AP CSP All Terms

innovating

The process of imagining something that does not yet exist, but that has potential, and making it real through the application of design, implementation, and production (1.1)

iteration

Repeatedly applying a process with the goal of coming closer and closer to a solution / Repetition - one complete step of a loop (1.1)

iterative development process

The process by which computer programs are designed, developed, and tested in repeated cycles (1.1)

debug

To identify and remove errors from a computer program (1.1)

algorithm

A finite set of instruction that accomplish a specific task (1.2)

sequencing

Executes statements one at a time, in order, one after another (1.2)

selection

Uses "if...then" to tell a computer how to select a step or to tell the sequence that it should be executed (1.2)

imperative statement

A command statement with a verb phrase that indicates an operation to perform (1.2)

descriptive qualifier

A specific adverb or adjective that further qualifies or limits the meaning of a word (1.2)

natural language

A complex but structured language, both written and spoken, that has evolved naturally in humans through use, repetition, and adaptation (1.3)

binary

Machine code that is direct, low-level translation from the high-level source code, and is a pattern of 0s and 1s (1.3)

abstraction

The process of removing or suppressing details to create a manageable level of complexity (1.3)

artificial language

A limited size language, usually developed by a small group for specific reasons. Usually is much simpler and structured.

ambiguity

Uncertainty or being open to more than one interpretation (1.3)

visual programming language

A programming language that lets users drag and drop icons into organized blocks of code to create programs, rather than typing text (1.3)

high-level language

A programming language that is easier for human to read, write and parse. It is guaranteed to be ambiguous (1.3)

low-level language

A programming language that has little or no abstraction and communicates closely to the hardware using machine language, but is less natural for humans (1.3)

compilation

The process of source code being translated into machine code (1.3)

bit

A binary digit - either a 1 or a 0 (1.4)

source code

Programs written in high-level languages (1.4)

machine code

Machine-level instructions that are uniquely read by computer processors using patterns of 1s and 0s (1.4)

code statement

Something that is a part of program code that expresses an action to be carried out (1.6)

input

User interaction with a program via clicking, mouse development, or keyboard entry (1.7)

storage

What the computer "stores" or needs to remember to execute a program (1.7)

state

A description of what the computer is doing or the values of variables at any given moment (1.7)

attributes

A description of what the computer is doing or the values of variables at any given moment (1.7)

process

The program code and current activity that is being executed in a computer program (1.7)

placeholder

A variable in place of a particular value or attribute (1.7)

variable

A placeholder to store a particular value of attribute (1.9)

integer

A whole number, a number that is not a fraction that is used in programs (1.8)

character

A single letter, digit, or symbol that can be a type of variable (1.8)

string

A series of characters at any length (1.8)

Boolean values

A variable to represent true or false (1.8)

array

Lists of other variables (1.8)

floating point number (float)

A number that may have digits after the decimal point (1.8)

declaring variables

Creating variables in a programming language (1.8)

flowchart

A simple diagram with symbols showing the "flow" of a process (2.1)

flow pattern

A pattern that can emerge when data is transformed using computation logic structures (sequencing, selection, iteration) (2.1)

sequential execution

Program instructions that are executed one at a time, in order (2.1)

code segment

Something that refers to a collection of program statements that are part of a program (2.2)

program

A collection of program statements that perform a specific task when run by a computer. A program is often referred to as software (2.2)

parameter

A variable that defines a procedure or sets the condition of an operation (2.2)

procedure

A named collection of steps in an algorithm that can be reused anytime it is needed without restating the detailed procedures (2.2)

remix

To modify and share a version of an uploaded existing project (2.2)

comments

An annotation in the code of a computer program (2.2)

pseudocode

An informal method of writing algorithmic instructions that do not necessarily follow grammatical rules and syntax of a particular language - "false" code (2.3)

if statement

A type of selection statement that only executes when a certain criteria is met (2.4)

if else statement

A more thorough version of an if statement that stipulates what is to happen when a certain criteria is not met (2.4)

operators

Symbols that imply a comparison in conditional selection statements (2.4)

control flow

The direction the computer program moves from instruction to instruction over time. Can also be controlled by if statements and other binary conditions (2.5)

branching

Instruction in a computer program that can cause a computer to begin executing a different sequence of instructions (2.5)

conditionals

Only executes if a certain designated condition is true (2.5)

switching

Turning on or off (binary) (2.5)

nesting

Where different logic structures sequence, selection and loops are combined or nested in one another (2.5)

loop

The repetition of some code (2.6)

indefinite loop

When it is unknown how many times a loop will iterate, usually we are waiting for an event to occur such as "repeat until...." (2.6)

definite loop

Executes a predetermined set of times for a loop to be repeated (2.6)

modularity

The subdivision of a computer program into separate subprograms (2.8)

heuristics

A method for deriving an approximate solution - Rules of Thumb but not guaranteed an accurately correct answer (2.9)

unsolvable problem

A problem that cannot be solved using any algorithm (2.9)

