csp terms

computing innovation

the development and execution of new, or improved, computer processes, computer technologies, systems, and software applications that can have the potential to create a strong impact on the ways society works and lives.

collaboration

a dynamic process where individuals harness digital tools and platforms to work together towards a shared goal.

online tools

an electronic service provided by a custodian that allows the user, in an agreement distinct from the terms-of-service agreement between the custodian and user, to provide directions for disclosure or nondisclosure of digital assets to a third person.

Interpersonal skills in effective collaboration 

the behaviors and tactics a person uses to interact with others effectively (e.g. trust building, communication, leadership, creative problem solving, decision making, and conflict management)

data values

information that has been translated into letters, numbers, and/or symbols so that it can be read, moved, and manipulated by a machine

digital data

a discrete representation

bit

storage unit; short for binary digit

byte

a group of 8 bits

abstraction

the process of removing elements of a code or program that aren’t relevant or that distract from more important elements

number bases

specifies the number of digits used in the system (e.g. base-10 uses digits 0-9)

binary

base-2 system; uses digits 0 and 1

decimal

the decimal numeral system is the standard system for denoting integer and non-integer numbers

place value

the value of each digit in a number (e.g. the value of the 2 in 120 is 2 tens)

purpose of program

to find a sequence of instructions that will automate the performance of a task (which can be as complex as an operating system) on a computer, often for solving a given problem.

program/software

consists of a series of related instructions, organized for a common purpose, that tells the computer what tasks to perform and how to perform them

behavior (of a program)

he collection of all the program's executions

function (of a program)

what the program is intended to do

program inputs

data sent to a computer for processing by a program

event

an event is an action or occurrence recognized by software, often originating asynchronously from the external environment, that may be handled by the software.

event-driven programming

a programming paradigm in which the flow of the program is determined by actions, like user actions of tapping the screen

program outputs

the program giving something to the user.

program interface

a set of protocols for building software

program specifications

defines a programming language so that users and implementors can agree on what programs in that language mean.

design phase

a stage where software developers define the technical details of the product. Depending on the project, these details can include screen designs, databases, sketches, system interfaces, and prototypes.

program documentation

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

comments (in programs/software)

programmer-readable explanation or annotation in the source code of a computer program. For a human reader

acknowledgement (of code of others)

indicates how various senders and receivers handle blocks of data in a particular communication protocol.

testing (program/software)

Finding out how well something works.

variable

is a storage location (identified by a memory address) paried with an associated symbolic name, which contains some known or unknown quantity of information referred to as a value.

Variable naming (self-identify, camelCase, etc)

Variable naming (self-identify, camelCase, etc)

data types

a classification of data which tells the compiler or interpreter how the programmer intends to use the data.

assignment operator

assigns the value of its right-hand operand to a variable, a property, or an indexer element given by its left-hand operand.

algorithm

is a set of instructions designed to perform a specific task.

programming languages

languages used to create applications and, in multimedia, to produce sophisticated features such as creating animations and searching databases

algorithm construction

Every algorithm can be constructed using combinations of sequencing, selection, and iteration

software development process

A process of planning and managing software development.

software development process phases

planning, analysis, design, build, test, implement, and maintenance/support.

iterative development

a way of breaking down the software development lifecycle (SDLC) of a large application into smaller chunks.

incremental development

any combination of both iterative design or iterative method and incremental build model for development.

software design process

A way to improve design and product management by breaking software development work into smaller steps or sub-processes that can be done in parallel or in-order.

sequencing; sequential statements

The specific order in which instructions are performed in an algorithm.

code statement

a syntactic unit of an imperative programming language that expresses some action to be carried out.

expression

syntactic entity in a programming language that may be evaluated to determine its value. It is a combination of one or more constants, variables, functions, and operators that the programming language interprets and computes to produce another value.

string concatenation

the process of appending one string to the end of another string.

substring

a contiguous sequence of characters within a string.

boolean value

A result that can only have one of two possible values: true or false

operand

A value or expression that is used to perform an operation

selection

points where a decision must be made. implemented in programming using IF statements.

conditional statements

Uses Boolean expressions in the form of logical if/else and then statements to evaluate if something is true or false.

