AP Computer Science Principles 2024 Cheatsheet Flashcards

AP Computer Science Principles Flashcards

Computing Innovation

An innovation that uses a program as a key part of its function.

Physical Computing Innovation Examples

Robots, Tablets, Smart Tech

Non-Physical Computing Innovation Examples

Social Media, Video Games

Collaboration in Programming

Allows for diverse ideas and thoughts that cater to different people.

Pair Programming

When two people share one computer and take turns coding.

Program Purpose

What a program is designed to do (ex: solving problems, creative expression).

Code Segments

A smaller collection of statements that are part of a program.

Code Statements

Individual instructions in a program.

Program Inputs

Pieces of data (visual, auditory, touch, etc.) that a computer takes in and processes.

Program Outputs

The data (same types as inputs) that the computer returns.

Program Event

An action that gives a program data to respond to.

Program Behavior

How a program will respond to a user interacting with it.

Iterative Development Process

Develop working prototypes of a program and go back through the cycle to redevelop the program.

Incremental Development Process

Break a problem into small parts and then reassemble the solution when each party is fixed.

Program Documentation

A description of how something in your program works.

Comments

Program documentation written directly into the program itself.

Logic Errors

Unexpected behavior in a program's output.

Syntax Errors

The code does not work properly because it is typed or written incorrectly.

Run-Time Errors

Error occurs while code runs.

Overflow Errors

The numbers are too big for the computer.

Hand Tracing

Manually tracking your variables' values as your program goes along.

Print Statements

Printing out values to make sure they’re correct.

Abstraction

Reduces complexity by only focusing on the most important parts & hiding the irrelevant parts from the user.

1 byte

8 bits

Hexadecimal

Used for RGB color codes & it uses Base 16.

ASCII Code

Converts text to binary format.

Analog Data

Measured continuously & changes smoothly.

Digital Data

Measured digitally and leaves out extra data by simplifying the data collected (form of abstraction).

Data Compression

Dependent on 1) the method used and 2) the amount of repeated info in the data.

Lossless Compression

Less compression & better file quality.

Lossy Compression

More compression & worse file quality.

Metadata

Data about data.

Data Mining

Examining very large data sets to find information.

Transforming Data

Editing or modifying data (ex: doubling every number/graphing data points).

Cleaning Data

Making data uniform w/o changing meaning (ex: correcting misspelled words).

Data Types

Numbers, strings, lists and booleans

Strings

An ordered list of characters ("hello world").

Substrings

Part of a string (“ello”).

String Concatenation

Occurs when two strings or more are connected w/ a “+”.

List (array)

An ordered sequence of elements.

Element

An individual value in a list.

Index

Number that represents their position in the list (ex: in the list [5,6,7], 5 is at index number 1 because it’s in the first position).

Booleans

Either True or False; go with the logical operators: NOT, AND and OR.

MOD (%)

Gives you the remainder of 2 #'s.

Algorithm

Has instructions that accomplish a task or solve a problem; created using sequencing, selection, and iteration.

Sequencing

Means that all of the code is executed in the order they are written in.

Selection

If statements: have conditions that need to be met for the selection to run.

Else Statements

Are attached to if statements which specify what happens if a condition is not met.

Nested Conditional Statements

Have conditional statements inside of conditional statements.

Iteration

“repeat n times”/”repeat until”; you can use NOT, AND and OR to write loops.

Binary Search

Type of algorithm used to search; works by splitting the data set and eliminates ½ the data with each round of splitting.

Procedures

Programming instructions that are also called methods or functions.

Parameters

Input variables of a procedure.

Arguments

A procedure call with defined values.

Calling a Procedure

You can call a procedure without knowing how it works: this is an example of abstraction.

Internet

Interconnection and networks.

Computer Network

When multiple computing devices (ex: computer, tablet) communicate with each other.

Data Packets

Data on the internet is split into these with metadata (data about the data packets) attached to each packet to tell the routers information.

Routing

The process of finding the best path to deliver information.

Path

Sequences of connected computing devices (routers) that begin at the sender and end at the receiver.

Bandwidth

The rate of data transfer from one device to another; megabits per second.

Protocol

Set of rules; the internet uses the TCP/IP and UDP protocols to communicate.

World Wide Web

A system of web-pages, programs, and files; runs on the Internet but is not the internet.

Scalability

The capacity to change in size and scale to meet new demands.

Fault Tolerant

Something can still function even w/ a partial malfunction.

Redundancy

Duplication of things; helps make the internet fault tolerant.

Sequential Computing

Traditional programming where each program is processed at a time.

Parallel Computing

When a program is broken into smaller operations and processed at the same time using multiple processors.

Distributed Computing

Multiple devices communicate together to run a program.

Sequential Solution

Takes as long as the # of all steps in a program; With 3 steps of a, b, and c length, the sequential solution equals a + b + c.

Parallel Computing Solution

Faster w less # of cores; if all steps are independent, find the solution that results in the minimum possible time.

Speedup of a Parallel Solution

sequential solution time/parallel solution time.

Digital Divide

Gaps between those who have access to the internet and those who do not.

Computing Bias

Computing innovations can reflect existing racial/gender/etc biases. Ex: recruiting algorithms that prefer one race or gender over another.

Intellectual Property

The work that people consider “theirs”.

Copyright

The person who created something determines who uses their creation.

Creative Commons

Copyright license for creators to give others the ability to use their work.

Open-Sourcing

Work is freely shared, distributed, and modified.

Open Access

Research available to public w/ out restrictions.

Crowdsourcing

Getting a large amount of input or information from people on the Internet.

Citizen Science

Scientific research that the general population helps to conduct.

Personally Identifiable Information (PII)

Information that can be used to identify you.

Virus vs Worm

Viruses are attached to infected files and must be activated by the user; worms can operate independently.

Malware

Malicious software that takes control of a system.

Phishing

Tricks people into giving their personal information away by pretending to be a trustworthy group.

Multi-Factor Authentication

Requiring multiple methods of verification.

Encryption

Encoding data to prevent others from accessing it.

Key

A secret piece of information used to encrypt data.

Symmetric Key Encryption

One key for both encrypting & decrypting.

Public Key Encryption

Public key to encrypt & private key to decrypt.