APCSP Unit 1 Vocab Terms

Lossless Compression

A data compression algorithm that reduces the bits needed to represent data without losing any information, allowing perfect reconstruction.

Computer Science

The study of the fundamentals of computation and its interaction with the world, developing new algorithms, systems, and theories.

Binary

A way of representing information using only two options.

Bit

A contraction of "Binary Digit". A bit is the single unit of information in a computer, typically represented as a 0 or 1.

Byte

A group of eight bits.

Overflow Error

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

Round-off Error

error that results when the number of bits is not enough to represent the actual number, like 3 digits to represent π as 3.14

ASCII

The universally recognized raw text format that any computer can understand

Abstraction

a simplified representation of something more complex. Abstractions allow you to hide details to help you manage complexity, focus on relevant concepts, and reason about problems at a higher level.

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.

Digital Data

Data that changes discretely through a finite set of possible values

Sampling

A process for creating a digital representation of analog data by measuring the analog data at regular intervals called samples.

Quantization

The process of rounding samples to discrete integer values

image

A type of data used for graphics or pictures.

Pixel

Short for "picture element" it is the fundamental unit of a digital image, typically a tiny square or dot which contains a single point of color of a larger image.

Resolution

the number of horizontal and vertical pixels in a display device

RGB

the RGB color model uses varying intensities of (R)ed, (G)reen, and (B)lue light are added together in to reproduce a broad array of colors.

Hexadecimal

A base-16 number system that uses sixteen distinct symbols 0-9 and A-F to represent numbers from 0 to 15.

Metadata

data that describes data

Data Compression

A process for reducing the number of bits needed to represent a piece of information

Lossless Compression

a data compression algorithm that allows the original data to be perfectly reconstructed from the compressed data.

Lossy Compression

data compression techniques in which some amount of data is lost. This technique attempts to eliminate redundant information.

Intellectual Property

a work or invention that is the result of creativity, such as a manuscript or a design, to which one has rights and for which one may apply for a patent, copyright, trademark, etc.

Copyright

the exclusive legal right, given to an originator or an assignee to print, publish, perform, film, or record literary, artistic, or musical material, and to authorize others to do the same.

Fair Use

the conditions under which you can use material that is copyrighted by someone else without paying royalties

Digital Rights Management (DRM)

technologies that let copyright owners control the level of access or use allowed for a copyrighted work, such as limiting the number of times a song can be copied

Digital Millennium Copyright Act

a 1998 US law intended to update copyright law for electronic commerce and electronic content providers. It criminalizes the circumvention of electronic and digital copyright protection systems.

Open Source

refers to any software whose source code is made available free for any third party to review and modify

Open Access

A policy that allows people to have access to documents (like research papers) for reading or data (like government datasets) for analysis.

Creative Commons

A collection of public copyright licenses that enable the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted work, used when an author wants to give people the right to share, use, and build upon a work that they have created