WGU D684 - Introduction to Computer Science
Study Guide Questions with Answers | New
Update 2026
analog data - ANSWERS data represented in a continuous and variable form
American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) - ANSWERS a
standard encoding system for text characters that uses numeric values to
represent letters, numbers, and symbols
bandwidth - ANSWERS the maximum rate of data transfer across a network or
communication channel, usually measured in bits per second
binary - ANSWERS a numerical system that uses only two digits, zero and one,
to represent data in computing
Boolean expression - ANSWERS a logical statement that can only be true or
false and uses operators like AND, OR, and NOT
character - ANSWERS a single letter, digit, or symbol used in writing text
character set - ANSWERS a collection of characters that a computer can
recognize and process, like ASCII or Unicode
,compression ratio - ANSWERS the ratio of the original data size to the
compressed data size, indicating how much the data has been reduced
control structure - ANSWERS constructs in programming that control the flow
of execution, such as loops and conditional statements
data - ANSWERS raw facts and figures that can be processed to produce
meaningful information
data compression - ANSWERS the process of reducing the size of data to save
space or transmission time
data types - ANSWERS categories of data that define what kind of value can be
stored, like integers, floats, and strings, and how it can be used
declaration - ANSWERS a statement in programming that specifies the name
and type of a variable or function without assigning a value
digital data - ANSWERS data represented using discrete binary values (zeroes
and ones)
floating point - ANSWERS a way to represent real numbers that can have
fractional parts using a format that includes a base and an exponent
Huffman encoding - ANSWERS a compression technique that uses variable-
length codes for data representation based on frequency of occurrence
,information - ANSWERS data that have been processed or organized in a
meaningful way to be useful
integer - ANSWERS a whole number
keyword encoding - ANSWERS a method of data compression that replaces
frequently occurring patterns with shorter codes
lossless - ANSWERS a type of data compression where no information is lost
and the original data can be perfectly reconstructed
lossy - ANSWERS a type of data compression that reduces file size by
permanently eliminating some information, which may affect quality
numeric - ANSWERS any value that is a number
overflow - ANSWERS a condition in which a calculation exceeds the maximum
value that can be represented within a given number of bits
pulse-code modulation (PCM) - ANSWERS a method used to digitally represent
analog signals
radix point - ANSWERS the decimal point in a number system that indicates
the separation between integer and fractional parts
, real - ANSWERS a data type representing numbers that can have fractional
parts, often called floating-point numbers
reclocking - ANSWERS the process of refreshing the timing signals in digital
data to ensure accuracy and synchronization
run-length encoding - ANSWERS a simple compression technique that replaces
sequences of repeated characters with a single character and a count
scientific notation - ANSWERS a method of representing very large or very
small numbers by using powers of 10
signed-magnitude representation - ANSWERS a way of encoding positive and
negative numbers where one bit represents the sign and the remaining bits
represent the magnitude
string - ANSWERS a sequence of characters treated as a single data element
and used for text manipulation
strong typing - ANSWERS a feature in programming languages where each
variable is explicitly declared to be of a specific type, reducing errors
ten's complement - ANSWERS a mathematical method for representing
negative numbers in a decimal system
Study Guide Questions with Answers | New
Update 2026
analog data - ANSWERS data represented in a continuous and variable form
American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) - ANSWERS a
standard encoding system for text characters that uses numeric values to
represent letters, numbers, and symbols
bandwidth - ANSWERS the maximum rate of data transfer across a network or
communication channel, usually measured in bits per second
binary - ANSWERS a numerical system that uses only two digits, zero and one,
to represent data in computing
Boolean expression - ANSWERS a logical statement that can only be true or
false and uses operators like AND, OR, and NOT
character - ANSWERS a single letter, digit, or symbol used in writing text
character set - ANSWERS a collection of characters that a computer can
recognize and process, like ASCII or Unicode
,compression ratio - ANSWERS the ratio of the original data size to the
compressed data size, indicating how much the data has been reduced
control structure - ANSWERS constructs in programming that control the flow
of execution, such as loops and conditional statements
data - ANSWERS raw facts and figures that can be processed to produce
meaningful information
data compression - ANSWERS the process of reducing the size of data to save
space or transmission time
data types - ANSWERS categories of data that define what kind of value can be
stored, like integers, floats, and strings, and how it can be used
declaration - ANSWERS a statement in programming that specifies the name
and type of a variable or function without assigning a value
digital data - ANSWERS data represented using discrete binary values (zeroes
and ones)
floating point - ANSWERS a way to represent real numbers that can have
fractional parts using a format that includes a base and an exponent
Huffman encoding - ANSWERS a compression technique that uses variable-
length codes for data representation based on frequency of occurrence
,information - ANSWERS data that have been processed or organized in a
meaningful way to be useful
integer - ANSWERS a whole number
keyword encoding - ANSWERS a method of data compression that replaces
frequently occurring patterns with shorter codes
lossless - ANSWERS a type of data compression where no information is lost
and the original data can be perfectly reconstructed
lossy - ANSWERS a type of data compression that reduces file size by
permanently eliminating some information, which may affect quality
numeric - ANSWERS any value that is a number
overflow - ANSWERS a condition in which a calculation exceeds the maximum
value that can be represented within a given number of bits
pulse-code modulation (PCM) - ANSWERS a method used to digitally represent
analog signals
radix point - ANSWERS the decimal point in a number system that indicates
the separation between integer and fractional parts
, real - ANSWERS a data type representing numbers that can have fractional
parts, often called floating-point numbers
reclocking - ANSWERS the process of refreshing the timing signals in digital
data to ensure accuracy and synchronization
run-length encoding - ANSWERS a simple compression technique that replaces
sequences of repeated characters with a single character and a count
scientific notation - ANSWERS a method of representing very large or very
small numbers by using powers of 10
signed-magnitude representation - ANSWERS a way of encoding positive and
negative numbers where one bit represents the sign and the remaining bits
represent the magnitude
string - ANSWERS a sequence of characters treated as a single data element
and used for text manipulation
strong typing - ANSWERS a feature in programming languages where each
variable is explicitly declared to be of a specific type, reducing errors
ten's complement - ANSWERS a mathematical method for representing
negative numbers in a decimal system
