COMPUTER SCIENCE
CERTIFICATION FINAL PAPER 2026
COMPLETE QUESTIONS AND
VERIFIED ANSWERS GRADE A+
◉ Round-off. error that results when the number of bits is not enough to
represent the actual number, like 3 digits to represent π as 3.14
◉ Lossy. Compressing data in a way that throws some data away and
makes it almost impossible to recover the original, great compression,
like JPEG images
◉ Lossless. Compressing data in a way that preserves all data away and
allows full recovery of the original, good compression -- usually not as
good as lossy, like PNG images
◉ Metadata. data about data, like a camera storing the location, aperture,
shutter speed, etc. for a digital photo
◉ Sequencing. code flows line by line, one after another, like a recipe
◉ Selection. a boolean condition to determine which of two algorithmic
paths are taken, aka if-then
◉ Iteration. using a looping control structure, like while, for, foreach,
repeat, repeat-until, etc.
,◉ Reasonable Time. polynomial in the number of steps an algorithm
takes in the worst case based on the input size
◉ Not reasonable time. Usually exponential in the number of steps, like
doubling every time your input grows by one
◉ Heuristic. using a "rule" to guide an algorithm, like always walking
toward the north star if you were stuck in a forest
◉ Undecidable. A problem that is so difficult, we can't ever create an
algorithm that would be able to answer yes or no for all inputs, like
determining if a user's program run on some input would always stop
and not run forever
◉ Linear Search. Going one by one vs starting in the middle and going
left/right like looking for a word in the dictionary
◉ Binary Search. requires the list to be sorted in order and then cutting
the list in half
◉ APIs. Application Programming Interface
◉ Citizen Science. Lots of people to help with a scientific project, like
asking everyone around the world to count the butterflies they see one
day
, ◉ Cloud Computing. Using distributed calculations and/or storage for
big data or a web application
◉ Crowdsourcing. Asking lots of users online to help with something,
like funding a project, or running SETI@Home to help look for
extraterrestrial signals
◉ Creative Commons. An alternative to copyright that allows people to
declare how they want their artistic creations to be shared, remixed, used
in noncommercial contexts, and how the policy should propagate with
remixed versions
◉ Open Access. A policy that allows people to have read access to
things, e.g., libraries or online data
◉ Moore's Law. The # of transistors on a chip doubles every two years
◉ Peer-to-peer Networks. A system where one user's computer connects
through the Internet to another user's computer without going through an
intermediary "centralized" computer to manage the connection
◉ Digital Divide. The idea that some communities / populations have
less access to computing than others
◉ ISP. Internet Service Provider
CERTIFICATION FINAL PAPER 2026
COMPLETE QUESTIONS AND
VERIFIED ANSWERS GRADE A+
◉ Round-off. error that results when the number of bits is not enough to
represent the actual number, like 3 digits to represent π as 3.14
◉ Lossy. Compressing data in a way that throws some data away and
makes it almost impossible to recover the original, great compression,
like JPEG images
◉ Lossless. Compressing data in a way that preserves all data away and
allows full recovery of the original, good compression -- usually not as
good as lossy, like PNG images
◉ Metadata. data about data, like a camera storing the location, aperture,
shutter speed, etc. for a digital photo
◉ Sequencing. code flows line by line, one after another, like a recipe
◉ Selection. a boolean condition to determine which of two algorithmic
paths are taken, aka if-then
◉ Iteration. using a looping control structure, like while, for, foreach,
repeat, repeat-until, etc.
,◉ Reasonable Time. polynomial in the number of steps an algorithm
takes in the worst case based on the input size
◉ Not reasonable time. Usually exponential in the number of steps, like
doubling every time your input grows by one
◉ Heuristic. using a "rule" to guide an algorithm, like always walking
toward the north star if you were stuck in a forest
◉ Undecidable. A problem that is so difficult, we can't ever create an
algorithm that would be able to answer yes or no for all inputs, like
determining if a user's program run on some input would always stop
and not run forever
◉ Linear Search. Going one by one vs starting in the middle and going
left/right like looking for a word in the dictionary
◉ Binary Search. requires the list to be sorted in order and then cutting
the list in half
◉ APIs. Application Programming Interface
◉ Citizen Science. Lots of people to help with a scientific project, like
asking everyone around the world to count the butterflies they see one
day
, ◉ Cloud Computing. Using distributed calculations and/or storage for
big data or a web application
◉ Crowdsourcing. Asking lots of users online to help with something,
like funding a project, or running SETI@Home to help look for
extraterrestrial signals
◉ Creative Commons. An alternative to copyright that allows people to
declare how they want their artistic creations to be shared, remixed, used
in noncommercial contexts, and how the policy should propagate with
remixed versions
◉ Open Access. A policy that allows people to have read access to
things, e.g., libraries or online data
◉ Moore's Law. The # of transistors on a chip doubles every two years
◉ Peer-to-peer Networks. A system where one user's computer connects
through the Internet to another user's computer without going through an
intermediary "centralized" computer to manage the connection
◉ Digital Divide. The idea that some communities / populations have
less access to computing than others
◉ ISP. Internet Service Provider
