AP Computer Science Principles

control structure

A control structure is one or more programming language statements that control the flow of a computer program

repetition

A repetition structure, or loop, is used when a program needs to repeatedly process one or more instructions until some condition is met, at which time the loop ends

Moore's Law

The number of transistors per square inch on integrated circuits has doubled every year since the integrated circuit was invented

sequence

The sequence control structure is simple a sequence of one or more statements in a computer program

whitelist

a generic name for a list of email address or IP addresses that are considered to be spam free

network

a group of two or more computer systems linked together

blacklist

in internet terminology, a generic term for a list of email addresses or IP addresses that are origination with known spammers

abstraction

one of the seven big ideas of the CS Principles curriculum. An abstraction is a simplified and general representation of some complex object or process. One example --we'll encounter many in this course, including abstractions used in computer programming -- would be a Google map

intellectual property

refers to any property that is created using original thought. Traditional intellectual property include patents, copyrights, and trademarks

bit

short for binary digit

processor

short for microprocessor or CPU

software

the computer programs that make up a computer system such as the mobile apps we will be creating in this course

hardware

the large and small physical components that make up a computers such as the computer's keyboard or its processor

cyberspace

a metaphor for describing the non-physical terrain created by computer systems

binary number

a number written in the binary system, a system that uses only two digits, 0s and 1s

event-driven programming

a programming approach whereby the program's behavior is controlled by writing code that responds to various events that occur, such as Button clicks

disk drive

a randomly addressable and rewritable storage device

social networking

a social structure made of nodes that are generally individuals or organizations. A social network represents relationships and flows between people, groups, organizations, animals, computers, or other information/knowledge processing entities

data network

a telecommunications network which allows computers to exchange data

computational artifact

an object created by a human being that involves the use of computation in some way, for example a mobile app or a web page.

character

any symbol that requires one byte of storage

data center

are physical or virtual infrastructures used by enterprises to house computer, server and networking systems and components for the company's IT (information technology) needs

data

data is distinct information that is formatted in a special way. Data exists in a variety of forms, like text on paper or bytes stored in electronic memory

repetition or Iteration (repeat)

An algorithm can repeat a sequence of statements

selection (if/else)

An algorithm can select between two alternative paths based on some condition

algorithm

An algorithm is a precise sequence of instructions for processes that can be implemented in a programming language and executed by a computer

sequence

An algorithm is a sequence of precise statements (blocks)

selection

In a selection structure, a question is asked, and depending on the answer, the program takes one of two courses of action, after which the program moves on to the next event

iteration

Iteration is another term for repetition

Cloud

The Cloud is just a popular term for the Internet and its applications used largely in marketing and advertising. Facebook, Google, Twitter, Dropbox are often referred to as cloud applications. They could also be called Internet applications. App Inventor is another example of a cloud application.

Internet

The Internet (capital "I") is the underlying global network that supports the WWW and many other applications. It consists of many different local networks that are connected together by various hardware devices.

World Wide Web (WWW)

The World Wide Web (WWW) is an application that runs on the Internet. The WWW is a system of interlinked resources -- documents, images, sounds, videos, data files -- that are stored on the Internet and can be accessed through a browser.