5.4. Glossary

aliasing

A circumstance where two or more variables refer to the same object.

counter

A variable used to count something, usually initialized to zero and then incremented.

delimiter

A character or string used to indicate where a string should be split.

element

One of the values in a list (or other sequence); also called items.

empty string

A string with no characters and length 0, represented by two quotation marks.

equivalent

Having the same value(s).

identical

Being the same object (which implies equivalence).

immutable

The property of a sequence whose items cannot be assigned.

index

An integer value used to select an item in a sequence, such as a character in a string or an element in a list.

item

One of the values in a sequence.

list

A sequence of values.

list traversal

The sequential accessing of each element in a list.

method

A function that is associated with an object and called using dot notation.

nested list

A list that is an element of another list.

newline

A special character used in files and strings to indicate the end of a line.

object

Something a variable can refer to. An object has a type and a value. Objects contain data and code (methods).

reference

The association between a variable and its value.

search

A pattern of traversal that stops when it finds what it is looking for.

sequence

An ordered set; that is, a set of values where each value is identified by an integer index.

slice

A part of a string specified by a range of indices.

text file

A sequence of characters stored in permanent storage like a hard drive.

traverse

To iterate through the items in a sequence, performing a similar operation on each.