AP CSP Vocabulary Terms (ALL)

Credit to @paul_daniel_LAMP in Quizlet

Bit

the smallest unit of data in a computer. Has a value of 0 or 1

Byte

a unit of data that is eight binary digits long.

Binary

A way of representing information using only two options.

Algorithm

a complete, well-defined sequence of steps for completing a task or solving a problem

Program

a sequence of instructions or steps, written in a language that can be understood by a computer, that will be used by the computer to complete a task or solve a problem

Blocks

Puzzle-piece shapes that are used to create code.

Scripts

Different types of blocks linked together

Sprites

An object in some programming languages which performs functions controlled by scripts

Stage

The background of a project, performs functions through scripts

Logic Error

a mistake in the algorithm or program that causes it to behave incorrectly or unexpectedly.

Tracing

Going through the execution of program code by hand to manually verify that it works correctly

Debugging

The process of identifying and removing errors from computer hardware or software

ASCII

A character encoding standard for electronic communication.

Overflow Error

an error that occurs when calculated data cannot fit within the designated field

Roundoff Error

Error that is produced when a computer is used to perform real number calculations because many real numbers can not be represented exactly on a computer.

Underflow Error

occurs in a computer or similar device when a mathematical operation results in a number which is smaller than what the device is capable of storing.

pixel

a minute area of illumination on a display screen, one of many from which an image is composed.

RGB

refers to a system for representing the colors to be used on a computer display.

Heurisitic

a problem solving approach (algorithm) to find a satisfactory solution where finding an optimal or exact solution is impractical or impossible.

Lossless Compression

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

Lossy Compression

a data encoding and compression technique that deliberately discards some data in the compression process

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

Open Source

programs that are made freely available and may be redistributed and modified

Open Access

online research output free of any and all restrictions on access and free of many restrictions on use, such as copyright or license restrictions

Abstraction

Hiding some details so that the programmer can focus a manageable amount of complexity at a time

Iteration

a process wherein a set of instructions or structures are repeated in a sequence a specified number of times or until a condition is met

Parameters

a formal argument, is a special kind of variable, used in a subroutine to refer to one of the pieces of data provided as input to the subroutine

TCP/IP

a suite of communication protocols used to interconnect network devices on the internet

Protocol

A set of rules

IP Address

a numerical label assigned to each device connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication

HTTP

defines how messages are formatted and transmitted, and what actions Web servers and browsers should take in response to various commands

Computing Device

a machine that can run a program, including computers, tablets, servers, routers, and smart sensors

Computing System

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

Computing Network

a group of interconnected computing devices capable of sending or receiving data.

Path

the series of connections between computing devices on a network starting with a sender and ending with a receiver.

Bandwidth

The maximum amount of data that can pass from one point to another in a unit of time

URL

An easy-to-remember address for calling a web page (like www.code.org).

Packet

A chunk of data sent over a network. Larger messages are divided into packets that may arrive at the destination in order, out-of-order, or not at all.

Redundancy

When there are multiple pathways among physical connections of the internet

Hierarchical

Levels used for organization. For example: Internet Addressing Systems (like domain names and IP addresses)

Internet Protocol

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

Fault-tolerance

the property that enables a system to continue operating properly in the event of the failure of (or one or more faults within) some of its components

Router

a device that forwards data packets between computer networks

Data Stream

a sequence of digitally encoded coherent signals used in a transmission

TCP

a standard that defines how to establish and maintain a network conversation via which application programs can exchange data

UDP

is used to send short messages called datagrams but overall, it is an unreliable, connectionless protocol

Scalability

the capacity for the system to change in size and scale to meet new demands

DNS

the system responsible for translating domain names like example.com into IP addresses

World Wide Web

a system of linked pages, programs, and files

Digital Divide

differing access to computing devices and the Internet, based on socioeconomic, geographic, or demographic characteristics

Expression

a combination of operators and values that evaluates into a single value

Variable

an abstraction inside the program that can hold a value.

Assignment operator

allows a program to change the value represented by a variable

Increment

add one to a number

Assignment

Storing or updating a value in a named variable

Polygon

A closed plane figure made up of line segments

Statement

a line of executable code

Sequential

execution of an algorithm or program, step by step, from top to bottom, where one line of code finishes before the one below it begins.

Operators

used to script math equations and string handling

Pseudocode

a high level textual algorithm written in informative text that mimics a programming language but cannot be executed by a computer.

High-Level Programming Language

easier to use, may incorporate natural language and hide or automate some processes

Natural Langauge

language that is spoken and understood by humans but cannot be processed by the computer

Machine Language

a collection of binary digits or bits that the computer reads and interprets.

Compiler

a software program that translates a programming language to machine language so a computer can understand

Procedure

reusable collection of statements, also referred to as methods, functions, or blocks. They can be created by the programmer or defined within a library.

Nested Iteration

a loop inside another loop

Modular Math

The operation of dividing integers and the result being the remainder of that division.

Random Numbers

Numbers for which there is no identifiable pattern or sequence. Computers approximate this using pseudo-random numbers.

Order of Operations

Operator precedence in an expression

Unicode

an international encoding standard for use with different languages and scripts, by which each letter, digit, or symbol is assigned a unique numeric value that applies across different platforms and programs.

Boolean Operators

AND, OR and NOT are some examples

Predicate Function

a function that returns True or False

Relational Operator

used to compare the relation between two operands

Conditional Statement

a statement or expression that is evaluated to determine an outcome (if, repeat until, while)

Procedural Abstraction

a reusable collection of statements that decrease the lines of code in a program, increase the readability of the program and decrease the chance of errors or bugs inside a program. Procedures don't make it easier for computers to run a program, but they do make it much easier for humans to make complicated programs.

Flowchart

a simple diagram with symbols showing the "flow" of a process

Simulations

simplified representations of more complex objects of phenomena that are developed to explain the subject, allow further study of the subject, allow for the testing of different conditions on the subject, or to formulate and research hypotheses about the subject

Code Segment

A collection of program statements that is part of a program.

index

identifies a value's unique position on a list.

element

list

data structure that stores one or more similar types of data in a single value.

Traversing

performing the same operation on each item of a list, sequentially

Append

Add an element to the end of a list

Remove/Delete

Remove an element from a list

Insert

Add an element to a list at a certain index

Replace

Update the contents of an element

For Each Loop

control structure designed to iterate over each element of a list and repeat the same operation on each element

Linear Search

An algorithm that iterates through each item in a list until it finds the target value.

Return Statement

terminates the execution of a procedure and RETURNS to the calling procedure.

Temporary variable

has a short lifetime, usually to hold data that will soon be discarded

Binary Search

An algorithm that searches a sorted list for a value by repeatedly splitting the list in half.

Algorithmic Efficiency

a measure of execution time and memory usage while still yielding a correct answer.

Array

A type of list or data structure that stores a collection of data

Undecidable Problem

a problem that may have some instances that have an algorithmic solution, but there is no algorithmic solution that could solve all instances of the problem.

Decidable Problem

is a decision problem for which an algorithm can be written to produce a correct output for all inputs

Library

contains existing procedures that may be used in creating new programs

API

provides details or specifications on how the procedures behave and can be used.

function

A section of code that performs some specific task that may or may not return a value. This section of code can be reused multiple times.

Syntax Error

An error in the source code of a program. Typically small grammatical mistakes, sometimes limited to a single character and prevent the program from compiling and running

comments

a form of program documentation written into the program to be read by people and do not affect how a program runs.