Script  editor

The script editor allows users to write code in MEL and Python.  
It also shows the history, and a log of any errors that the script runs into.

The script editor lets the user interact with Maya in order to create tools for animation and modelling. 

shelf

The shelf displays tools that are available in your current workspace.
The items on the Maya shelf are the various tools and primitives  that you can add to the scene. 
Some of these objects include sphere, cube, cylinder, torus, plane, cone. 

marking menus

The marking menus within Maya are the menus that pop up when you hold right click within the viewport. you can use it to select tools and views quickly without moving your mouse outside the viewport. This is helpful because it means that tools are readily available quickly.

loops

For loops are loops that use the 'for' command, an example of how for Loops run in regards to numbers is:

The terminology used in 'for loops' in this example is: for every time 'i' is within the range of 0 and 15, print what 'i' is currently equal to.

While loops are loops that use the 'while' command, an example of how while loops operate in regards to numbers is:

the terminology that is used in regards to this loop is: while the variable 'i' is less than 15, print 'i' and then increase its value by 1.

script editing

script editing in Maya is done via the inbuilt script editor, you can write functions, loops, and commands and then compile it for it to run within your Maya scene.  The variation of python used within its script editor is almost identical to the versions of python that you can use in the IDLE.

functions 

Functions within python (otherwise known as subroutines) is code that can be easily recalled over and over by establishing commands that will make programs smaller, and easier to read and write. 

you start by defining a function by writing its contents and its name out like this:

you then call the function like I did above, writing any arguments needed to complete the function.

the return command will return the output from a function into any other variable you wish to assign it to. for instance if I wanted the output of a function to be written into another variable within the code. doing it this way is how functions operate seamlessly within code.