AP Computer Science Principles EXAM _
Complete A+ Final Review Guide (Summer
2023/2024)
Overflow - -error that results when the number of bits is not enough to hold the
number, like a car's odometer "rolling over"
-Round-off - -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
-Lossy - -Compressing data in a way that throws some data away and makes it almost
impossible to recover the original, great compression, like JPEG images
-Lossless - -Compressing data in a way that preserves all data away and allows full
recovery of the original, good compression -- usually not as good as lossy, like PNG
images
-Metadata - -data about data, like a camera storing the location, aperture, shutter
speed, etc. for a digital photo
-Sequencing - -code flows line by line, one after another, like a recipe
-Selection - -a boolean condition to determine which of two algorithmic paths are
taken, aka if-then
-Iteration - -using a looping control structure, like while, for, foreach, repeat, repeat-
until, etc.
-Reasonable Time - -polynomial in the number of steps an algorithm takes in the worst
case based on the input size
-Not reasonable time - -Usually exponential in the number of steps, like doubling every
time your input grows by one
-Heuristic - -using a "rule" to guide an algorithm, like always walking toward the north
star if you were stuck in a forest
-Undecidable - -A problem that is so difficult, we can't ever create an algorithm that
would be able to answer yes or no for all inputs, like determining if a user's program run
on some input would always stop and not run forever
-Linear Search - -Going one by one vs starting in the middle and going left/right like
looking for a word in the dictionary
-Binary Search - -requires the list to be sorted in order and then cutting the list in half
, -APIs - -Application Programming Interface
-Citizen Science - -Lots of people to help with a scientific project, like asking everyone
around the world to count the butterflies they see one day
-Cloud Computing - -Using distributed calculations and/or storage for big data or a
web application
-Crowdsourcing - -Asking lots of users online to help with something, like funding a
project, or running SETI@Home to help look for extraterrestrial signals
-Creative Commons - -An alternative to copyright that allows people to declare how
they want their artistic creations to be shared, remixed, used in noncommercial
contexts, and how the policy should propagate with remixed versions
-Open Access - -A policy that allows people to have read access to things, e.g., libraries
or online data
-Moore's Law - -The # of transistors on a chip doubles every two years
-Peer-to-peer Networks - -A system where one user's computer connects through the
Internet to another user's computer without going through an intermediary
"centralized" computer to manage the connection
-Digital Divide - -The idea that some communities / populations have less access to
computing than others
-ISP - -Internet Service Provider
-How does internet communication arrive at its destination? - -Speech on the Internet
goes from the source to an ISP, into the cloud, out of the cloud to another ISP, and to its
destination
-How can the government control speech on the Internet? - -1) It can try to control the
speaker or the speaker's ISP, by criminalizing certain kinds of speech. But that won't
work if the speaker isn't in the same country as the listener.
2)It can try to control the listener, by prohibiting possession of certain kinds of
materials. In the U.S., possession of copyrighted software without an appropriate license
is illegal, as is possession of other copyrighted material with the intent to profit from
redistributing it.
3) The government can try to control the intermediaries.
-How can Internet posters evaded being convicted for defamation/slander on the Web?
- -The posters could evade responsibility as long as they remained anonymous, as they
easily could on the Internet.
Complete A+ Final Review Guide (Summer
2023/2024)
Overflow - -error that results when the number of bits is not enough to hold the
number, like a car's odometer "rolling over"
-Round-off - -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
-Lossy - -Compressing data in a way that throws some data away and makes it almost
impossible to recover the original, great compression, like JPEG images
-Lossless - -Compressing data in a way that preserves all data away and allows full
recovery of the original, good compression -- usually not as good as lossy, like PNG
images
-Metadata - -data about data, like a camera storing the location, aperture, shutter
speed, etc. for a digital photo
-Sequencing - -code flows line by line, one after another, like a recipe
-Selection - -a boolean condition to determine which of two algorithmic paths are
taken, aka if-then
-Iteration - -using a looping control structure, like while, for, foreach, repeat, repeat-
until, etc.
-Reasonable Time - -polynomial in the number of steps an algorithm takes in the worst
case based on the input size
-Not reasonable time - -Usually exponential in the number of steps, like doubling every
time your input grows by one
-Heuristic - -using a "rule" to guide an algorithm, like always walking toward the north
star if you were stuck in a forest
-Undecidable - -A problem that is so difficult, we can't ever create an algorithm that
would be able to answer yes or no for all inputs, like determining if a user's program run
on some input would always stop and not run forever
-Linear Search - -Going one by one vs starting in the middle and going left/right like
looking for a word in the dictionary
-Binary Search - -requires the list to be sorted in order and then cutting the list in half
, -APIs - -Application Programming Interface
-Citizen Science - -Lots of people to help with a scientific project, like asking everyone
around the world to count the butterflies they see one day
-Cloud Computing - -Using distributed calculations and/or storage for big data or a
web application
-Crowdsourcing - -Asking lots of users online to help with something, like funding a
project, or running SETI@Home to help look for extraterrestrial signals
-Creative Commons - -An alternative to copyright that allows people to declare how
they want their artistic creations to be shared, remixed, used in noncommercial
contexts, and how the policy should propagate with remixed versions
-Open Access - -A policy that allows people to have read access to things, e.g., libraries
or online data
-Moore's Law - -The # of transistors on a chip doubles every two years
-Peer-to-peer Networks - -A system where one user's computer connects through the
Internet to another user's computer without going through an intermediary
"centralized" computer to manage the connection
-Digital Divide - -The idea that some communities / populations have less access to
computing than others
-ISP - -Internet Service Provider
-How does internet communication arrive at its destination? - -Speech on the Internet
goes from the source to an ISP, into the cloud, out of the cloud to another ISP, and to its
destination
-How can the government control speech on the Internet? - -1) It can try to control the
speaker or the speaker's ISP, by criminalizing certain kinds of speech. But that won't
work if the speaker isn't in the same country as the listener.
2)It can try to control the listener, by prohibiting possession of certain kinds of
materials. In the U.S., possession of copyrighted software without an appropriate license
is illegal, as is possession of other copyrighted material with the intent to profit from
redistributing it.
3) The government can try to control the intermediaries.
-How can Internet posters evaded being convicted for defamation/slander on the Web?
- -The posters could evade responsibility as long as they remained anonymous, as they
easily could on the Internet.
