Section 1: General Introduction
Section 2: Debugging
Section 3: Your First Python Program
Complete the Check for Understanding
Glossary
problem solving
The process of formulating a problem, finding a solution, and expressing the
solution.
high-level language
A programming language like Python that is designed to be easy for humans to
read and write.
low-level language
A programming language that is designed to be easy for a computer to execute;
also called "machine language" or "assembly language."
portability
A property of a program that can run on more than one kind of computer.
interpret
To execute a program in a high-level language by translating it one line at a time.
compile
To translate a program written in a high-level language into a low-level language
all at once, in preparation for later execution.
source code
A program in a high-level language before being compiled.
object code
The output of the compiler after it translates the program.
executable
Another name for object code that is ready to be executed.
script
A program stored in a file (usually one that will be interpreted).
program
A set of instructions that specifies a computation.
algorithm
A general process for solving a category of problems.
bug
An error in a program.
debugging
The process of finding and removing any of the three kinds of programming errors.
syntax
The structure of a program.
syntax error
An error in a program that makes it impossible to parse (and therefore impossible
to interpret).
runtime error
An error that does not occur until the program has started to execute but that
prevents the program from continuing.
exception
Another name for a runtime error.
semantic error
An error in a program that makes it do something other than what the
programmer intended.
semantics
The meaning of a program.
natural language
Any one of the languages that people speak that evolved naturally.
formal language
Any one of the languages that people have designed for specific purposes, such as
representing mathematical ideas or computer programs; all programming
languages are formal languages.
token
One of the basic elements of the syntactic structure of a program, analogous to a
word in a natural language.
parse
To examine a program and analyze the syntactic structure.
print statement
An instruction that causes the Python interpreter to display a value on the screen.