It’s not a terrible name, since it’s derived from the mathematical construct of vectors as n-tuples. In the case of vectors in programming, n relates to the size of the underlying array, and the tuple consists of the elements of the vector.
You can also define a vector by the equivalent “sides of the right triangle”. In 2D, the x,y coordinates. In computer science, vectors are n-tuples, so they represent a math/physics vector but in n-dimensions.
The only correct answer for a 101 introduction. It’s an incredible powerful intuition even in contexts where vectors are seemingly used as a list of numbers.
What do you mean? A vector is a direction and magnitude!
Maybe they mean std::vector in C++?
It’s a terrible name. The math answer is what I would give.
I myself was confused, when I first saw what a vector did in practice.
Really bad name.
But then I didn’t take Comp Sci.
It’s not a terrible name, since it’s derived from the mathematical construct of vectors as
n-tuples. In the case of vectors in programming,nrelates to the size of the underlying array, and the tuple consists of the elements of the vector.You can also define a vector by the equivalent “sides of the right triangle”. In 2D, the x,y coordinates. In computer science, vectors are n-tuples, so they represent a math/physics vector but in n-dimensions.
The only correct answer for a 101 introduction. It’s an incredible powerful intuition even in contexts where vectors are seemingly used as a list of numbers.