AP Computer Science Principles Actual Questions With Correct Detailed Answers.

Agile software development - correct answer An approach to software development that emphasizes a flexible and ready response to meet a shifting target. Benchmarking - correct 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 - correct answer A collection of thoroughly tested object code for various useful tasks. Coding - correct answer The process of translating the detailed designs into computer code. Divide-and-conquer - correct 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 - correct answer Designing a special set of test cases and running the program using these test data. Executable module - correct answer The resulting object code after a linker inserts requested code from code libraries. External documentation - correct answer Any materials assembled to clarify the program's design and implementation. Feasibility study - correct 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) - correct 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 - correct 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 - correct answer Documentation that is part of the program code itself. Logic error - correct answer An error in the algorithm used to solve a problem. Object code - correct answer Machine language instructions. Pair programming - correct 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 - correct 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 - correct answer A program written in a procedural language consists of sequences of statements that manipulate data items. Program design phase - correct answer A step in the software development life cycle that plans the structure of the software to be written. Program maintenance - correct answer The process of adapting an existing software product due to errors, new system requirements, or changing user needs. Program verification - correct answer Used to prove that if the input data to a program satisfies certain conditions, then, after the program has been run on these data, the output data satisfies certain other conditions. Regression testing - correct answer If anything is changed on an already-tested module, regression testing is done to be sure that this change has not introduced a new error into code that was previously correct. Runtime error - correct answer An error that occurs when the program is run using certain sets of data that result in some illegal operation, such as dividing by zero. Semantics - correct answer The meaning of correctly written programming statements. Source code - correct answer High-level language instructions. Syntax error - correct answer An error that occurs because a program statement fails to follow the correct rules of syntax. Technical documentation - correct answer Documentation that enables programmers who later have to modify the program to understand the code. Third-generation language - correct answer Another name for high-level programming language as opposed to machine language (first generation) or assembly language (second generation). Top-down decomposition - correct 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. Syntax - correct answer The rules for exactly how programming statements must be written; the grammatical structure of a programming language Application - correct answer (Java) A complete standalone program that resides and runs on a self-contained computer. External library - correct answer A well-written, efficient, and thoroughly tested code module that is separately compiled and then drawn on by any program that wishes to use its capabilities. Functional programming languages - correct answer Views every task in terms of functions. In this context, function means something like a mathematical function—a recipe for taking an argument (or possibly several arguments) and doing something with them to compute a single value. Knowledge base - correct answer Facts and rules about a certain domain of interest. Open source - correct answer Software whose source code is freely available and may be used, distributed, or modified by anyone. Recursive - correct answer Something that is defined in terms of "smaller versions" of itself. Computational model - correct answer A model constructed using algorithmic procedures implemented as computer programs. Computational steering - correct answer A procedure for using a computational model to improve the design of an actual system by continually resetting model parameters to improve system performance. Computer graphics - correct answer The field of computer science that examines the technical problems of displaying visual images on a computer screen. Continuous model - correct answer A model of a system using mathematical equations that describe system performance as a continuous function of time t. Discrete event simulation - correct answer A computational modeling technique that simulates the behavior of a system only at discrete points in time. Garbage in, garbage out - correct answer The term for the fact that the output coming out of a computer model is only as accurate as the assumption used to build the model. Scientific visualization - correct answer The use of images and visualization techniques to make scientific data easier to interpret and understand. Simulation model - correct answer Another term for a computational model. Statistical distribution - correct answer This is a mathematical function that describes the probability of a random quantity taking on certain values. Stochastic components - correct answer Parts of a model that display random behavior. Uniform random number - correct answer Every value in the range from a to b has the same chance of occurring. Analogy - correct answer Arguing about a problem by comparing it to a related problem, which you claim is very similar in terms of its ethical implications and consequences. Consequentialism - correct answer A school of thought in ethics that focuses on the consequences of an act to determine if the act is good or bad. Cyberbullying - correct answer Humiliating, taunting, threatening or invading someone's privacy using the Internet, Web, or other type of electronic technology. Ethics - correct answer The study of how to decide if something is morally right or wrong. Hacktivism - correct answer Hacking that is intended as political activism. Peer-to-peer file sharing - correct answer The sharing of files between two equal participants on a network. This is distinct from the client-server model in which the two sides serve very different roles--one side only sending information (the server) and the other side only receiving information (the client). Computer science - correct answer The study of algorithms, including their mathematical properties, hardware and linguistic realizations, and their applications. Computing agent - correct answer The entity (machine, robot, person, or thing) that executes the steps of an algorithm. High-level programming language - correct answer A programming language that uses both natural language constructs and mathematical notation. Infinite loop - correct answer The repetitive execution of a block of operations that will never end. This is a fatal error when it occurs in an algorithm. Sequential operation - correct answer An algorithmic operation that carries out a single task and then moves on to the next operation in sequence. Algorithm discovery - correct answer The process of finding an algorithmic solution to a given problem. Computation: An algorithmic operation that carries out a single numeric computation and stores the result. Computation - correct answer An algorithmic operation that carries out a single numeric computation and stores the result. Conditional statements - correct answer Operations that ask a question and select the next instruction to carry out based on the answer to that question. Continuation condition - correct answer The true/false condition that will determine when the iteration has been completed. Control operations - correct answer Operations that alter the normal sequential flow of control within an algorithm. Input - correct answer An operation that causes data values from the outside world to be brought into the algorithm. Iteration - correct answer The repetitive execution of a block of operations. Output - correct answer An operation that causes computed values to be sent to the outside world for viewing or saving. Primitive operation - correct answer An operation that can be directly understood by the computing agent executing the algorithm and which does not have to be further clarified or explained. Pseudocode - correct answer A notation used to design algorithms. It uses English constructs, mathematical notation and an informal algorithmic structure designed to look like a high-level programming language. Sorting - correct answer The task of putting a list of values into numeric or alphabetical order. Boolean expression - correct answer An expression that can evaluate only to true or false. Gigabyte - correct answer One billion bytes. Program - correct answer an algorithm that is written in a programming language that runs on a computer Control Structures - correct answer a block of programming that determines which part of the program is executed next. There are three types of structures: sequence, selection, and repetition. Computational Artifact - correct answer 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. Event Driven Programming - correct answer a programming approach whereby the program's behavior is controlled by writing code that responds to various events that occur, such as Button clicks. Hardware - correct answer the large and small physical components that make up a computers such as the computer's keyboard or its processor. Software - correct answer the computer programs that make up a computer system such as the mobile apps we will be creating in this course. Abstraction - correct answer 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. Binary Number - correct answer a number written in the binary system, a system that uses only two digits, 0s and 1s. Blacklist - correct answer in internet terminology, a generic term for a list of email addresses or IP addresses that are origination with known spammers Character - correct answer any symbol that requires one byte of storage Cyberspace - correct answer a metaphor for describing the non-physical terrain created by computer systems Data - correct answer 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 Data Center - correct answer 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 Network - correct answer a telecommunications network which allows computers to exchange data