AP CSP Spring 2024 Final Exam Study Guide

Computing Device

A physical artifact that can run a program. Ex. computers, tablets, servers, routers, and smart systems.

Computing System

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

Computing Network

A group of interconnected computin devices that begins at the sender and ends at the receiver

Path

A sequence of directly connected computing devices capable of sending or receiving data. A type of computing system

Bandwidth

The maximum amount of data that can be send in a fixed amount of time over a computer network is

Protocol

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

IP Address

Unique numbers

Internet Protocol (IP)

A protocol for sending data across the Internet that assigns IP addresses to each connected device

Router

A type of computer that forwards data across a network

Packet

An encapsulated chunk of data passed through a network

Redundancy

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

Fault tolerant

when a system can support failures and still continue to function. This is important because elements of complex systems fail at unexpected times, often in groups

HTTP

a protocol used by the World Wide Web, which uses the internet

Domain Name System (DNS)

the system responsible for translating domain names into IP addresses

Internet

A computer network consisting of interconnected networks that use standardized, open (nonproprietary) communication protocols

World Wide Web

An information system on the internet which allows documents to be connected to other documents by HTTP links

Digital Divide

Differing access to computing devices and the internet based on socioeconomic, georaphic, or demographic characteristics

Metadata

Data about data

Citizen Science

scientific research conducted in whole or part by distributed individuals who are not necessarily scientists who contribute relevant data to researh via computing devices

Cleaning Data

a process that makes data uniform without changing their meaning

Correlation

a relationship between two pieces of data, typically referrin to the amount that one relates to another

malware

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

rogue access point

a wireless access point that gives unauthorized access to secure networks

encryption

the process of encoding data to prevent unauthorized access

decryption

the process of decoding encrypted data

symmetric key encryption

uses one key for both encryption and decryption

public key encryption

pairs a public key for encryption and a private key for ecryption

multi-factor authentication

a method of computer access control in which a user is only granted access after several separate pieces of evidence

Computer Virus Scanning Software

Protects a computing system against infection.

Algorithm

A finite set of instructions that accomplish a specific task

Linear Search

Check each element of a list in order until the desired value is found or all elements in the list have been checked

Binary search

starts at the middle of a sorted data set of numbers and eliminates half the data. Repeat until found or all eliminated

Reasonable time

algorithms with a polynomial efficiency or lower

Unreasonable time

algorithms with exponential or factorial efficiencies

heuristic

an approach to a problem that produces a solution that is not guaranteed to be optimal but optimal would be impractical

decision problem

a problem with a yes/no answer

optimization problem

a problem with the goal of finding the best solution among many

undecidable problem

a decision problem for which no algorithm can be constructed that is always capable of finding a correct yes/no answer

Sequential computing

a computational model in which operations are performed in order one at a time. A sequential solution takes as long as the sum of all of its steps

crowdsourcing

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

information

the collection of facts and patterns extracted from data

data bias

data that does not accurately reflect the full population of phenomenon being studied

data filtering

choosing a smaller subset of a data set to use for analysis

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 a string using natural numbers

iteration

a repeating portion of an algorithm; a specified number of times or until a given condition is met

infinite loop

occurs when the ending condition will never evaluate to true

traversal

accessing some/all elements in a list (for loop processing a list)

data abstraction

manage complexity in a program by giving a collection of data a name without referening the specific details of the representation

parameter

an input variable of a procedure. Allows functions to be generalized, enabling the functions to be reused with a range of input values or arguments

argument

specifies the value of the parameter when a function is called

return

used to return the flow of control to the point where the procedure was called and return the value of an expression

procedural abstraction

provides a name for a process and allows a procedure to be used only knowing what it does, not how it does it

library

contains functions that may be used in creating more programs

API

specifications for how the functions in a library behave and can be used

modularity

the subdivision of a computer program into separate subprograms

computing innovation

Includes a program as an integral part of its function. physical or nonphysical.

Personally Identifiable Information (PII)

information about an individual that identifies, links, relates, or describes them

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 access to passwords and other confidential information