AP CS Principles Unit 1 Vocab

strong password

something that is easy for a user to remember but would be difficult for someone else to guess based on knowledge of that user

algorithm

a finite set of instructions that accomplish a task

abstraction

The process of reducing complexity by hiding unnecessary details to make it easier to think about a problem

sequencing

the application of each step of an algorithm in the order in which the code statements are given

selection

determines which parts of an algorithm are executed based on a condition being true or false

iteration

A repeating portion of an algorithm. Iteration repeats a specified number of times or until a given condition is met

encryption

the process of encoding data to prevent unauthorized access

decryption

the process of decoding the data

programming language

used to implement algorithms executed by programs

problem

a general description of a task that can (or cannot) be solved with an algorithm

instance of a problem

a specific task that needs to be solved with specific input

decision problem

a problem with a yes/no answer

optimization problem

a problem with the goal of finding the "best" solution among many

decidable problem

problem in which an algorithm can be constructed to answer "yes" or "no" for all inputs

undecidable problem

a problem for which no algorithm can be constructed that is always capable of providing a correct yes-or-no answer

scalability

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

efficiency

an estimation of the amount of computational resources used by an algorithm; typically expressed as a function of the size of the input

linear or sequential search

search algorithms that check each element of a list, in order, until the desired value is found or all elements in the list have been checked

binary search

a search algorithm that starts at the middle of a sorted set of numbers and removes half of the data; this process repeats until the desired value is found or all elements have been eliminated

heuristic

an approach to a problem that produces a solution that is not guaranteed to be optimal but may be used when techniques that are guaranteed to always find an optimal solution are impractical

algorithmic bias

bias embedded into algorithms and any level of software development