AP Computer Science Principles Exam
with Verified Answers
Overflow - ✔✔error that results when the number of bits is not enough to hold the number,
like a car's odometer "rolling over"
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
Lossless - ✔✔Compressing data in a way that preserves all data away and allows full recovery of
the original
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-else
Iteration - ✔✔using a looping control structure, like while, for, for each, 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
Linear Search - ✔✔Searching through data by going one by one
Binary Search - ✔✔requires the list to be sorted in order and then cutting the list in half each
search
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
with Verified Answers
Overflow - ✔✔error that results when the number of bits is not enough to hold the number,
like a car's odometer "rolling over"
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
Lossless - ✔✔Compressing data in a way that preserves all data away and allows full recovery of
the original
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-else
Iteration - ✔✔using a looping control structure, like while, for, for each, 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
Linear Search - ✔✔Searching through data by going one by one
Binary Search - ✔✔requires the list to be sorted in order and then cutting the list in half each
search
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
