IMPORTANT DIFFERENCES (CS 12)

Difference: random(), randint(), randrange()

Function	What it does	Example	Output example
random()	Returns a float in [0.0, 1.0).	random.random()	0.6723
randint(a, b)	Returns an int in [a, b] (inclusive).	random.randint(1, 10)	7
randrange(start, stop, step)	Returns an int from range(start, stop, step).	random.randrange(1, 10, 2)	3

Difference: sort() vs sorted()

Function	What it does	Example	Output example
sort()	Sorts list in place, returns None.	lst=[3,1,4]; lst.sort()	[1, 3, 4]
sorted()	Returns a new sorted list.	new_list = sorted([3,1,4])	[1, 3, 4]

Difference: lstrip() vs rstrip() vs strip()

Function	What it does	Example	Output example
lstrip()	Removes leading whitespace.	" hi ".lstrip()	"hi "
rstrip()	Removes trailing whitespace.	" hi ".rstrip()	" hi"
strip()	Removes both leading and trailing whitespace.	" hi ".strip()	"hi"

Difference: LAN, CAN, PAN, MAN, WAN

Network Type	Full form	Coverage area	Example
LAN	Local Area Network	Small area: home, office, school	Office/home Wi‑Fi
CAN	Campus Area Network	Campus or group of buildings	College campus network
PAN	Personal Area Network	Very small, a few meters	Bluetooth, wearables
MAN	Metropolitan Area Network	City‑wide	City Wi‑Fi, cable TV
WAN	Wide Area Network	Large / global	Internet, telecom backbones

Difference: seek() vs tell()

Function	What it does	Example	Output example
seek()	Moves file cursor to a position.	f.seek(5)	Cursor at pos 5
tell()	Returns current cursor position.	pos = f.tell()	5

Difference: read() vs readline() vs readlines()

Function	What it does	Example	Output example
read()	Reads entire file or N chars.	f.read()	Whole file as string
readline()	Reads one line.	f.readline()	Single line string
readlines()	Reads all lines to list.	f.readlines()	["L1", "L2"]

Difference: write() vs writelines()

Function	What it does	Example	Output example
write()	Writes a single string.	f.write("Hello")	Writes “Hello”
writelines()	Writes list of strings.	f.writelines(["L1\n","L2\n"])	Writes multiple lines

Difference: dump() vs load()

Function	What it does	Example	Output example
dump()	Serialize object to file (JSON).	json.dump(data, f)	Writes JSON
load()	Read JSON and deserialize.	data = json.load(f)	Python dict

Difference: MBps vs Mbps

Term	Full form	Measurement	Common use
MBps	Megabytes per second	Data speed in megabytes	File sizes, downloads
Mbps	Megabits per second	Data speed in megabits	Internet speed, bandwidth

Difference: fetchone() vs fetchall()

Function	What it does	Example	Output example
fetchone()	Gets next row from result.	cur.fetchone()	Single tuple
fetchall()	Gets all remaining rows.	cur.fetchall()	List of tuples

Difference: execute() vs executemany()

Function	What it does	Example	Output example
execute()	Executes single SQL statement.	cur.execute("INSERT ...", (1,"John"))	Inserts one row
executemany()	Executes same SQL for multiple params.	cur.executemany("INSERT ...", [(1,"J"),(2,"K")])	Inserts multiple rows