nested conditional statements

conditional statements within conditional statements

iteration

A function that repeats a block of code in a specified order, often until a specific result occurs

procedure (method, function)

a function returns a value, but a procedure does not. a method is similar to a function, but is internal to part of a class

parameters

a special kind of variable used in a subroutine to refer to one of the pieces of data provided as input to the subroutine.

arguments

a way for you to provide more information to a function

procedure call

a simple statement made by stating the procedure name, listing actual parameter names or values within parentheses, and adding a final semicolon

procedure abstraction

the process of breaking down a complex problem into smaller, more manageable steps.

modularity

a software design technique that emphasizes separating the functionality of a program into independent, interchangeable modules, such that each contains everything necessary to execute only one aspect of the desired functionality

analog data

Data with values that change continuously, or smoothly, over time. Some examples of analog data include music, colors of a painting, or position of a sprinter during a race.

sampling technique

the process of selecting a random number of units from a known population.

list

a sequence of several variables, grouped together under a single name.a sequence of several variables, grouped together under a single name.

element

a smaller component of a larger system.

index

a data structure to facilitate fast lookup of terms and clauses in a logic program, deductive database, or automated theorem prover.

string

a data type used in programming, that is used to represent text rather than numbers

data abstraction

The reduction of a particular body of data to a simplified representation of the whole.

array

a set of variables referenced by using a single variable name combined with an index number.

logic error

a bug in a program that causes it to operate incorrectly, but not to terminate abnormally

syntax error

an error in the syntax of a sequence of characters or tokens that is intended to be written in a particular programming language.

run-time error

a software or hardware problem that prevents Internet Explorer from working correctly.

overflow error

when the data type used to store data was not large enough to hold the data.

error detection

the detection of errors caused by noise or other impairments during transmission from the transmitter to the receiver.

test case

the actions required to verify a specific feature or functionality in software testing.

hand tracing

write the names of the variables on a sheet of paper, mentally execute each step of the code, and update the variables.

visualizations

The representation of data through use of common graphics, such as charts, plots, infographics, and even animations.

debugger

a computer program that assists in the detection and correction of errors in other computer programs.

data compression

the process of encoding information using fewer bits than the original representation.

redundancy

code that are in your source code, but are not required or have no logical effect to the output.

lossless data compression

a class of data compression that allows the original data to be perfectly reconstructed from the compressed data with no loss of information.

lossy data compression

class of data compression methods that uses inexact approximations and partial data discarding to represent the content.

linear search

method for finding an element within a list. It sequentially checks each element of the list until a match is found or the whole list has been searched.

binary search

a search algorithm that finds the position of a target value within a sorted array.

software libraries

a collection of non-volatile resources used by computer programs, often for software development.

computing device

A functional unit that can perform substantial computations, including numerous arithmetic operations and logic operations without human intervention.

computer

a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations automatically.

tablet

a wireless, portable personal computer with a touchscreen interface.

server

a computer program or device that provides a service to another computer program and its user, also known as the client.

router

a physical or virtual appliance that passes information between two or more packet-switched computer networks.

smart sensor

a device that takes input from the physical environment and uses built-in compute resources to perform predefined functions upon detection of specific input and then process data before passing it on.

computing system

a collection of entities(hardware,software and liveware) that are designed to receive, process, manage and present information in a meaningful format.

computing network

the act of using computer code to write programs or processes that can communicate with other programs or processes across a network.

path

a string of characters used to uniquely identify a location in a directory structure.

routing

the mechanism by which requests (as specified by a URL and HTTP method) are routed to the code that handles them.

bandwidth

the capacity for transmitting information through an Internet connection

internet

A global network connecting millions of computers, making it possible to exchange information.

protocol

a set of rules for formatting and processing data.

open protocol

one that is not owned by any particular company and not limited to a particular company's products.

scalibility

a measure of how easy it is to grow or shrink a piece of software.

data stream

a sequence of digitally encoded coherent signals used in a transmission

packets

a container or box that carries data over a TCP/IP network and internetworks

internet protocol (IP)

a protocol for sending data across the Internet that assigns unique numbers (IP addresses) to each connected device

transmissions control protocol (TCP)

a communications standard that enables application programs and computing devices to exchange messages over a network. It is designed to send packets across the internet and ensure the successful delivery of data and messages over networks.