Problem Solving with Algorithms and Data Structures using C++ The PreTeXt Interactive Edition

Glossary Glossary

base case.

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A branch of the conditional statement in a recursive function that does not give rise to further recursive calls.

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data structure.

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An organization of data for the purpose of making it easier to use.

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dynamic programming.

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a way to solve complex problems by breaking it up, solving the smaller portions, and storing the results to avoid re-calculating them.

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exception.

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An error that occurs at runtime.

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handle an exception.

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To prevent an exception from terminating a program by wrapping the block of code in a try / except construct.

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immutable data type.

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A data type which cannot be modified. Assignments to elements or slices of immutable types cause a runtime error.

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infinite recursion.

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A function that calls itself recursively without ever reaching the base case. Eventually, an infinite recursion causes a runtime error.

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mutable data type.

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A data type which can be modified. All mutable types are compound types. Lists and dictionaries (see next chapter) are mutable data types; strings and tuples are not.

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raise.

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To cause an exception by using the raise statement.

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recursion.

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The process of calling the function that is already executing.

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recursive call.

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The statement that calls an already executing function. Recursion can even be indirect — function f can call g which calls h, and h could make a call back to f.

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recursive definition.

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A definition which defines something in terms of itself. To be useful it must include base cases which are not recursive. In this way it differs from a circular definition. Recursive definitions often provide an elegant way to express complex data structures.

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stack frame.

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a stack that contains a “frame” or group of data. For a call stack, this would be a function and its arguments.

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tuple.

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A data type that contains a sequence of elements of any type, like a list, but is immutable. Tuples can be used wherever an immutable type is required, such as a key in a dictionary (see next chapter).

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tuple assignment.

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An assignment to all of the elements in a tuple using a single assignment statement. Tuple assignment occurs in parallel rather than in sequence, making it useful for swapping values.

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