AP CSA Unit 1

motherboard

circuit board all computers have (has CPU, heat sink cover over the CPU, RAM)

RAM

random access memory, can’t store files

hard drive

long-term storage

solid-state drive

faster and more durable (newer replacement of hard drive)

operating system

program that lets you interact with computer (ex. windows, MacOS, AppleiOS, Google Android)

application/app

a software program that lets you do things

Charles Babbage

conceived the Analytical Engine (machine with memory + calculations unit, can be programmed), designed the Difference Engine that was build much later

Alan Turing

described the General Purpose Computer - a machine that could compute any problem with a set of instructions

Ada Lovelace

first programmer, made program for Bernoulli numbers computations for Babbage’s machine

Grace Hopper

discovered a dead moth in a machine, coined the term “debugging”, made the first computer compiler (A-0), made the COBOL programming language

ROM

read only memory, Stores essential core startup code and hardware setting such as the code to BOOT UP the OS

hard drive

stores programs and data needed long-term, the actual OS itself

System SW

supports basic operations of a computer

Application SW

allows human users to accomplish specialized tasks

machine language

binary code, computer language, hard for humans to understand

assembly language

uses mnemonic names for commands, symbolic names for memory addresses, needed an assembler, requires many instructions for simple process, not portable

Why did assembly language need many instructions for simple processes?

It was 1 to 1

high-level language

more English-like, needed a compiler, most languages required a specific CPU to run, no longer 1 to 1

What type of CPU can Java be complied and run on?

Any CPU for running, any CPU for compiling. Doesn’t need to be the same ones!

mnemonic

assisting/related to memory. Variables.

Assembler

translates assembly language to machine language

Compiler

translates high-level, human read-able languages to machine instructions for a particular CPU

FORTRAN

FORmula TRANslator

FORTRAN purpose

scientific/mathematical applications

COBOL

COmmon Business-Oriented Language

COBOL purpose

business purpose/navy

BASIC

Beginners All-Purpose Symbolic Instructional Code

BASIC purpose

instructional use, but had no structure

Pascal purpose

educational use, but not robust enough for business adaptation

C

developed by AT&T Bell Labs

James Gosling

developer of Java, a language based on C and C++ that was secure, robust, and portable

Portable

able to write once and can be run anywhere

C++

super set of C language with object-oriented capabilities added, foundation for modern-day languages

Software Engineering

application of systematic and disciplined approach to the development, testing, and maintenance of a program

Software Life Cycle

sequences of stages taken from conception to operation of a program

IDE

Integrated Development Environment, combines many features together to be able to edit, compile, run, debug, etc. in one product