Glossary

problem solving: The process of formulating a problem, finding a solution, and express ing 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.
prompt: Characters displayed by the interpreter to indicate that it is ready to take input from the user.

script: A program stored in a file (usually one that will be interpreted).

interactive mode: A way of using the Python interpreter by typing commands and expressions at the prompt.
script mode: A way of using the Python interpreter to read and execute statements in a script.

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).

exception: An error that is detected while the program is running.

semantics: The meaning of a program.

semantic error: An error in a program that makes it do something other than what the programmer intended.

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 program ming 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.