Basic Computer Glossary
- %
- Symbol used to mark the beginning of a comment; the comment ends with the line (there is no end-comment symbol); % comment goes here is equivalent to ‹! –– comment goes here ––› in HTML and /* comment goes here */ in CSS.
- argument
- An actual value (variable, constant, or declared constant) of a specified datatype provided when a subprogram is called (into action); an argument list is an ordered set of such values.
- assignment operator (:=)
- An operator which instructs the computer to store the value on its right side in the variable or declared constant whose name appears on its left side; pronounced “is assigned the value” or “gets”.
- comma (‚)
- Symbol used to seperate items in a list; good programming technique requires a blank space after each comma.
- comment
- Text written for the benefit of programmers; this text is never seen by the users of programs.
- concatenation operator (+)
- A binary string operator whose result is the concatenation (the linking together) of the operands.
- constant
- A value which never changes
- declared constant
- A special kind of variable whose value cannot be changed once initialized (set).
- dot-dot
- Option of the put keyword; instructs computers not to move the cursor to the beginning of the next line.
- function
- A subprogram which returns a value.
- output field
- The horizontal space taken by data put out by the computer; if no field width is specified, the computer provides an output field whose length is exactly equal to the length of the data; string data are left-justified and numeric data are right-justified within an output field.
- output field width
- For character strings and integers, a single value is specified for the field width; for reals, two values can be specified: the overall field width and the number of decimal palces to be displayed within that overall width; 0 is a special value which specifies a field width exactly equal to the actual width of the data (the default width).
- parameter
- A variable of a specified datatype required for the correct execution of the subprogram is called (into action).
- procedure
- A subprogram which performs a defined task.
- put
- Keyword short for “output”; instructs computer to output objects to the run window; once the objects are output, the cursor is moved to the beginning of the next line.
- skip
- Keyword used as object of put; instructs computer to move the print position to the beginning of the next line.
- subprogram
- A named program fragment. (See procedure, function)
- variable
- A named location in memory (RAM) suitable for the storage of data of a specified type; the value stored in this location can be changed, hence it's variable.