AP Computer Science Principles Flashcards

Flashcards covering vocabulary terms from the provided AP Computer Science Principles lecture notes.

Event driven program

A type of program that responds to events triggered by user actions, system events, or other sources

Sequential Program

Happens in order.

Iterative development process

Programmers develop working prototypes of their programs and go back through the stages of their development method

Incremental development process

Programmers break the program they are working on into smaller pieces and make sure that each piece works before adding it to the whole

Library

A collection of functions that can be used in different programs

Syntax Errors

When the spelling and/or punctuation rules of the programming language aren't followed.

Logic Errors

A mistake in a program's base logic that causes unexpected behavior.

Run-Time Errors

An error that occurs when the program is running.

Overflow Errors

An error that occurs when a computer tries to handle a number that’s outside of its defined range of values.

Debugging

The process of finding and fixing errors.

Data

Collection of facts

Number base

The number of digits or digit combos that a system uses to represent values

Bit

Smallest unit of info stored or manipulated on a computer (0/1)

Analog Data

Data that is measured continuously.

Sampling

Recording an analog signal at regular discrete moments and converting them or digital signals

Data Abstraction

Filtering out specific details to focus on the info needed to process the data

Data compression

Set of steps of packing data into a smaller space while allowing for the original data to be seen

Run length encoding

Replacing repeating data with a run that represents the number and value of the repeated data.

Lossy Data Compression

Data compression that sacrifices some data in order to achieve greater compression

Metadata

Data about data. IT DOES NOT AFFECT THE DATA ITSELF!!

Data Mining

The process of examining very large data sets to find useful information such as patterns

Cleaning Data

Creating a uniform of data.

Bar-Chart

Shows data with rectangular bars with heights or lengths proportional to the values that they represents

Scatter plots

Uses dots to represent values for two different numeric variables

Line graphs

Use lines to represent the values.

Variable

Placeholder in your program for a value.

Boolean

Can only represent two values: true or false

Data types

Different categories of data that your computer can represent

Substring

Part of an existing string

List

An ordered sequence of elements; also known as arrays

NOT operator

Reverse what the condition evaluates to.

AND operator

Combines two conditions; only true if both conditions are met

OR operator

Two conditions; true if one condition or the other is met.

Nested conditional statements

Conditional statements inside conditional statements.

Element

An individual value in a list

Data Abstraction

Simplifies a set of data by representing it in some general way

Binary Search

Algorithm starts in the middle of a sorted data set and eliminates half of the data based on what it’s looking for.

Linear Search

Checks each element of a list in order until the desired value is found or all elements in the list have been checked.

Procedure

A group of programming instructions; also called methods or functions.

Parameters

The input variables of a procedure.

Arguments

Values passed into the procedure.

Return statement

Used in a function to specify the value that should be returned when the function is called

Procedural Abstraction

Procedures allow you to solve a large problem based on the solution to smaller subproblems.

Selection

Process of making a decision based on a condition or criteria

Algorithm

Set of instructions used to accomplish a specific task or solve a problem

Sequencing

Consists of steps that go in order

Iteration

Refers to the repetition of a set of instructions until a specific condition is met.

Infinite loops

Loops that continue to repeat indefinitely because the condition controlling the loop is always true or there is no condition at all.

MOD operator

Modulo: a is divided by b and MOD gives you what the remainder would be.

Simulations

Creating a model or representation of a real world system or phenomenon on a computer

Problem

A task that an algorithm is trying to solve while an instance of the problem is a problem with a specific input.

Decision problems

Yes or no answer

Optimization problem

Wants the best answer!

Algorithm’s efficiency

Estimate of how many computational resources (power, memory, time) it uses.

Heuristic

An approximate solution

Halting problem

Asks that if a computer is given a random program, can an algorithm ever be written that will answer the question, will this program ever stop running?, for all programs?

Decidable problem

A decision problem.

Undecidable problem

A decision problem for which an algorithm CANNOT be written that’s always capable of providing a correct yes or no answer.

Internet

A computer network consisting of interconnected networks that use standardized, open (NONPROPRIETARY) communication protocols

Computing network

A group of computing devices that can share data with each other.

Computing system

A group of computing devices and programs working together for a common purpose.

Computing device

A physical machine that can run a program.

Paths

Sequences of connected computing devices known as ROUTERS

Routing

The process of finding a path to take.

Bandwidth

The rate of data transfer it allows from one device to another.

Latency

How late the bits arrive.

Protocol

A standard set of rules that everyone agrees on.

TCP/IP

Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol

World Wide Web

A system of web pages, programs and files

HTTP

This is governed by the HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol) protocol which controls how web page data is transmitted (enables communication between web browsers)

Scalability

Capacity for the system to change in size and scale to meet new demands

Fault tolerance

It can function properly even in the event of one part failing

Redundancy

The inclusion of extra components that can be used to mitigate failure of a system of other components fail

Parallel Computing

A program is broken into smaller sequential computing operations using multiple PROCESSORS

Sequential computing

Traditional method of executing instructions in a sequential order

Distributed computing

Multiple DEVICES are used to run a program

Speedup

Measure of how much faster one solution or algorithm performs compared to another solution or algorithm when solving the same problem.

The Digital divide

People can be harmed due to unequal access to technology combined with the increasing importance of technology in the world

Computing bias

Technology exacerbate currently existing human biases perpetuating inequality

Digital divide

Gaps between those who have access to technology and the internet and those who don’t

Digital literacy programs

Programs that teach people how to use the internet.

Biases

Tendencies or inclinations, especially those that are unfair or prejudicial

Machine learning models

Computer programs that can learn from data and make predictions or decisions without being programmed.

Citizen science

Scientific research that the general population helps to conduct.

Crowdsourcing

The practice of getting a large amount of input or information from people on the internet

Intellectual Property

The creations of the mind such as inventions, literary and artistic works, designs and images used in commerce

Public Domain

Creative works that are free to use without permission

Copyright

The legal right that the creator of a work has to it.

Economic rights

Rights to financial benefits from the use of work.

Moral rights

The right to claim authorship or the right to prevent harmful changes.

Plagiarism

When you take the content of someone else and claim it as your own.

Creative Commons

A public copyright license that creators use when they want to GIVE others the right to use their work.

Fair Use

Allows the use of copyrighted material without permission for limited purposes such as new reporting.

Open Sourcing

Allows for work to be freely distributed, and modified.

Open Access

Refers to research available to the general public free of restrictions like academic journals.

Targeted Marketing

The act of search engines tracking your search history and use it to suggest websites and ads which is known as TARGETED MARKETING.

Personally Identifiable Information

This is the information that can be used to identify you

Virus

A malicious program that can gain unauthorized access to something and copy itself. It must be activated by the user.

Worm

Can operate independently.

Malware

Malicious software that is intended to damage.