AP CSP Unit 3 Vocabulary

for the AP CSP bbgs ✨

procedure

a named collection of steps in an algorithm that can be reused anytime it is needed without restating the detailed procedures (abstraction)

concatenation

chaining together or placing two or more separate things side by side so that they are treated as one.

string

a linear sequence of characters, words, or other data

dichotomous

in which something can only be one thing or another (yes or no)

binary code

code represented with the two symbols of 1 and 0

bits

the foundation for digital computing (1s and 0s) - short for binary digits

digital

how information is stored, accessed, transformed, and used by computers

state space

the space of potential possibilities

exponential growth

the rate of growth that rapidly increases in proportion to the growing total number or size

decimal

describes the base-10 number system. The most commonly used number system

ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange)

a table that outlines a common set of conventions for converting between binary values and alphanumeric characters

alphanumeric

the characters that consist of uppercase and lowercase letters and numerals 0-9

digital noise

irrelevant or meaningless data that has found its way into otherwise meaningful code

abstraction

the process of removing or suppressing details to create a manageable level of complexity

bit string

a sequence of bits that can be used to represent sets or manipulate binary data

mapping

associating each element of a given set with one or more elements of a second set

data

characters, symbols, or quantities on which operations are performed, stored, and/or transmitted by a computer

unicode

a binary encoding system representing much more of the world's text than ASCII (represents 65,536 different characters)

hexadecimal

a base-16 number system using numbers 0-9 and letters A-F to represent eight binary digits or one byte

Morse Code

a code where letters are represented by combinations of long and short signals of light or sound

Baudot Code

a binary code invented by Emile Baudot in 1870 that encodes 32 characters

variable-width encoding

using codes of different lengths to encode a character set (e.g., Morse Code)

fixed-width encoding

using codes with a fixed width to encode a character set (e.g., Baudot Code)

discrete

separate or divided (digital)

continuous

unbroken, without interruption (analog)

approximation

digital copies are only approximations of the natural object

analog

non-digital signals represented by a continuously variable physical quantity

list

a data structure (also called an array) that stores multiple pieces of information at once

data structure

a particular way of organizing and storing data, such as an array or table

index value

the representation of the location of each item in a list

output

observable behaviors generated by the computer, such as animation, sound, and text

join

a block in Scratch that concatenates or links two values together

linear search

a method for finding a target value within a list by checking each value until a match is found or all elements are searched

substring

a subset of a string of alphanumeric fields or variables