Halting Problem

There cannot be a program that will determine which computer programs will halt (or exit) and which programs will go on forever (2.9)

undecidable problem

Where no algorithm can be made that always leads to a correct yes or no answer (2.9)

scalability

How well do algorithms perform at increasingly larger scales (2.9)

Big-O Notation

A mathematical concept used by computer scientists to determine how well algorithms scale - performances classified into different categories (2.9)

sequential search

A linear search method of finding a targeted value within a list, looking one at a time until a match is found (2.9)

binary search

A method of searching by dividing the search interval in half each time.

logarithmic behavior: doubling the size of a problem only requires one extra unit of work (2.9)

logarithmic behavior

Doubling the size of a problem only requires one extra unit of work (2.9)

brute forcing

Trial and error method used to decode encrypted data such as passwords (2.9)

logic gate

A hardware abstraction that is modeled by a Boolean function (2.10)

dichotomous

In which something can only be one thing or another (yes or no) (3.1)

binary code

Code represented with the two symbols of 1 and 0 (3.1)

bits

The foundation for digital computing (1s and 0s) - short for binary digits (3.1)

digital

How information is stored, accessed, transformed and used by computers (3.1)

state space

The space of potential possibilities (3.1)

exponential growth

The rate of growth that rapidly increases in proportion to the growing total number or size (3.1)

fixed-point numbers

Numbers where the decimal point is always in the same place (3.1)

floating-point numbers

Numbers where the decimal point can float because there is no fixed number of digits before and after the decimal point. AKA: real numbers (3.1)

real numbers

Numbers approximated by floating-point representations that do not necessarily have infinite precision (3.1)

scientific notation

The mathematical representation of a decimal number in floating-point form. Examples: 4 x 10³ for 4,000, 4.002 x 10³x 10 for 4,002 or 2.345E6 for 2,345,000 (3.1)

decimal

Describes the base-10 number system, the most commonly used number system (3.2)

ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange)

A table that outlines a common set of conventions established for converting between binary values and alphanumeric (represents 128 different characters) (3.3)

alphanumeric

The characters that consists of uppercase and lowercase letters in addition to numerals 0-9 (3.3)

digital noise

Irrelevant or meaningless data that has found its way into otherwise meaningful code (3.3)

bit string

A sequence of bits that can be used to represent sets or to manipulate binary data (3.3)

mapping

Associating each element of a given set with one or more elements of a second set (3.3)

unicode

A binary encoding system that can represent much more of the world's text than ASCII can (represents 65,536 different characters) (3.3)

Morse Code

A code where letters are represented by combinations of long and short signals of light or sound (3.5)

Baudot Code

A binary code invented by Emile Baudot in 1870 that uses crosses and dots in order to encode 2^5 or 32 characters (3.5)

variable-width encoding

Using codes of different lengths to encode a character set for representation (example: Morse Code) (3.5)

fixed-width encoding

Using codes with a fixed width to encode a character set for representation (example: Baudot Code) (3.5)

discrete

Separate or divided (digital) (3.6)

continuous

Unbroken, without interruption (analog) (3.6)

approximation

Digital copies are only approximations of the natural object (3.6)

analog

Non-digital signals or information represented by a continuously variable physical quantity such as spatial position or voltage (3.6)

element

An element is an individual value in a list that is assigned a unique index (3.7)

data structure

A particular way of organizing and storing data such as an array, table, etc. (3.7)

data abstraction

Help manage complexity in programs by giving a collection of data a name without referencing the specific details of the representation (3.7)

index value

The representation of the location of each item in a list (3.7)

list

A list is an ordered sequence of elements. For example, [value1, value2, value3, ...] describes a list where value1 is the first element, value 2 is the second element, value 3 is the third element, and so on (3.7)