Introduction to Terminology - Revision history

Lerc at 19:08, 2 February 2012

2012-02-02T19:08:20Z

216.99.185.50: /* Words to lean soon */

2012-01-25T17:07:29Z

‎Words to lean soon

Lerc: /* Value */

2012-01-25T09:10:51Z

‎Value

Lerc: /* Variable */

2012-01-25T09:08:35Z

‎Variable

Lerc: /* Function */

2012-01-25T08:49:23Z

‎Function

Lerc: /* Expression */

2012-01-25T08:30:47Z

‎Expression

121.74.246.100: /* Convention */

2012-01-25T04:28:25Z

‎Convention

Lerc at 23:20, 24 January 2012

2012-01-24T23:20:54Z

Lerc at 20:12, 24 January 2012

2012-01-24T20:12:45Z

Lerc at 13:48, 24 January 2012

2012-01-24T13:48:50Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:08, 2 February 2012
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−	As a beginner, the sight of an already completed computer program seems impossibly complex. It is quite easy to be overwhelmed by the whole program. A program is however, made out of parts. You can learn each part works one at a time and you can learn how the parts work together.	+	As a beginner, the sight of an already completed computer program seems impossibly complex. It is quite easy to be overwhelmed by the whole program. A program is however, made out of parts. You can learn how each part works one at a time and you can learn how the parts work together.

	To communicate the ideas involved with programs it helps to have words that clearly express particular meanings. Two programmers having a conversation need to have the words to say what they mean. Those words need to have quite precise meanings. If there was a Tiger behind the door, you should probably say to your friend "There is a Tiger behind the door". Saying "There is a cat behind the door" is just as correct, but leaves out details that your friend may find important.		To communicate the ideas involved with programs it helps to have words that clearly express particular meanings. Two programmers having a conversation need to have the words to say what they mean. Those words need to have quite precise meanings. If there was a Tiger behind the door, you should probably say to your friend "There is a Tiger behind the door". Saying "There is a cat behind the door" is just as correct, but leaves out details that your friend may find important.

@@ Line 134: / Line 134: @@
 All of these results are values.
-==Words to lean soon==
+==Words to learn soon==
 Object, Method,  Array, String, Loop, Literal

@@ Line 75: / Line 75: @@
 === Value ===
 [[file:Code_Values.png|left|frame|The literal values highlighted]]
-Values are data of some form.  Numbers, letters, words and sentences are all values.  Values can come in even more complex forms.  Values don't change, they get put into variables changing a variable means replacing the value in the variable with another value. Values can be made 5+3 makes the value 8.  Of course you cannot highlight all of the values that are made during the running of a program because they don't all appear in the code.  Values that do appear written in the code are known as literal values.
+Values are data of some form.  Numbers, letters, words and sentences are all values.  Values can come in even more complex forms.  Values don't change, they get put into variables changing a variable means replacing the value in the variable with another value.
 <br style="clear: both" />
 === Operator ===
 [[file:Code_Operators.png|left|frame|The Operators highlighted]]

@@ Line 65: / Line 65: @@
 === Variable ===
 [[file:Code_Variables.png|left|frame|The variables highlighted]]
-Variables are a way to store changeable information.  This program creates two variables,  snoo on line 6 and floo on line 8.
+A variable holds information.   You can change the contents of a variable by placing new information into it.  Over the course of a program a single variable may be changed to hold many different values.
 <br style="clear: both" />
 === Value ===
 [[file:Code_Values.png|left|frame|The literal values highlighted]]

@@ Line 34: / Line 34: @@
 === Function ===
 [[file:Code_Function.png|left|frame|The function highlighted]]
-The name Function is descended from its use in mathematics.  The mathematical form purely provides a result from a given input.
+The name Function is descended from its use in mathematics.  The mathematical form purely provides a result from a given input. A math function that doubles a number can be written as
 <br style="clear: both" />
 === Call ===
 [[file:Code_Calls.png|left|frame|The calls highlighted]]

@@ Line 87: / Line 87: @@
 An expression is a calculation that results in a value.
 These are all expressions
-if x were a variable with a value of 3 the results of these expressions would be
+{|style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; border-color: #000; padding: 0; text-align:center" border="1" cellpadding="4"
 All of these results are values.
 ==Words to lean soon==

@@ Line 24: / Line 24: @@
 === Convention ===
-This is actually one of the standard dictionary meanings of the word.  It is an agreed way of doing things.  Often is more than one way to do something but it would be better if everyone did it the same way.  In these cases a convention can form in order to help people to work together.  Because it requires agreement and there are always people who disagree, people argue about conventions a lot.
+This is actually one of the standard dictionary meanings of the word.  It is an agreed way of doing things.  Often there is more than one way to do something but it would be better if everyone did it the same way.  In these cases a convention can form in order to help people to work together.  Because it requires agreement and there are always people who disagree, people argue about conventions a lot.
 === Illegal ===

@@ Line 33: / Line 33: @@
 === Function ===
 The name Function is descended from its use in mathematics.  The mathematical form purely provides a result from a given input.
 ...
 === Call ===
 Calling is when a running program temporarily jumps to another position within the program.  Most commonly calls are to functions. the program above contains two function calls,  on line 8 there is a call to starIt on line 2, and line 10 has a call to the function print (which is a function provided by the system so does not have a line number in our program).
 === Return ===
 A return is the reverse of a call.  When a call is completed the program returns to the place that initiated the call.   A function will return if the program reaches the end of the function.  Functions can also be told explicitly to return.  When a function is told to return it can return with a value that can be considered the result of the function.
@@ Line 45: / Line 50: @@
 ...
 === Parameter ===
 Also known as arguments,  Parameters are the values given to a function when it is called.
 ...
 === Variable ===
 Variables are a way to store changeable information.  This program creates two variables,  snoo on line 6 and floo on line 8.
 === Value ===
-Values are data of some form.  Numbers, letters, words and sentences are all values.  Values can come in even more complex forms.  Values don't change, they get put into variables changing a variable means replacing the value in the variable with another value.
+[[file:Code_Values.png|left|frame|The literal values highlighted]]
 === Operator ===
 Most people are familiar with some operators.  Plus + and minus - are operators. Most languages use * and / for multiply and divide.
 in JavaScript = is called an assignment operator.
@@ Line 66: / Line 81: @@
 You can read more about operators in JavaScript at http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/JavaScript/Operators
 === Expression ===
 An expression is a calculation that results in a value.
 These are all expressions

@@ Line 21: / Line 21: @@
 </edcode>
 This program is quite small. You may not understand the details yet but that's ok.  It's here to show us what the parts are called.  That will aid us in understanding how it works.
-You don't have to understand completely in one go.  Refer back to this page when you encounter one of these terms.
+You don't have to understand completely in one go.  This page is not for a complete explanation of the concepts, it simply shows which word is used for a particular concept.  Refer back to this page when you encounter one of these terms.
 === Convention ===
@@ Line 99: / Line 99: @@
 Closure, Floating Point, Constructor, Class, Pointer, Reference, Instance, Event, Thread, Process, Stack, Interface
-Plus a whole lot more.  Whenever people talk about a topic, words will come to be used to fill meanings as they are required.
+And many many more.  Whenever people talk about a topic, words will come to be used to fill meanings as they are required.