AP Computer Science Principles Cheatsheet 2024

AP Computer Science Principles flashcards for exam review.

Computing Innovation

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

Collaboration

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

Pair Programming

Two people share one computer and take turns coding.

Program Function

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 Events

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 part 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.

Abstraction

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

ASCII code

Converts text to binary format.

Analog data

Data that is measured continuously & changes smoothly.

Digital data

Data that is measured digitally and leaves out extra data by simplifying the data collected (form of abstraction).

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).

String concatenation

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

Element

An individual value in a list.

Index

Number that represents the position in the list

Algorithm

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

Sequencing

Code is executed in the order it is written

Selection

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

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.

Internet

Interconnection and networks.

Computer network

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

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 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.

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.

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

Attached to infected files and must be activated by the user.

Worm

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.