⌨️AP Comp Sci Principles – 2023 Cheat Sheet | 👉🏽 See all AP CSP study guides | @thinkfiveable

🕹Unit 1
Creative Development
⚙️Unit 2 Data
📱Unit 3 Algorithms & Programming

Computing Innovation: an innovation that uses a program Data​is a collection of facts. ● Pseudocode will be used a lot on the MCQ section of the AP
as a key part of their function. ● Computing devices store data in bits (binary digits) Exam, make sure to review the AP CSP exam sheet and fully
Computing Innovation Examples: ● Computers read ​machine code​which is usually in the ​binary understand all of the pseudocode.
● Physical: Robots, Tablets, smart tech system. ● Important: AP Pseudocode has an index that starts at 1!
● Non-physical: Social Media, Video Games ● Abstraction: ​reduces complexity by only focusing on the most Data Types
Collaboration important parts & hiding the irrelevant parts from the user — ● Ex: Numbers, strings, lists and booleans
● allows for diverse ideas and thoughts that cater to important for AP CSP!! ● Strings​are an ordered list of characters (“hello world”)
different people Binary Numbers ● Substrings​are part of a string (“ello”)
● Pair Programming: when two people share one ● 8 bits = 1 byte ● String concatenation ​occurs when two strings or more are
computer and take turns coding ● Hexadecimal​is used for RGB color codes & it uses Base 16 connected w/ a “+”
Program Function and Purpose Conversion Charts: Binary and Hexadecimal ● List (array) a​n ordered sequence of elements
● Purpose: What a program is designed to do (ex: solving ● An element​is an individual value in a list
problems, creative expression) ● All elements have an ​index: number that represents their
● Code Segments: a smaller collection of statements that position in the list (ex: in the list [5,6,7], 5 is at index
are part of a program number 1 because it’s in the first position)
● Code Statements: individual instructions. ● Booleans: either True or False; go with the logical operators:​
● Program Inputs: pieces of data (visual, auditory, touch, NOT, AND and OR
etc) that a computer takes in and processes ● Loops​traverse through lists/arrays/strings
● Program Outputs: the data (same types as inputs) that Mathematical Operators:
the computer returns ● Look at the exam reference sheet for the meaning of operators
● Program Events: an action that gives a program data to such as / and %
respond to. ● MOD (%)​gives you the remainder of 2 #’s
● Program Behavior: how a program will respond to a user Algorithms
interacting with it. ● An algorithm​has instructions that accomplish a task or solve a
Development Processes: Data Representation problem; created using sequencing, selection, and iteration
● iterative development process​: develop working ● ASCII code​converts text to binary format Sequencing, Selection and Iteration
prototypes of a program and go back through the cycle ● Analog data​is measured continuously & changes smoothly ● Sequencing m​eans that all of the code is executed in the order
to redevelop the program ● Digital data​is measured digitally and leaves out extra data by they are written in.
● incremental development process​: break a problem simplifying the data collected (form of abstraction) ● Selection: i​f statements​: have conditions​that need to be met for
into small parts and then reassemble the solution when Data Compression the selection to run
each party is fixed ● Data compression​is dependent on 1) the method used and 2) ● Else statements​are attached to if statements which
● Program Documentation: a description of how the amount of repeated info in the data specify what happens if a condition is not met
something in your program works ● Lossless compression:​less compression & better file quality ● Nested conditional statements​have conditional
● Comments: program doc. written directly into the ● Lossy compression​: more compression & worse file quality statements inside of conditional statements
program itself Extracting Information from Data ● Iteration: “repeat n times”/”repeat until”; you can use NOT, AND
Common Errors: ● Metadata:​data about data and OR to write loops
● Logic Errors: u​nexpected behavior in program’s output ● Data mining: e​xamining very large data sets to find ● Binary Search: type of algorithm used to search; works by
● Syntax Errors:​the code does not work properly information splitting the data set and eliminates ½ the data with each
because it is typed or written incorrectly ● Transforming data: editing or modifying data (ex: doubling round of splitting
● Run-Time Errors:​error occurs while code runs every number/graphing data points) Procedures/Functions
● Overflow Errors:​the numbers are too big for the ● Cleaning data: making data uniform w/o changing meaning ● Procedures​are programming instructions that are also called
computer (ex: correcting misspelled words) ​methods​or ​functions
Methods of Fixing: ● Parameters:​input variables of a procedure
● Hand tracing: manually tracking your variables' values ● Arguments:​a procedure call with defined values
as your program goes along ● You can call a procedure without knowing how it works: this is an
● Print statements: printing out values to make sure example of abstraction
they’re correct
 ⌨️AP Comp Sci Principles – 2023 Cheat Sheet | 👉🏽 See all AP CSP study guides | @thinkfiveable

