AP CSP

computational artifact

an object created by a human being that involves the use of computation in some way, for example a mobile app or a web page

event-driven programming

a programming approach whereby the program's behavior is controlled by writing code that responds to various events that occur, such as Button clicks

hardware

the large and small physical components that make up a computers such as the computer's keyboard or its processor

software

the computer programs that make up a computer system such as the mobile apps we will be creating in this course

abstraction

one of the seven big ideas of the CS Principles curriculum. An abstraction is a simplified and general representation of some complex object or process. One example --we'll encounter many in this course, including abstractions used in computer programming -- would be a Google map

binary number

a number written in the binary system, a system that uses only two digits, 0s and 1s

bit

short for binary digit

blacklist

in internet terminology, a generic term for a list of email addresses or IP addresses that are origination with known spammers

character

any symbol that requires one byte of storage

cyberspace

a metaphor for describing the non-physical terrain created by computer systems

data

data is distinct information that is formatted in a special way. Data exists in a variety of forms, like text on paper or bytes stored in electronic memory

data center

are physical or virtual infrastructures used by enterprises to house computer, server and networking systems and components for the company's IT (information technology) needs

data network

a telecommunications network which allows computers to exchange data

disk drive

a randomly addressable and rewritable storage device

intellectual property

refers to any property that is created using original thought. Traditional intellectual property include patents, copyrights, and trademarks

Moore's Law

The number of transistors per square inch on integrated circuits has doubled every year since the integrated circuit was invented

network

a group of two or more computer systems linked together

processor

short for microprocessor or CPU

social networking

a social structure made of nodes that are generally individuals or organizations. A social network represents relationships and flows between people, groups, organizations, animals, computers, or other information/knowledge processing entities

whitelist

a generic name for a list of email address or IP addresses that are considered to be spam free

algorithm

a formula or set of steps for solving a particular problem

analog

a device or system that represents changing values as continuously variable physical quantities

ASCII

a code for representing English characters as numbers, with each letter assigned a number from 0 to 127

cloud computing

comparable to grid computing, cloud computing relies on sharing resources rather than having local servers handle applications

cryptography

the art of protecting information by transforming it into an unreadable format, called cipher text

digital

any system based on discontinuous data or events. Computers are digital machines because at the basic level they can distinguish between just two values, 0 and 1

digital signal processing

(DSP) refers to manipulating analog information

download

to copy data (usually an entire file) from a main source to a peripheral device

lossless compression

data compression techniques in which no data is lost

lossy compression

data compression techniques in which some amount of data is lost. This technique attempts to eliminate redundant information

megabyte

used to describe data storage, 1,048,576 bytes (abbreviated MB)

megapixel

one million pixels, used in reference to the resolution of a graphics device

modeling

process of representing a real-world object of phenomenon as a set of mathematical equations

OCR

optical character recognition, the branch of computer science that involves reading text from paper and translating the images into a form that the computer can manipulate

pixel

short for a picture element, a single point in a graphic image

raster

the rectangular area of a display screen actually being used to display images

render

refers to the process of adding realism to a computer graphics by adding 3-D qualities, such as shadows and variations in color and shade

spam

spam is electronic junk mail or junk newsgroup postings

steganography

the art and science of hiding information by embedding messages within other, seemingly harmless messages

upload

to transmit data from a computer to a bulletin board service, mainframe, or network

ad hoc

when used to describe programming, it means a quick fix for a problem, not usually the best example that will sustain an issue

database

a collection of information organized in such a way that a computer program can quickly selected the desired pieces of data. Often abbreviated DB

data aggregation

process in which information is gathered and expressed in a summary form for purposes such as statistical analysis

data mining

a class of database applications that look for hidden patterns in a group of data that could be used to predict future behavior

data repository

generically refers to a general place where data is stored and maintained

data sources

name given to the connection setup from a database to a server. The name is commonly used when creating a query to the database

digital detritus

term used to describe unsightly debris that accrues as the result of the experience of digital living

dossier

a collection of documents about a person, event, or subject

EDR

event data recorder

encode

the phrase used to describe the method of preparing data for storage or transmission

encryption

the translation of data into secret code

IP address

an identifier for devices on a TCP/IP network

metadata

data about data; describes how and when and by whom a particular set of data was collected, and how data is formatted

query

a request for information from a database

RFID

radio frequency identification, similar to barcodes

background

multitasking computers are capable of executing several tasks, or programs, at the same time

binary

pertaining to a number system that has just two unique digits

bot

short for robot, a computer program that runs automatically

cache

a special high-speed storage mechanism

firewall

prevent unauthorized access to or from a private network

foreground

in multiprocessing systems, the process that is currently accepting input from the keyboard or other input device

HTML

hypertext markup language, a standardized system for tagging text files to achieve font, color, graphic, and hyperlink effects on World Wide Web pages

URL

abbreviation of uniform resource locator it is the global address of documents and other resources on the World Wide Web