AP CSP Exam Review

Which of the following is a true statement about program documentation? A) Program documentation should not be changed after it is first written B) Program documentation is only needed for programs in development; it is not needed after a program is completed C) Program documentation is useful when programmers collaborate but not when a programmer works individually on a project. D) Program documentation is useful during initial program development and also when modifications are made to existing programs.

A is incorrect because documentation should be updated as the program is written to help guide other programmers and make the code easier to debug B is incorrect because documentation is very helpful to others who will view and try to understand your program and also if you decide to go back and make changes. C is incorrect because documentation is both useful for the programmer and for others who are collaborating. D is the correct answer because documentation is useful while coding and while modifying completed programs. Without documentation, you would have to go back and trace every detail of the code to try to make an edit.

Which of the following is considered an unethical use of computer resources? A) Downloading freeware or shareware onto your home computer B) Purchasing a game from an app store and downloading it directly to a mobile device C) Purchasing a single-user copy of photo editing software and installing it on all the computers in a computer lab D) Searching online for an electronic version of a school textbook.

A is incorrect because it is legal and ethical to download free software to your computer. B is incorrect because it is legal, ethical, and completely normal to download and play games from an app store onto your own mobile device. C is correct because buying a single-user copy of a photo editing software and installing it on more than one device is highly unethical and illegal. D is incorrect because searching for anything online is not unethical or illegal.

An algorithm has been developed to compute the sum of all the elements in a list of integers. Which of the following programming structures must be added to the existing algorithm so that the new algorithm computes the sum of only the even integers in the list? A) Iteration B) Searching C) Selection D) Sequencing

A is incorrect because iteration is already necessary to compute the sum of the integers in the list. C is the correct answer as the algorithm will now have to use if-else statements (selection statements) to determine if the integer in the list is even or odd and only compute the sum of the even integers.

Which of the following activities poses the greatest personal cybersecurity risk? A) Making a purchase at an online store that uses public key encryption to transmit credit card information. B) Paying a bill using a secure electronic payment system. C) Reserving a hotel room by e-mailing a credit card number to a hotel. D) Withdrawing money from a bank account using an ATM.

A is incorrect because public key encryption is used with HTTPS encrypted sites and thus is a safe site on which to pay. C is correct because emailing a credit card number is never safe because you would be vulnerable to hackers or hotel employees stealing your information.

Which of the following best explains what happens when a new device is connected to the Internet? A) A device driver is assigned to the device. B) An Internet Protocol (IP) address is assigned to the device. C) A packet number is assigned to the device. D) A website is assigned to the device.

B is the correct answer and the only answer which makes sense.

A programmer is writing a program that is intended to be able to process large amounts of data. Which of the following considerations is LEAST likely to affect the ability of the program to process large data sets? A) How long the program takes to run B) How many programming statements the program contains C) How much memory the program requires D) How much storage space the program requires as it runs

B is the most correct answer because the number of lines of code or number of programming statements will have almost no effect on the program's ability to process large amounts of data.

Computers are often used to search through large sets of data to find useful patterns. Which of the following tasks is NOT an example where searching for patterns is needed to produce useful information? A) A credit card company analyzing credit card purchases to identify potential fraudulent charges. B) A grocery store analyzing customers' past purchases to suggest new products the customer may be interested in buying. C) A high school analyzing student grades to identify the students with the top ten highest grade point averages. D) An online retailer analyzing customers' viewing habits to suggest other products based on the purchasing history of other customers.

Both A and C seem correct here, but C is the correct answer because: It is certain that searching for patterns is not necessary in any way to identify simply the top 10 students in the grade, however credit card companies often search for patterns when trying to identify whether or not a charge is fraudulent.

Which of the following statements are true about using a high-level programming language instead of a lower-level programming language? I. Programs written in high-level languages are generally easier for people to read than programs written in a low-level language. II. A high-level language provides programmers with more abstractions than a low-level language. III. Programs written in a high-level language are generally easier to debug than programs written in a low-level language. A) I only B) I and II C) II and III only D) I, II, and III

D is the correct answer because: I. is correct because a high-level programming language is a combination of a modern language such as English and language the computer can understand. This increases readability. II. is correct because a high-level language abstracts the real code being executed by the computer (byte code) so that humans can write code much more easily. III. is correct because modern language is much easier to understand than trying to debug a series of 1's and 0's or some other form of low-level code.

A student is recording a song on her computer. When the recording is finished, she saves a copy on her computer. The student notices that the saved copy is of lower sound quality than the original recording. Why could this be?

The song was saved using fewer bits per second than the original song. --> in other words, it was saved using lossy compression.