computer science

Unit 1: Computing Innovations

  1. Creative Development: Describe computing innovations. Examples include mobile computing, the Internet of Things, machine learning, data mining and the impact of social media. (\rightarrow helps in creating new artifacts)
    • Collaboration is key in creative development.
    • Understand how to refine and improve artifacts through collaboration
  2. Data: Types of data include structured vs unstructured data. Volume and representation of data. (\rightarrow 2^n different values with n bits)
    • Data Cleaning: process of making data uniform without changing it's meaning.
    • Metadata: Data about Data i.e. resolution, author, name, etc.

Unit 2: Digital Information

  1. Number Systems: Binary, Decimal, and Hexadecimal number systems.
    • Binary: Base-2 number system where each digit can only be 0 or 1.
      • It is used to represent all data and instructions in a computer system.
    • Decimal: Base-10 number system, the one we use every day.
    • Hexadecimal: Base-16 number system, often used to represent binary data in a more human-readable format.
      • Digits 0-9 and letters A-F (representing 10-15).
  2. Data Compression: Reducing the amount of space needed to store data.
    • Lossless Compression: Reduces file size without losing any data (e.g., ZIP files).
    • Lossy Compression: Reduces file size by discarding some data (e.g., JPEG images, MP3 audio).

Unit 3: Algorithms and Programming

  1. Algorithms: A sequence of steps designed to accomplish a specific task.
    • Expressed in many forms such as pseudocode and visual/block programming.
    • Sequencing, selection, and iteration are building blocks of algorithms.
      • Sequencing: Code is executed in the order it is written.
      • Selection: Using conditional statements (if, else if, else) to execute different blocks of code based on certain conditions.
      • Iteration: Repeating a block of code (looping) until a certain condition is met (e.g., for loops, while loops).
  2. Programming Concepts: Variables, data types, control structures, and procedures.
    • Variables: Storage locations in memory that hold values.
    • Data types: Different types of data that variables can hold (e.g., integer, float, string, boolean).
    • List: Ordered sequence of elements. Append to add elements.
    • Procedures: Reusable blocks of code (also called functions or methods). Allow for modularity and abstraction.
      • Can take parameters and return values.

Unit 4: Big Data and Privacy

  1. Data Analysis: The process of examining large datasets to draw conclusions about the information they contain.
    • Scalability of Systems: System design consideration to handle increasing workloads.
    • Distributed computing can help with storage of big data via parallel processing.
  2. Security and Privacy: Concerns about the security and privacy of digital information.
    • Encryption: Encoding data to prevent unauthorized access. Symmetric (one shared key) and asymmetric (public/private key pair) encryption.
    • Digital certificates are used to verify the authenticity of websites and other digital entities.
    • Phishing, malware, and other online threats.

Unit 5: The Internet

  1. Network Communication: How devices communicate over the Internet.
    • Packets: Data is divided into packets for transmission.
    • Routers: Devices that forward packets between networks.
    • IP Addresses: Unique addresses assigned to devices on a network.
    • DNS (Domain Name System): Translates domain names (e.g., example.com) to IP addresses.
  2. Key Concepts About the Internet: Includes topics such as
    • The Internet is a packet-switched network which makes it robust and scalable.
    • Fault tolerance: The ability of a system to continue operating even if some components fail.