"Glossary abstraction a technique for managing complexity whereby levels of complexity are established so that higher levels do not see or have to worry about details at lower levels. algorithm a process or method that consists of a specified step-by-step set of operations. array an ordered collection of pieces of data, usually of the same type. assignment operator an operator that allows a user to assign a value to a variable. 33 backward compatible a program, code, library, or standard that is compatible with previous versions so that current and older versions of it can coexist and successfully operate without breaking anything. 29 bit the basic unit of information in a digital computer. A bit can be either 1 or 0 (alternatively, true / false , on/off, high voltage/low voltage, etc.). Originally a portmanteau (mash up) of b inary dig it . 4, 22, 23 Boolean a data type that represents the truth value of a logical statement. Booleans typically have only two values: true or false . 30 byte a unit of information in a digital computer consisting of 8 bits. 4 computer engineering a discipline integrating electrical engineering and computer sci- ence that tends to focus on the development of hardware and its interaction with software. computer science the mathematical modeling and scientific study of computation. constant a variable whose value cannot be changed once set. control flow the order in which individual statements in a program are executed or evaluated. 75 expression a combination of values, constants, literals, variables, operators and possibly function calls such that when evaluated, produce a resulting value. 34 hexadecimal base-16 number system using the symbols 0, 1, . . . , 9, A, B, C, D, E, F; usually denoted with a prefix 0x such as 0xff1321ab01 . 470 identifier a symbol, token, or label that is used to refer to a variable. Essentially, a variable’s name. 18 input data or information that is provided to a computer program for processing. 41"