3.14 Libraries

Enduring Understanding

Programmers break down problems into smaller and more manageable pieces. By creating procedures and leveraging parameters, programmers generalize processes that can be reused. Procedures allow programmers to draw upon existing code that has already been tested, allowing them to write programs more quickly and with more confidence.

Learning Objective

Select appropriate libraries or existing code segments to use in creating new programs.

Essential Knowledge

A software library contains procedures that may be used in creating new programs.

Existing code segments can come from internal or external sources, such as libraries or previously written code.

The use of libraries simplifies the task of creating complex programs.

Application program interfaces (APIs) are specifications for how the procedures in a library behave and can be used.

Documentation for an API/library is necessary in understanding the behaviors provided by the API/library and how to use them.