Glossary
- algorithm
- A series of steps that systematically outline how
to accomplish a goal.
- assembler
- a piece of software that translates a specific
assembly language into
machine language
for a specific processor.
- assembly language
- a set of instructions that a programmer
can use to create a program for use on a specific
processor. Assembly language is translated into
machine language by a piece of software called an
assembler
- bit
- The smallest possible unit of memory. A bit can store only
two different values - a "0" or a "1". If a bit could
store only one possible value, it would not store any information
at all, because each bit would look identical. However, a
bit storing one of two possible values can be combined with
lots of other bits to store huge quantities of information.
The term for a group of eight bits, a common occurrence,
is called a byte.
- byte
- A small unit of memory.
A byte is composed of eight bits.
One bit
can store two different combinations (0 or 1), two bits can store
four different combinations (00, 01, 10, 11), three bits can store
eight
different combinations (000, 001, 010, 011, 100, 101, 110, 111);
following the pattern,
eight bits, or one byte, can store 256 different values.
- casting
- The act of viewing (and often converting) the information
contained in a variable of one type as if that
information was of another type.
- class
- ...
- comment
- These are put into source code by programmers in order
to better explain what the code does. When source code is
compiled into
assembly language, all comments
are removed. Comments
only describe code, there is no action associated with them.
Since comments are removed by the compiler, they can be
written in plain English (or any other natural language
you choose!).
- compiled
- Once third-generation languages have been translated
into assembly code and then to machine code, they are said
to have been compiled. Loosely, this could also be used to
refer to any single intermediate step.
- compiler
- a piece of software that takes third-generation
language code and translates it into a specific
assembly
code. Compilers can be quite complicated pieces of software.
- constructor
- ...
- cout
- In the C++ language, this is the name given to the standard
output stream. When a buffer of characters is sent to this
stream, they will appear as output on the terminal the program
was ran from.
- debug
- the act of removing errors, logical mistakes, or
flow of control problems in a program.
- decimal
- a number represented as a whole number and some fractional
part as well. Decimal numbers either take up more memory than
integers, or are accurate to less places, or both.
- execute
- The act of starting up and running a certain program.
This involves loading the program from disk into main memory,
reserving memory space for the program to work with, and
sequentially executing the steps of the program as outlined
by the programmer
- function
- ...
- garbage
- an all-encompassing term used to denote variable values
that are undefined, or bad input into a program.
- gcc
- this is the name of the gnu C++ compiler.
This free compiler is
frequently used on machines running the UNIX operating
system. The latest version of gcc can be
downloaded
via ftp.
- instruction set
- a set of commands that a certain CPU
understands.
These are very basic instructions that are wired into the
logic of the CPU.
- integer
- a whole number value. In programming languages, integers
also have a maximum value, depending on the language definition
or the architecture of the machine that the code is compiled
on
- keyword
- a word that has some sort of predefined meaning in the
context of a programming language
- machine language
- a processor specific set of binary codes
that correspond to actions to be taken by the processor of a
machine.
- main
- In C++, this is the first function that is called when a
program is executed. When a program returns from main,
execution has been completed.
- object
- ...
- operator
- Acts on one or more subexpressions to produce a value.
- parameter
- a piece of data that is passed into a program,
subroutine, or function call.
- path
- A path is used to specify where certain files can be found
in a directory tree. Sometimes path is used to mean where
an application looks to find certain files, such as "make
sure stdio.h is in your path, or the compiler won't find it."
- portable
- a description of how easy it is to take
code written on one machine or system and
correctly compile it on another
machine or system. This process is called "porting".
- preprocessor directive
- a command placed within a source code
listing, that directs the compiler to do something before
the rest of the source code is parsed and compiled.
- private
- ...
- protected
- ...
- pseudo-code
- a high-level abstraction of code, usually used to
outline the general steps in an algorithm
without having to
write actual code (usually done for the reader's
or programmer's benefit).
- public
- ...
- public interface
- ...
- return type
- specifies the type of data that is returned from a
function call.
- type
- describes what sort of information a variable
stores, as
well as how much space that information takes up.
- UNIX
- A multi-processing, multi-user, family of operating systems
that run on a variety of architechtures. A shareware version
of this operating system, Linux, runs on the IBM compatible
PC.
- variable
- a name, given by a programmer, to represent a piece of
data within a certain program. This name is then used
to refer to that piece of data.
- Windows
- A family of operating systems created by Microsoft, that
run on Intel based IBM compatible machines.