🖥Unit 4
Computer Systems & Networks
⌨️Unit 5
Impact of Computing
💯 Exam Tips
The Internet Key Concepts MCQs
● Internet = inter​connection and n​et​works ● digital divide​: gaps between those who have access to the 120 minutes (2 hrs) | 70 multiple choice questions | 70% of AP
● computer network​: when multiple computing devices internet and those who do not Exam Score
(ex: computer, tablet) communicate with each other ● The things that affect this are demographics, ● Pace yourself! You have around 1.7 minutes for each question so
● Data on the internet is split into d​ata packets with socioeconomic status, and geographic location make sure to keep track of the time.
metadata (data about the data packets) attached to ● computing bias: computing innovations can reflect existing ● If you are confused on a question, ​skip and come back later.​If
each packet to tell the routers information racial/gender/etc biases. Ex: recruiting algorithms that prefer you cannot understand
● routing:​the process of finding the best path to deliver one race or gender over another ● a question within 5-10 seconds of reading it, try to answer other
information. ● This is often because computers run on historical data, questions first.
● path: sequences of connected computing devices which reflects historical biases ● If necessary, g​uess​. College Board does not have a guessing
(routers) that begin at the sender and end at the ● Intellectual property: ​the work that people consider “theirs” penalty (points are only
receiver. ● copyright:​the person who created something determines who ● rewarded if earned, not taken away if answered incorrectly.
● bandwidth: the rate of data transfer from one device to uses their creation ● Read the AP CSP ​reference​​sheet​ahead of time for easy use on
another; megabits per second ● Creative Commons​: copyright license for creators to give the AP Exam.
● protocol: set of rules; the internet uses the TCP/IP and others the ability to use their work ● Find and use practice questions! P​ractice makes perfect!
UDP protocols to communicate ● Open-sourcing​: work is freely shared, distributed, and modified
● World Wide Web: a system of web-pages, programs, ● Open access​: research available to public w/ out restrictions
and files; runs on the Internet but is not the internet ● Crowdsourcing: getting a large amount of input or information Create Task
● scalability: the capacity to change in size and scale to from people on the Internet. 12+ hours in class work time | 30% of AP Exam Score | DUE: May
meet new demands. ● Citizen Science: scientific research that the general population 1st, 2023 @ 11:59 PM EDT
Fault Tolerance helps to conduct. ● Work ahead of time! Try to avoid submitting your Create Task
● fault tolerant:​something can still function even w/ a Digital Security late to avoid technical errors.
partial malfunction ● personally identifiable information (PII): information that can ● Before submitting, review the ​scoring guidelines​on the College
● redundancy:​duplication of things; helps make the be used to identify you Board website to make sure you have fulfilled the requirements
internet fault tolerant ● virus vs worm: Viruses are attached to infected files and must for each row on the rubric.
Parallel and Distributed Computing be activated by the user; worms can operate independently. ● To make sure your Create Task is completed properly, view the
● sequential computing: t​raditional programming where ● malware: ​malicious software that takes control of a system ​sample responses​on the College Board
each program is processed at a time ● phishing:​tricks people into giving their personal information ● Website and cross reference and compare your work to the
● Parallel computing:​when program is broken into away by pretending to be a trustworthy group samples.
smaller operations and processed at the same time ● multi-factor authentication: requiring multiple methods of ● Any examples or samples you see, write down to make sure you
using multiple processors verification. do not accidentally plagiarize. A Create Task that is flagged for
● Distributed computing:​multiple devices communicate Encryption plagiarism will receive a score of 0.
together to run a program ● encryption: ​encoding data to prevent others from accessing it ● Be confident in your work! You have gone through this class for
● sequential solution:​takes as long as the # of all steps ● key: a secret piece of information used to encrypt data an entire year & are prepared!
in a program; With 3 steps of a, b, and c length, the ● symmetric key encryption​: one key for both encrypting &
sequential solution equals a + b + c decrypting
● parallel computing solution: f​aster w less # of cores; if ● public key encryption​: public key to encrypt & private key to
all steps are independent, find the solution that results decrypt
in the minimum possible time
● speedup of a parallel solution: sequential solution
time/parallel solution time