8.11. Glossary¶
- algorithm
- A step-by-step process for solving a category of problems.
- body
- The statements inside a loop.
- counter
- A variable used to count something, usually initialized to zero and incremented in the body of a loop.
- cursor
- An invisible marker that keeps track of where the next character will be printed.
- definite iteration
- A loop where we have an upper bound on the number of times the
body will be executed. Definite iteration is usually best coded
as a
forloop. - escape sequence
- An escape character, \, followed by one or more printable characters used to designate a nonprintable character.
- generalize
- To replace something unnecessarily specific (like a constant value) with something appropriately general (like a variable or parameter). Generalization makes code more versatile, more likely to be reused, and sometimes even easier to write.
- infinite loop
- A loop in which the terminating condition is never satisfied.
- indefinite iteration
- A loop where we just need to keep going until some condition is met.
A
whilestatement is used for this case. - iteration
- Repeated execution of a set of programming statements.
- loop
- A statement or group of statements that execute repeatedly until a terminating condition is satisfied.
- loop variable
- A variable used as part of the terminating condition of a loop.
- nested loop
- A loop inside the body of another loop.
- newline
- A special character that causes the cursor to move to the beginning of the next line.
- reassignment
- Making more than one assignment to the same variable during the execution of a program.
- tab
- A special character that causes the cursor to move to the next tab stop on the current line.