BAIN MUSC 336
Introduction to Computer Music

Max Programming Glossary

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Here is a listing of the most important computer programming concepts we will encounter during our study of Max along with a link to a relevant article in Wikipedia (WP). For a comprehensive computer programming dictionary, see Butterfield, et al. 2021 below.

Terms

1. Abstraction {WP}
2. Algorithm {WP}
3. Algorithmic music {WP}
   
4. ASCII {WP}, Extended ASCII {WP} & Unicode {WP}
5. Commenting code {WP}
6. Computer programming {WP}
7. Control flow {WP}
8. Counter {WP}
9. Central processing unit (CPU) {WP}
10. Cymatics {WP}
11. Data type {WP}
12. Debugging: syntax error & logical error {WP}
13. Depth-first search {WP}
14. Encapsulation {WP}
    
15. Execution (of a program) {WP}
16. Floating-point number {WP}
17. Flow chart {WP}
18. Generative art {WP}
19. Generative music {WP}
20. Gesture recognition {WP}
    
21. Graph {WP}
• Directed acyclic graph {WP}
22. Graphical programming language {WP}
23. Human-computer interaction (HCI) {WP}
24. Increment {WP}
25. Initialization (of a program) {WP}
26. Input/Output (I/O) {WP}
27. Iteration {WP}
28. Interpreted (programming) language {WP}
29. Integer {WP}
30. Loop {WP}
31. Markov chain {WP}
    
32. Message {WP}
33. Number {WP}
34. Object-oriented programming {WP}
35. Operating system {WP}
36. Parameters & Arguments {WP}
37. Peer programming {WP}
38. Preemptive multitasking {WP}
39. Programming language {WP}
40. Pseudorandomness {WP}
41. Program {WP} & Subprogram {WP}
42. Recursion {WP}
43. Scheduling {WP}
44. Stack {WP}
45. User Interface (UI) {WP}
46. Variable {WP}
47. Von Neumann architecture {WP}

WP - Wikipedia

References

Angius, Nicola, Giuseppe Primiero, and Raymond Turner, 2021. "The Philosophy of Computer Science", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Edward N. Zalta, ed. Available online at: <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2021/entries/computer-science/>.

Butterfield, Andrew, Gerald Ngondi, and Anne Kerr. 2021. Oxford: A Dictionary of Computer Science (ODCS), 7th ed. New York: Oxford University Press. {TCL}

Updated: September 6, 2025