WGU PROGRAMMING FUNDAMENTALS &
COMPUTATIONAL THINKING FLASHCARDS 2025/2026
| VARIABLES, LOOPS & FUNCTIONS | 100% 300+
VERIFIED Q&A
Program - Consists of instructions executing one at a time.
Input - A program gets data, perhaps from a file, keyboard, touchscreen, network,
etc.
Process - A programs performs computations on that data, such as adding two values like x +
y.
Output - A programs puts that data somewhere, such as to a file, screen, network,
etc.
Computational thinking - Creating a sequence of instructions to solve a problem.
Algorithm - A sequence of instructions that solves a problem.
Statement - Carries out some action and executing one at a time.
String literal - Consists of text (characters) within double quotes, as in "Go #57!".
Cursor - Indicates where the next output item will be placed in the output.
Newline - A special two-character sequence \n whose appearance in an output string literal
causes the cursor to move to the next output line. The newline exists invisibly in the
output.
, Comment - Text added to a program, read by humans to understand the code, but ignored by
the program when executed.
Whitespace - Refers to blank spaces (space and tab characters) between items within a
statement, and to newlines. Whitespace helps improve readability for humans, but for
execution purposes is mostly ignored.
Pseudocode - Text that resembles a program in a real programming language but is simplified
to aid human understanding.
Assignment statement - Assigns a variable with a value, such as x = 5. An assignment
statement's left side must be a variable. The right side is an expression.Examples: x = 5, y =
a, or z = w + 2.
= - In programming, = is an assignment of a left-side variable with a right-side value. It does
not represent equality like in mathematics.
Variable declaration - Declares a new variable, specifying the variable's name and
type.
Identifier - A name created by a programmer for an item like a variable or function. An
identifier must: be a sequence of letters (a-z, A-Z), underscores (_), and digits (0-9), AND
start with a letter or underscore.
Reserved word or keyword - A word that is part of the language, like integer, Get, or Put. A
programmer cannot use a reserved word as an identifier.
Lower camel case - Abuts multiple words, capitalizing each word except the first, such as
numApples.
Underscore separated - Words are lowercase and separated by an underscore, such as
num_apples.
COMPUTATIONAL THINKING FLASHCARDS 2025/2026
| VARIABLES, LOOPS & FUNCTIONS | 100% 300+
VERIFIED Q&A
Program - Consists of instructions executing one at a time.
Input - A program gets data, perhaps from a file, keyboard, touchscreen, network,
etc.
Process - A programs performs computations on that data, such as adding two values like x +
y.
Output - A programs puts that data somewhere, such as to a file, screen, network,
etc.
Computational thinking - Creating a sequence of instructions to solve a problem.
Algorithm - A sequence of instructions that solves a problem.
Statement - Carries out some action and executing one at a time.
String literal - Consists of text (characters) within double quotes, as in "Go #57!".
Cursor - Indicates where the next output item will be placed in the output.
Newline - A special two-character sequence \n whose appearance in an output string literal
causes the cursor to move to the next output line. The newline exists invisibly in the
output.
, Comment - Text added to a program, read by humans to understand the code, but ignored by
the program when executed.
Whitespace - Refers to blank spaces (space and tab characters) between items within a
statement, and to newlines. Whitespace helps improve readability for humans, but for
execution purposes is mostly ignored.
Pseudocode - Text that resembles a program in a real programming language but is simplified
to aid human understanding.
Assignment statement - Assigns a variable with a value, such as x = 5. An assignment
statement's left side must be a variable. The right side is an expression.Examples: x = 5, y =
a, or z = w + 2.
= - In programming, = is an assignment of a left-side variable with a right-side value. It does
not represent equality like in mathematics.
Variable declaration - Declares a new variable, specifying the variable's name and
type.
Identifier - A name created by a programmer for an item like a variable or function. An
identifier must: be a sequence of letters (a-z, A-Z), underscores (_), and digits (0-9), AND
start with a letter or underscore.
Reserved word or keyword - A word that is part of the language, like integer, Get, or Put. A
programmer cannot use a reserved word as an identifier.
Lower camel case - Abuts multiple words, capitalizing each word except the first, such as
numApples.
Underscore separated - Words are lowercase and separated by an underscore, such as
num_apples.
