An error in the problem logic that is only caught when the program executes. |
| scripting language | A simple programming language that is limited to performing a specific set of specialized tasks. |
| second-generation language (2GL) | Also known as an assembly language. Second-generation languages deal directly with system hardware but provide acronyms that are easier for human programmers to work with. |
| software update (service pack) | A downloadable software module that repairs errors identified in commercial program code. |
| source code | The instructions programmers write in a higher-level language. |
| statement | A sentence in programming code. |
| structured query language (SQL) | The most popular database query language today. |
| syntax | An agreed-upon set of rules defining how a programming language must be structured. |
| syntax error | An error that violates the strict, precise set of rules that defines a programming language. |
| system development life cycle (SDLC) | An organized process (or set of steps) for developing an information processing system. |
| test condition | A check to see whether a loop is completed. |
| testing plan | In the problem statement, a plan that lists specific input numbers that the program would typically expect the user to enter. It then lists the precise output values that a perfect program would return for those input values. |
| third-generation language (3GL, or high-level language) | A computer language that uses symbols and commands to help programmers tell the computer what to do. |
| top-down design | A systematic approach in which a programming problem is broken down into a series of high-level tasks. |
| variable | A name or symbol that stands for a value. |
| variable declaration | A line of programming code that alerts the operating system that the program needs to allocate storage space in random access memory (RAM) for the variable. |
| VBScript | A subset of Visual Basic; also used to introduce interactivity to Web pages. |
| visual programming | A technique for automatically writing code when the programmer says the layout is complete. It helps programmers produce a final application much more quickly. |
| Visual Basic (VB) | A programming language used to build a wide range of Windows applications quickly. |
| Web service | A program used by a Web site to make information available to other Web sites. |
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