Big Idea 3: Algorithms and Programming

is a set of steps to do a task.

are the set of steps to solve a problem or complete a task.

are implemented with software.

may work independently or can be used with other programming modules.

are placeholders for values a program needs to use.

are text fields that are just a series of characters and are denoted with quotation marks around the string field.

are calculations to be evaluated to an answer or single value.

are one of the foundations of computer code.

are also referred to as repetitive statements or loops.

One of the key features of algorithms is that once they are created, you can use them over and over, combine them for more complex problem solving, or modify them for a new use.

are a collection of items, such as a grocery list or a playlist of music.

are always integers and are enclosed within square brackets [index].

The length of a list is the number of elements in the list.

deals with finding the needed element from everything in the dataset or determining that it is not there.

also called sequential searches, check each individual record, starting at the beginning and going to the end, one after the other in order to either find the desired data or to determine it is not in the dataset.

are far more efficient than linear searches.

are also called functions in some programming languages.

allow the calling program to send values to the procedure.

You only need to know the name of the procedure, the number and type of parameters, and the output to expect.

are useful tools for writing software, mainly in designing games.

have an optional feature called a return statement.

Built-in procedures are prewritten and tested code that are included with the programming language.

is a built-in procedure used for this course on the exam.

It accepts data from the user, usually from the keyboard.

Simulations are designed to represent and mirror the real world for testing.

can be determined by mathematically proving it and informally measured by actually running it on datasets of different sizes and measuring how long it took and the memory resources needed.

This is an approach that may not be optimal or the best but is close enough to use as a solution.