CS 170 Final Exam Terms and Concepts

Basic Computer Concepts

• hardware components: main memory, secondary memory, central processing unit (CPU)
• main memory: random-access memory (RAM), address
• kinds of values stored in memory: integers, real numbers (floats), characters (using ASCII/Unicode), strings, program instructions
• secondary memory: hard disk, floppy disk, CD, flash drive
• programming languages: machine language, assembly language, high-level languages, syntax vs. semantics

Python Statements

• Python: variables, program statements, assignment statements (how they are different from algebra), print statements, input statements, numeric expressions (operators such as +, -, *, /, //, % and **) and precedence, importance of comments

Functions

• functions: how to define a function, parameter passing, returning a value from a function, how to call a function, local variables in a function

Repetition

• for loops: using for loops to achieve repetition, syntax of for loops, how indenting is important to indicate what happens inside vs. outside of loops
• range function: how the range function works, what it returns for different inputs, how to use it to create the sequences that you want, how it interacts with for loops
• accumulation pattern: using for loops to accumulate value in a variable, sums as well as products, initializing the accumulation variable, using += or *= or just var = var + whatever to increment the accumulation variable

Selection statements

• if elif else: know how to write programs that use if statements to allow choices in what code is executed. Know how to indent these properly. Understand how control flows as if statements are executing.
• Boolean and logical expressions: understand what a Boolean value is (true or false) and how to use relational operators and logical operators to construct them.

While loops

• while loops: know how to write programs that use while loops, be able to construct a while loop that is equivalent to a given for loop, understand when while loops are preferred and when for loops are preferred, be able to implement code with nested loops as necessary
• Newton's Method: recall how we used Newton's method to calculate square roots, including the use of epsilon values to determine when two floats are close enough to be considered equivalent
• Data validation: Know how to use data validation loops to make sure that input from the user is correct.

Integer arithmetic

• mod and integer division: understand how these expressions work and why they can be useful.

Strings

• strings: how strings work in Python, how we can index them from left to right (using 0 to len-1) and from right to left (using -1 to -len), slices of strings (including all variations of the colon notation), concatenation using +, use of in and not in operators.

Lists

• lists: know how to create lists, index list elements, manipulate lists, change the contents of lists, know len, min and max functions, concatenation, list accumulation loops, list methods (such as append, remove, sort)

Files

• files: how to work with files including open function, various ways to read data from files, especially f.read() and using a for loop over a file line by line
• split: method for strings, including default empty argument and using string delimiter arguments

Strings

• string methods: know how to use find, count, upper, lower, replace methods on strings, know how to do multiple assignment and return

Mutability

• mutable and immutable objects: understand what mutable and immutable mean, know which data types fit into which category

Dictionaries

• dictionaries: know what Python dictionaries are, know how to use them, know why/when to use them, know how to store values in a dictionary, access values using a key, know the keys and values methods for dictionaries, know how to use a for loop to loop through dictionary items