APCSP Vocab List

Citizen Science

scientific research conducted in whole or part by distributed individuals, many of whom may not be scientists, who contribute relevant data to research using their own computing devices.

Internet Protocol

a protocol that defines the layout of an internet address (IP address)

IPv4

32 Bit version of an internet address

IPv6

128 Bit version of an internet address

Certificate Authority

verify the public keys of websites

Open Source Software

code that is designed to be publicly accessible- anyone can see, modify, and distribute the code as they see fit

Integer

a whole number that is positive, negative, or zero

Boolean

a data type that is either true or false

OverFlow Error

Error from attempting to represent a number that is too large.

Public Key Encryption

pairs a public key for encryption and a private key for decryption. The sender does not need the receiver's private key to encrypt a message, but the receiver's private key is required to decrypt the message

Redundancy

the inclusion of extra components so that a system can continue to work even if individual components fail, for example by having more than one path between any two connected devices in a network.

Phishing

a technique that attempts to trick a user into providing personal information. That personal information can then be used to access sensitive online resources, such as bank accounts and emails

Crowdsourcing

the practice of obtaining input or information from a large number of people via the Internet.

Digital Divide

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

Lossless Compression

A process for reducing the number of bits needed to represent something without losing any information. This process is reversible.

Lossy Compression

A process for reducing the number of bits needed to represent something in which some information is lost or thrown away. This process is not reversible.

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

Transmission Control Protocol (TPC)

a protocol that allows sending multiple packets between two computers. TCP checks that all packets have arrived and that they can be put back together in the proper order

Bandwidth

the maximum amount of data that can be sent in a fixed amount of time, usually measured in bits per second.

Concatenation

used to join strings together

Floating Point Number

positive or negative whole number with a decimal point

Metadata

data about data

Procedure

a named group of programming instructions that may have parameters and return values

String

an ordered sequence of characters

Algorithm

a finite set of instructions that accomplish a task.

Machine Language Instruction

the lowest level of programming language that directly corresponds to the instructions executed by a computer's hardware

Symmetric Encryption

involves one key for both encryption and decryption.

Public Key Encryption

pairs a public key for encryption and a private key for decryption. The sender does not need the receiver's private key to encrypt a message, but the receiver's private key is required to decrypt the message

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS)

spam a web server with so many requests so close together that it crashes

Heuristic

provides a "good enough" solution to a problem when an actual solution is impractical or impossible

Copyright

form of protection for intellectual property, usually applying to artistic works

Simulation

abstractions of more complex objects or phenomena. They often mimic real-world events with the purpose of drawing inferences, allowing investigations of a phenomenon without the constraints of the real world

Alphanumeric

a character that is either a letter or a number

Quotient

The number resulting from the division of one number by another

Iteration

a repetitive portion of an algorithm which repeats a specified number of times or until a given condition is met.

Sequencing

putting steps in an order.

Selection

deciding which steps to do next.

Argument

the value passed to the parameter

Parameter

a variable in a function definition. Used as a placeholder for values that will be passed through the function.

Conditional

an "if-then" statement

Function Call

a command that executes the code within a function

Function

a named group of programming instructions. Also referred to as a "procedure".

Binary Search

a search algorithm that starts at the middle of a sorted set of numbers and removes half of the data; this process repeats until the desired value is found or all elements have been eliminated.

Linear Search

a search algorithm which checks each element of a list, in order, until the desired value is found or all elements in the list have been checked.

Efficiency

a measure of how many steps are needed to complete an algorithm

Unreasonable Time

Algorithms with exponential or factorial efficiencies are examples of algorithms that run in an unreasonable amount of time.

Reasonable time

Algorithms with a polynomial efficiency or lower (constant, linear, square, cube, etc.) are said to run in a reasonable amount of time.

Undecidable problem

a problem for which no algorithm can be constructed that is always capable of providing a correct yes-or-no answer

Syntax Error

An error in a programming language caused by not using the correct syntax. These are normally spelling errors or small grammatical mistakes.

Runtime Error

the computer executes all the lines of code before the incorrect line

Round-off Error

Error from attempting to represent a number that is too precise. The value is rounded.

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

Bit

a contraction of "Binary Digit"; the single unit of information in a computer, typically represented as a 0 or 1

Byte

8 bits

Intellectual Property

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

Domain Name System (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.

Fault Tolerant

Can continue to function even in the event of individual component failures. This is important because elements of complex systems like a computer network fail at unexpected times, often in groups.

HyperText Transmission Protocol (HTTP)

the protocol used for transmitting web pages over the Internet

Internet

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

Computing Network

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

Protocol

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

Router

A type of computer that forwards data across a network

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.

Input

data that is sent to a computer for processing by a program. Can come in a variety of forms, such as tactile interaction, audio, visuals, or text.

Output

any data that is sent from a program to a device. Can come in a variety of forms, such as tactile interaction, audio, visuals, or text.

Data filtering

choosing a smaller subset of a data set to use for analysis, for example by eliminating / keeping only certain rows in a table

List

an ordered collection 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 string using numbers

Data Abstraction

manage complexity in programs by giving a collection of data a name without referencing the specific details of the representation.

Procedural abstraction

a process and allows a procedure to be used only knowing what it does, not how it does it. Procedural abstraction allows a solution to a large problem to be based on the solution of smaller subproblems. This is accomplished by creating procedures to solve each of the subproblems.

Infinite loop

occurs when the ending condition will never evaluate to true.

Traversal

the process of accessing each item in a list one at a time.

Return

used to return the flow of control to the point where the procedure (also known as a function) was called and to return the value of expression.

Keylogging

the use of a program to record every keystroke made by a computer user in order to gain fraudulent access to passwords and other confidential information

Malware

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

Rouge Access Point

a wireless access point that gives unauthorized access to secure networks.

Multi-factor Authentication

a system that requires at least two steps to unlock protected information; each step adds a new layer of security that must be broken to gain unauthorized access

Computer Virus Scanning Software

protects a computing system against infection.

Sequential Computing

a model in which programs run in order, one command at a time.

Parallel Computing

a model in which programs are broken into small pieces, some of which are run simultaneously

Distributed Computing

a model in which programs are run by multiple devices

Antivirus Software

protects a computing system against infection.