Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Data Structures, Data Types, and Data Representation


Global Variable – a variable that can be accessed by all modules and functions at any time.  It is not confined to a single block.  Global variables are commonly kept to a minimum because the more there are bug isolation is more difficult.

Local Variable – a variable that is confined to a single block.  Local variables are only accessible from the function or block of which it is declared to. 

Elementary Data Types
•Character – a single byte of information, either a single letter, number, or symbol
•String – a contiguous set of alphanumeric data that doesn’t contain numbers
                        used for calculations
•Integer
- a whole number or natural number, not a decimal or fraction
•Floating
- a number whose decimal can be placed anywhere relative to the
significant digits of that number
•Boolean
- a yes or no, true or false

Data Identifier (name) – a name that is assigned to a field or variable that identifies your data.

Its Data Type – part of a data identifier that classifies or identifies what type of data that various data is. 

Its Memory Address – an identifier for a memory location.  It relates the exact place in a computers memory that certain data is stored.

The Actual Data – is the data that can be manipulated depending on its type.  It is what all pointers point to.

A Variable – A symbolic name given to a value that can be changed or modified.

Literal – any data that is typed by a programmer and remains unchanged when translated into machine code.  An example would be a text message displayed on the screen or a constant numerical value used for calculation purposes.

Constant – any fixed value in a program such as error messages, dates, minimum and maximum amounts, etc.

Number Base Systems – a way to represent numbers where the base is the total amount of unique symbols used to represent numbers.

BASE 2 – A number system also known as binary.  It is “based” on two “numbers” or electrical states (on and off).  It is what every computers uses to operate, internally.

BASE 10 – A number system consisting of 10 digits (0, 1, 2 , 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9).  It is the most widely used numerical system by modern civilizations.  Also known as decimal.

BASE 16 – A number system based on 16 numbers (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) and (A, B, C, D, E, F) made to represent numbers 10-15.  Also known as Hexadecimal.

Floating Point – A method for storing and calculating numbers where the significant digits are stored in a separate place as the location of the radix or decimal point.

Decimal Data Representation – An exact type of numerical data that can hold a maximum of 38 digits, with the radix in any position

Direct Addressing - A memory address pertaining to data that directly identifies the storage location without using an intermediate reference.

Relative Addressing – A memory address pertaining to data that represents some distance from the base address.

Data Types and Data Abstraction – Data abstraction allows the handling of data bits in meaningful ways and is the basic motivation behind data type.  Data abstraction is a focused representation of an item or items.

•File
- a common denominator of storage containing a collection of bytes stored as an individual entity.
•Record
- a group of related fields that store data about a subject.  A collection of records makes up a file.
•Array
- an arrangement of data elements in a particular order.  An array can hold multiple variables.
1.Single Dimension
- also known as a vector, a vector array is like a list.
2.Multi dimension
- also known as a matrix, a matrix array arranges elements in a row and column form

Language Statements – a statement is the smallest element of imperative programming languages.  Imperative programming languages use a sequence of one or  more statements to form a program.
A. Natural Language Statements/Grammar and Logic
- statements using a natural language (a human language)
B. Artificial Language Statements/Syntax and Semantics
- statements using symbols that correspond to instructions in a programming language
C. Input/Output Statements
- a statement telling the computer where the input is coming from how to compute it and where to send the output
D. Assignment Statements
- used to assign a value to a variable
E. Program Design Language (PDL) - Meta Language
- a language used to make a statement about a statement in another language.
1.Syntax Diagrams
- a diagram that explains how the syntax of a language is used, each diagram has a beginning and end point, and shows all possible paths between these two points.
2.BNF
(Backus-Naur Form)- A notation technique used to describe the syntax of a language, mostly for exact descriptions of languages, probably used in the language’s manual.
F. Elementary Language Statements and Structured Language Statement
- elementary language statements are statements in a programming language at a basic level.  Structured language statements are statements that are paired together in order to minimize error.
1.Assignment and Unconditional Statements
- Assignment and Unconditional statements are statements that produce the same result unconditionally.
2.Selection and Looping Statement
- a selection statement is a statement that chooses to perform different actions or to perform no action, depending on the data it’s given.  A looping statement will repeatedly perform an action if the statement remains true, once the statement is false the action ceases.

Expressions Components – parts of a expression which include specific values, constants, variables, operators, and functions
A.  Operators, Operands and Results
- operators specify what operation to perform.  Operands specify what data is to be manipulated.  Results are what you get when operands are manipulated by operators.
            1.Unary
- when one operand is manipulated by and operator
            2.Binary
- when two operands are manipulated by an operator
B.  Simple Types

            1.Arithmetic
- using numerical values
            2.Logical
- using mathematical logic
            3.Relational – uses a model such as a spreadsheet to relate data
C.  Result

            1.Unconditional (Not Boolean)
- any result besides true or false
            2.Conditional (Boolean)
- A result of true or false


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