AP COMPUTER SCIENCE PRINCIPLES
EXAM STUDY GUIDE 2026/2027
COMPLETE QUESTIONS WITH VERIFIED
CORRECT ANSWERS ||
100% GUARANTEED PASS
<NEWEST VERSION>
Agile software development - ANSWER An approach to software development
that emphasizes a flexible and ready response to meet a shifting target.
Benchmarking - ANSWER Running a program on many data sets to be sure its
performance falls within required limits; timing the same algorithm on two
different machines.
Code library - ANSWER A collection of thoroughly tested object code for various
useful tasks.
Coding - ANSWER The process of translating the detailed designs into computer
code.
Divide-and-conquer - ANSWER A program design strategy in which tasks are
broken down into subtasks, which are broken down into sub-subtasks, and so on,
until each piece is small enough to code comfortably. These pieces work together
to accomplish the total job.
,Empirical testing - ANSWER Designing a special set of test cases and running the
program using these test data.
Executable module - ANSWER The resulting object code after a linker inserts
requested code from code libraries.
External documentation - ANSWER Any materials assembled to clarify the
program's design and implementation.
Feasibility study - ANSWER A step in the software development life cycle that
evaluates a proposed project and compares the costs and benefits of various
solutions.
Integrated development environment (IDE) - ANSWER A collection of programs
that support software development, such as debuggers, editors, toolkits, and
libraries, that lets programmers perform several tasks within the shell of a single
application.
Integration testing - ANSWER After unit testing, integration testing is done to see
that the modules communicate the necessary data between and among themselves
and that all modules work together smoothly.
Internal documentation - ANSWER Documentation that is part of the program
code itself.
Logic error - ANSWER An error in the algorithm used to solve a problem.
Object code - ANSWER Machine language instructions.
,Pair programming - ANSWER Involves two programmers at a single workstation.
At any given point in time, one is writing code and the other is actively observing,
watching for possible errors
but also thinking about the overall approach.
Problem specification - ANSWER A step in the software development life cycle
that involves
developing a clear, concise, and unambiguous statement of the exact problem the
software
is to solve.
Procedural language - ANSWER A program written in a procedural language
consists of sequences of statements that manipulate data items.
Algorithm - ANSWER A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees
solving a particular problem.
Metadata - ANSWER Data that describes other data. For example, a digital image
my include metadata that describe the size of the image, number of colors, or
resolution.
Pixel - ANSWER Short for "picture element" it is the fundamental unit of a digital
image, typically a tiny square or dot which contains a single point of color of a
larger image.
Hexadecimal Number System - ANSWER A number system consisting of 16
distinct symbols — 0-9 and A-F — which can occur in each place value.
Lossless - ANSWER A compression scheme in which every bit of the original
data can be recovered from the compressed file.
, Lossy - ANSWER A compression scheme in which "useless" or less-than-totally-
necessary information is thrown out in order to reduce the size of the data. The
eliminated data is unrecoverable.
RGB - ANSWER the color model that uses varying intensities of (R)ed, (G)reen,
and (B)lue light added together in order to reproduce a broad array of colors.
File extensions - ANSWER the endings of file names that indicate to the computer
the format for how the underlying bits are organized.
Computationally Hard Problem - ANSWER A problem that can not be solved in a
reasonable amount of time. Heuristics are often used to create an approximate or
good enough solution.
Innovation - ANSWER A novel or improved idea, device, product, etc. or the
development thereof
Moore's Law - ANSWER the observation that computing power roughly doubles
every two years.
Big Data - ANSWER a broad term for datasets so large or complex that traditional
data processing applications are inadequate.
Cipher - ANSWER the generic term for a technique (or algorithm) that performs
encryption
Cracking encryption - ANSWER When you attempt to decode a secret message
without knowing all the specifics of the cipher.
EXAM STUDY GUIDE 2026/2027
COMPLETE QUESTIONS WITH VERIFIED
CORRECT ANSWERS ||
100% GUARANTEED PASS
<NEWEST VERSION>
Agile software development - ANSWER An approach to software development
that emphasizes a flexible and ready response to meet a shifting target.
Benchmarking - ANSWER Running a program on many data sets to be sure its
performance falls within required limits; timing the same algorithm on two
different machines.
Code library - ANSWER A collection of thoroughly tested object code for various
useful tasks.
Coding - ANSWER The process of translating the detailed designs into computer
code.
Divide-and-conquer - ANSWER A program design strategy in which tasks are
broken down into subtasks, which are broken down into sub-subtasks, and so on,
until each piece is small enough to code comfortably. These pieces work together
to accomplish the total job.
,Empirical testing - ANSWER Designing a special set of test cases and running the
program using these test data.
Executable module - ANSWER The resulting object code after a linker inserts
requested code from code libraries.
External documentation - ANSWER Any materials assembled to clarify the
program's design and implementation.
Feasibility study - ANSWER A step in the software development life cycle that
evaluates a proposed project and compares the costs and benefits of various
solutions.
Integrated development environment (IDE) - ANSWER A collection of programs
that support software development, such as debuggers, editors, toolkits, and
libraries, that lets programmers perform several tasks within the shell of a single
application.
Integration testing - ANSWER After unit testing, integration testing is done to see
that the modules communicate the necessary data between and among themselves
and that all modules work together smoothly.
Internal documentation - ANSWER Documentation that is part of the program
code itself.
Logic error - ANSWER An error in the algorithm used to solve a problem.
Object code - ANSWER Machine language instructions.
,Pair programming - ANSWER Involves two programmers at a single workstation.
At any given point in time, one is writing code and the other is actively observing,
watching for possible errors
but also thinking about the overall approach.
Problem specification - ANSWER A step in the software development life cycle
that involves
developing a clear, concise, and unambiguous statement of the exact problem the
software
is to solve.
Procedural language - ANSWER A program written in a procedural language
consists of sequences of statements that manipulate data items.
Algorithm - ANSWER A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees
solving a particular problem.
Metadata - ANSWER Data that describes other data. For example, a digital image
my include metadata that describe the size of the image, number of colors, or
resolution.
Pixel - ANSWER Short for "picture element" it is the fundamental unit of a digital
image, typically a tiny square or dot which contains a single point of color of a
larger image.
Hexadecimal Number System - ANSWER A number system consisting of 16
distinct symbols — 0-9 and A-F — which can occur in each place value.
Lossless - ANSWER A compression scheme in which every bit of the original
data can be recovered from the compressed file.
, Lossy - ANSWER A compression scheme in which "useless" or less-than-totally-
necessary information is thrown out in order to reduce the size of the data. The
eliminated data is unrecoverable.
RGB - ANSWER the color model that uses varying intensities of (R)ed, (G)reen,
and (B)lue light added together in order to reproduce a broad array of colors.
File extensions - ANSWER the endings of file names that indicate to the computer
the format for how the underlying bits are organized.
Computationally Hard Problem - ANSWER A problem that can not be solved in a
reasonable amount of time. Heuristics are often used to create an approximate or
good enough solution.
Innovation - ANSWER A novel or improved idea, device, product, etc. or the
development thereof
Moore's Law - ANSWER the observation that computing power roughly doubles
every two years.
Big Data - ANSWER a broad term for datasets so large or complex that traditional
data processing applications are inadequate.
Cipher - ANSWER the generic term for a technique (or algorithm) that performs
encryption
Cracking encryption - ANSWER When you attempt to decode a secret message
without knowing all the specifics of the cipher.
