accessor method An accessor method is a set of instructions that finds a stored value of an object but does not change

it. ACK An acknowledgement message sent from one node to another indicating that the packet was received. It is in the data link layer. actual parameter The parameter that is supplied for the formal parameter when calling a method of an object Address The unique identifier of a cell in memory Algorithm A set of computable non-ambiguous instructions that leads to a result and stops in a finite amount of time API Application program interface, a code library for building programs Argument An actual parameter in a method call, or one of the values combined by an operator arithmetic/Logic Unit (ALU) One of the 4 parts of Von-Neumann architecture. It handles the arithmetic and logical calculations in a computer ARQ Algorithm Automatic repeat request detects if an error has occurred by sending an ACK ASCII American standard code for information interchange uses 8 bits to represent characters, can have a total of 256 characters assembly language A language designed for people and computers that creates a more productive and useroriented environment Binary Uses the digits 0 and 1, used by computers for representing information Bit Short form of binary digit, either 0 or 1, basic unit of information Boolean One byte value of either true or false boolean expression A logical expression that evaluates to either true or false boolean operator Logical operators AND, OR, and NOT that take an input and return an output Byte Equal to 8 bits bytecode A compiler translates source code into low-level code called bytecode in Java cache memory Part of the memory component of Von Neumann Architecture. It is faster than RAM and stores recently used and nearby instructions

Cast A method of converting a value from one data type to another Church-Turing Thesis If an algorithm exists for solving a symbolic manipulation problem, then so does a Turing Machine Class A user defined data type Compiler A program that translates code in high-level language to machine instructions Computability Something that can be done by symbol manipulation algorithms computer network A set of computers connected together for the purpose of sharing information and resources computer science The study of algorithms and how computers work. Specifically the applications, hardware and linguistic realizations of algorithms computing agent An object that carries out the steps of an algorithm. Constructor Statement used to initialize object control unit One of the 4 parts of Von Neumann architecture. Fetches instructions, decodes and sends them to the ALU DASD Direct access storage devices in which every memory cell has a unique address where the time to access that info depends on its physical location DNS Domain name system converts from its symbolic host name to its 32 bit IP address Ethernet A broadband technology that operates at 10 Gbps Encapsulation Hiding certain implementation details, such as making a method private explicit parameter The parameter other than the object on which the method is called. The part of the statement that includes the actual parameter Flops Floating point operations per second, it is a measure and way of comparing computing speed formal parameter The parameter required when calling a method or creating an object, in method declaration Gigabyte One billion bytes Halting Problem

The idea that there is not a Turing machine that can determine whether any instructions will halt HTTP Hypertext transfer protocol is the protocol that defines communication between web browsers and servers I/0 buffer Stores memory for the I/O controller I/O controller Used to regulate I/O when the speed between devices and other parts of the computer are different IDE Integrated development environment, application that allows user to program, compile, and debug implicit parameter The instance that a specific method is called on interface (in Java) a type with no instance variables, only abstract methods and constants inheritance (in Java) the relationship between a more general superclass and a more specialized subclass initialize To initially assign a variable a value Instance A created object of a certain class instance variable A variable, defined in a class, that an object uses to store its information Instantiation To create an instance of a class Internet Protocol The network layer in the Internet on which every network must run instruction register holds a copy of the instruction fetched from memory instruction set the set of all operations that can be executed by a processor kilobyte 1000 bytes LAN Local Area Network, a network that spans a home or building local variable A variable that is only available and only exists in that block (i.e. its scope is that block of code) logic gate receives input and gives an output, usually utilizes some form of boolean operator loop A set of instructions that is executed repeatedly MAC Medium Access Control, responsible for collision avoidance

machine language instructions executed by the CPU mass storage nonvolatile storage megabyte 1 million bytes memory one of 4 components of von Neumann architecture. Composed of volatile RAM and cache memory Memory Address Register (MAR) Contains the address of the cells containing the data to be fetched Memory Data Register (MDR) Contains the data the needs to be fetched Method A user defined set of instructions that can be called on objects of that class mutator method A set of instructions that changes the values of one of the objects variables (changes state of an object) Object An instance of a class object reference A value that denotes the location of an object in memory object-oriented programming creating algorithms and programs which implement a variety of classes and objects created of these classes, utilizing their properties and relationships op code a unique code assigned to each machine language operation recognized by the hardware operating system a program that controls the overall operation of the computer overloading a method giving more than one set of instructions to a method name overriding a method redefining a method in a subclass parameter an item of information that is specified to a method when the method is called parameter passing specifying expressions to be actual parameter values for a method when it is called portability the usability of the same software in different environments primitive data type short, int, long, double, float, char, boolean protocol a mutually agreed upon set of rules, conventions, and agreements for the efficient exchange of information protocol stack a 5 layered protocol including Application, Transport, Network, Link (Logical, Data),

and Physical pseudocode Informal programming language with English like constructs Random Access Memory Part of the memory in von Neumann, stores code and data of running programs but it is volatile register A storage cell that holds the operand of an arithmetic operation and its result SASD Sequential access does not require a unique address but instead searches all data sequentially Scope The range within which a certain variable is defined software programs and instructions to accomplish a task static variable a variable defined in a class that has only one value for the whole class static method A method with no implicit parameters stored program concept Instructions to be executed by the computer are represented as binary values and stored into memory Syntax The way a programming language is written, rules on how to form language terabyte 1 trillion bytes time complexity quantifies the amount of time taken by an algorithm to run as a function of the size of the input to the problem transistor a switch that turns electricity flow on and off TCP Transfer control protocol provides reliable, ordered delivery of a stream of bytes from a program on one computer to another program on another computer. truth table used to determine outputs given possible combinations of boolean logic Turing machine A model that computes on a symbolic alphabet and has an infinite tape of cells, finite states, and instructions Von Neumann architecture Computers based on this, 4 systems: Memory, I/O, control unit, and ALU. Executes instructions sequentially and has stored programming white space Space, tab, or newline characters WAN Connects devices that are not in close proximity but are across a town, country or ocean