AP Computer Science Principles vocab terms

program

a collection of program statements that performs a specific task when run by a computer

software

another term for a program

code segment

a collection of program statements that is part of a program

behavior

how a program functions during execution

program inputs

tactile, audio, visual, or text data sent to a computer for processing by a program

event

an action that supplies input data to a program

program outputs

any data sent from a program to a device

program documentation

a written description of the function of a code segment, event, procedure, or program and how it was developed

comments

a form of program documentation written into the program to be read by people and do not affect how a program runs

logic error

a mistake in the algorithm or program that causes it to behave incorrectly or unexpectedly

syntax error

a mistake in the program where the rules of the programming language are not followed

run-time error

a mistake in the program that occurs during the execution of a program

overflow error

an error that occurs when a computer attempts to handle a number that is outside of the defined range of values

testing

using defined inputs to ensure that an algorithm or program is producing the expected outcomes

bit

shorthand for binary digit

binary digit

either 0 or 1

byte

8 bits

abstraction

the process of reducing complexity by focusing on the main idea, hiding details irrelevant to the question at hand

sampling technique

way of closely approximating analog data to store it digitally

samples

values of an analog signal measured at regular intervals

data compression

reduces the size (number of bits) of transmitted or stored data

lossless

data compression algorithms that guarantee complete reconstruction of the original data

lossy

data compression algorithms that can significantly reduce the number of bits but only allow reconstruction of an approximation of the original data

information

the collection of facts and patterns extracted from data

metadata

data about data, for example the date creation or the file size

cleaning data

a process that makes data uniform without changing its meaning (e.g., replacing all equivalent abbreviations, spellings, and capitalizations with the same word)

variable

an abstraction inside a program that can hold a value

types

kinds of representable data, including numbers, Booleans, lists, and strings

list

an ordered sequence of elements

element

an individual value in a list that is assigned a unique index

index

a common method for referencing the elements in a list or string using natural numbers

string

an ordered sequence of characters

array

another term for list, depending on the programming language

algorithm

a finite set of instructions that accomplish a specific task

sequencing

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

code statement

a part of program code that expresses an action to be carried out

expression

a part of program code that is evaluated to produce a single value, and can consist of a value, a variable, an operator, or a procedure call that returns a value

string concatenation

joins together two or more strings end-to-end to make a new string

substring

part of an existing string

Boolean value

either true or false

selection

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

iteration

a repeating portion of an algorithm

procedure

a named group of programming instructions that may have parameters and return values

method

another term for procedure, depending on the programming language

function

another term for procedure, in programming languages such as Python

parameters

input variables of a procedure

arguments

specify the values of the parameters when a procedure is called

modularity

the subdivision of a computer program into separate subprograms

simulation

a representation that uses varying sets of values to reflect the changing state of a phenomenon

problem

a general description of a task that can (or cannot) be solved algorithmically

instance

a problem along with a specific input, for example sorting the list (2,3,1,7)

decision problem

a problem with a yes/no answer (e.g., is there a path from A to B?)

optimization problem

a problem with the goal of finding the "best" solution among many (e.g., what is the shortest path from A to B?)

efficiency

an estimation of the amount of computational resources used by an algorithm

reasonable amount of time

polynomial efficiency or lower (constant, linear, square, cube, etc.)

unreasonable amount of time

exponential or factorial efficiencies

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

decidable problem

a decision problem for which an algorithm can be written to produce a correct output for all inputs (e.g., "Is the number even?")

undecidable problem

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

computing device

a physical artifact that can run a program

computing system

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

computer network

a group of interconnected computing devices capable of sending or receiving data

path

a sequence of directly connected computing devices on a computer network that begins at a sender and ends at a receiver

routing

the process of finding a path from sender to receiver

bandwidth

the maximum amount of data that can be sent in a fixed amount of time

protocol

an agreed-upon set of rules that specify the behavior of a system

open

nonproprietary

scalability

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

data stream

information that is passed through the Internet

packets

chunks of data that make up a data stream

redundancy

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

fault-tolerant

a system that can support failures and still continue to function

sequential computing

a computational model in which operations are performed in order one at a time

parallel computing

a computational model where the program is broken into multiple smaller sequential computing operations, some of which are performed simultaneously

distributed computing

a computational model in which multiple devices are used to run a program

crowdsourcing

the practice of obtaining input or information from a large number of people via the Internet

multifactor authentication

a method of computer access control in which a user is only granted access after successfully presenting several separate pieces of evidence to an authentication mechanism

encryption

the process of encoding data to prevent unauthorized access

decryption

the process of decoding data that has been encoded to prevent unauthorized access

computer virus

a malicious program that can copy itself and gain access to a computer in an unauthorized way

malware

software intended to damage a computing system or to take partial control over its operation

phishing

a technique that attempts to trick a user into providing personal information

keylogging

the use of a program to record every keystroke made by a computer user in order to gain fraudulent access to passwords and other confidential information

rogue access point

a wireless access point that gives unauthorized access to secure networks

if statements

affect the sequential flow of control by executing different statements based on the value of a Boolean expression

return value

result of a called procedure

speedup

the time it took to complete a task sequentially divided by the time it took to complete that task when done in parallel

digital divide

differing access to computing devices and the Internet, based on socioeconomic, geographic, or demographic characteristics

citizen science

scientific research conducted in whole or part by distributed individuals, many of whom may not be scientists, who contribute relevant data to research using their own computing devices

IP

Internet Protocol

TCP

Transmission Control Protocol

UDP

User Datagram Protocol

HTTP

Hypertext Transfer Protocol

PII

personally identifiable information