Glossary
========

Contents
--------

.. toctree::
   :maxdepth: 1


Indices and tables
------------------

* :ref:`genindex`
* :ref:`modindex`
* :ref:`search`

A list of terms that relates to Python and this course.


.. glossary::

   Block
      A block is a piece of Python program text that is executed as a unit. The following are blocks:

         * A module
         * A function body
         * A class definition
         * Each command typed interactively in the interpreter
         * A script file (a file given as standard input to the interpreter or specified as a command line argument to the interpreter)
         * A script command (a command specified on the interpreter command line with the ‘-c’ option)
         * The string argument passed to the built-in functions eval() and exec() is a code block.

      A code block is executed in an execution frame. A frame contains some administrative information (used for debugging) and determines where and how execution continues after the code block’s execution has completed. [1]_

   Class
      The blueprint for a data-type. Describes the functionality of the data-type and how new instances of the data-type are to be created and initialized.

   Class-Instance
      A unique object that has been created and conforms to a class definition, complete with its own set of instance specific data.

   Class-Object
      The object that results from executing a :py:keyword:`class` definition. The class-object represents the class definition or blueprint.

   Deep-copy
      Non-nested AND nested child objects are copied recursively.

   Dunder
      The use of 2 underscores sequentially, like ``__``.

   EOF
      End of file

   Hashable
      In the context of Python, refers to an object that has the same has value throughout its lifetime and can be compared for equality. Mutable values are therefore by definition not hashable (their value can change over their lifetime). All of Python's immutable built-in objects are hashable.

   IDE
      Integrated Development Environment. A project development tool that, at its minimum, usually consolidates a code editor and a debugger together in the same application.


   Interpreter
      A program that parses instructions provided at run-time, arranges for them to be executed and returns the results to the appropriate location.

   JSON
      JavaScript Object Notation. Specificed by :rfc:`7159`. Also see the JSON web `site <http://json.org/>`_.

   Module
      * Think of a module as a container with attributes, one attribute being a namespace
      * Can be a file (with .py extension) containing python fn/class definitions and executable statements.

         * In this case, the module name is the name of the file

      * Can be a directory (with a init.py file inside it), in which case it is referred to as a package.

         * Packages can contain other modules and sub-packages
         * In this case, the package name is the name of the directory
         * The module object created has a __path__ attribute

      Thus, all packages are modules; not all modules are packages

   Object
      Can refer to either, an instance of a class, or, the ultimate base class of all objects (:py:class:`object`)

   PyCon
      Python Conference. A trademarked `term <https://www.python.org/psf/trademarks/pycon/>`_ referring to worldwide conference activities put on to promote the Python language.

   Shallow-Copy
      Non-nested child objects are copied. Nested child objects still point to the original.

   Wheel
      A Built Distribution format introduced by :pep:`427`.


.. [1] https://docs.python.org/3.5/reference/executionmodel.html#structure-of-a-program