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AP CSP Vocabulary Flashcards

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13808757073EQUALITY OPERATOR"==" (sometimes read: "equal equal") is used to compare two values, and returns a Boolean (true/false). Avoid confusion with the assignment operator "=",0
13808757074ABSTRACTIONA simplified representation of something more complex. Abstractions allow you to hide details to help you manage complexity, focus on relevant concepts, and reason about problems at a higher level.1
13808757075AGGREGATIONA computation in which rows from a data set are grouped together and used to compute a single value of more significant meaning or measurement. Common aggregations include: average, count, sum, max, median, etc.2
13808757076ALGORITHMA precise sequence of instructions for processes that can be executed by a computer3
13808757077ANTIVIRUS SOFTWAREUsually keeps big lists of known viruses and scans your computer looking for the virus programs in order to get rid of them.4
13808757078APIA collection of commands made available to a programmer5
13808757079ARRAYA data structure in javascript used to represent a list.6
13808757080ASCIIAmerican Standard Code for Information Interchange; the universally recognized raw text format that any computer can understand7
13808757081ASYMMETRIC ENCRYPTIONUsed in public key encryption, it is scheme in which the key to encrypt data is different from the key to decrypt.8
13808757082BANDWIDTHTransmission capacity measure by bit rate9
13808757083BIGDATAA broad term for datasets so large or complex that traditional data processing applications are inadequate.10
13808757084BINARYA way of representing information using only two options.11
13808757085BITA contraction of "Binary Digit"; the single unit of information in a computer, typically represented as a 0 or 112
13808757086BITA contraction of "Binary Digit"; the single unit of information in a computer, typically represented as a 0 or 113
13808757087BITRATE(Sometimes written bitrate) the number of bits that are conveyed or processed per unit of time. E.g. 8 bits/sec.14
13808757088BOOLEANA single value of either TRUE or FALSE15
13808757089BOOLEAN EXPRESSIONIn programming, an expression that evaluates to True or False.16
13808757090CAESAR CIPHERA technique for encryption that shifts the alphabet by some number of characters17
13808757091CALLBACK FUNCTIONA function specified as part of an event listener; it is written by the programmer but called by the system as the result of an event trigger.18
13808757092CANVASA user interface element to use in HTML/javascript which acts as a digital canvas, allowing the programmatic drawing and manipulation of pixels, basic shapes, figures and images.19
13808757093CIPHERThe generic term for a technique (or algorithm) that performs encryption20
13808757094CODE(V) to write code, or to write instructions for a computer.21
13808757095COMPUTATIONALLY HARDA "hard' problem for a computer is one in which it cannot arrive at a solution in a reasonable amount of time.22
13808757096CONCATENATETo link together or join. Typically used when joining together text strings in programming (e.g. "hello, "+name)23
13808757097CONDITIONALSStatements that only run under certain conditions.24
13808757098CRACKING ENCRYPTIONWhen you attempt to decode a secret message without knowing all the specifics of the cipher, you are trying to "crack" the encryption.25
13808757099DATA TYPEAll values in a programming language have a "type" - such as a Number, Boolean, or String - that dictates how the computer will interpret it. For example 7+5 is interpreted differently from "7"+"5"26
13808757100DDOS ATTACKDistributed Denial of Service Attack. Typically a virus installed on many computers (thousands) activate at the same time and flood a target with traffic to the point the server becomes overwhelmed.27
13808757101DEBUGGINGFinding and fixing problems in an algorithm or program.28
13808757102DECRYPTIONA process that reverses encryption, taking a secret message and reproducing the original plain text29
13808757103DNSThe service that translates urls to IP addresses.30
13808757104DOCUMENTATIONA description of the behavior of a command, function, library, API, etc.31
13808757105ENCRYPTIONA process of encoding messages to keep them secret, so only "authorized" parties can read it.32
13808757106EVENTAn action that causes something to happen.33
13808757107EVENT-DRIVEN PROGRAMA program designed to run blocks of code or functions in response to specified events (e.g. A mouse click)34
13808757108EVENT HANDLINGAn overarching term for the coding tasks involved in making a program respond to events by triggering functions.35
13808757109EVENT LISTENERA command that can be set up to trigger a function when a particular type of event occurs on a particular UI element.36
13808757110EXPRESSIONAny valid unit of code that resolves to a value.37
13808757111FIREWALLSoftware that runs on servers (often routers) that only allows traffic through according to some set of security rules.38
13808757112FOR LOOPLoops that have a predetermined beginning, end, and increment (step interval).39
13808757113FUNCTIONA named group of programming instructions. Functions are reusable abstractions that reduce the complexity of writing and maintaining programs.40
13808757114GLOBAL VARIABLEA variable whose scope is "global" to the program, it can be used and updated by any part of the code. Its global scope is typically derived from the variable being declared (created) outside of any function, object, or method.41
13808757115HEURISTICA problem solving approach (algorithm) to find a satisfactory solution where finding an optimal or exact solution is impractical or impossible.42
13808757116HEXADECIMALA base-16 number system that uses sixteen distinct symbols 0-9 and A-F to represent numbers from 0 to 15.43
13808757117HIGH LEVEL PROGRAMMING LANGUAGEA programming language with many commands and features designed to make common tasks easier to program. Any high level functionality is encapsulated as combinations of low level commands.44
13808757118HTTPHypertext Transfer Protocol - the protocol used for transmitting web pages over the Internet45
13808757119IETFInternet Engineering Task Force - develops and promotes voluntary Internet standards and protocols, in particular the standards that comprise the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP).46
13808757120IF-STATEMENTThe common programming structure that implements "conditional statements".47
13808757121IMAGEA type of data used for graphics or pictures.48
13808757122INNOVATIONA new or improved idea, device, product, etc, or the development thereof49
13808757123INTERNETA group of computers and servers that are connected to each other.50
13808757124IP ADDRESSA number assigned to any item that is connected to the Internet.51
13808757125ITERATETo repeat in order to achieve, or get closer to, a desired goal.52
13808757126KEYEVENTIn javascript an event triggered by pressing or releasing a key on the keyboard. For example: "keyup" and "keydown" are event types you can specify. Use event.key - from the "event" parameter of the onevent callback function - to figure out which key was pressed.53
13808757127LATENCYTime it takes for a bit to travel from its sender to its receiver.54
13808757128LIBRARYA collection of commands / functions, typically with a shared purpose55
13808757129LISTA generic term for a programming data structure that holds multiple items.56
13808757130LOCAL VARIABLEA variable with local scope is one that can only be seen, used and updated by code within the same scope. Typically this means the variable was declared (created) inside a function -- includes function parameter variables.57
13808757131LOOPThe action of doing something over and over again.58
13808757132LOSSLESS COMPRESSIONA data compression algorithm that allows the original data to be perfectly reconstructed from the compressed data.59
13808757133LOSSY COMPRESSION(Or irreversible compression) a data compression method that uses inexact approximations, discarding some data to represent the content. Most commonly seen in image formats like .jpg.60
13808757134LOW LEVEL PROGRAMMING LANGUAGEA programming language that captures only the most primitive operations available to a machine. Anything that a computer can do can be represented with combinations of low level commands.61
13808757135METADATAIs 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.62
13808757136MODELS AND SIMULATIONSA program which replicates or mimics key features of a real world event in order to investigate its behavior without the cost, time, or danger of running an experiment in real life.63
13808757137MODULOA mathematical operation that returns the remainder after integer division. Example: 7 mod 4 = 364
13808757138MOORE'S LAWA predication made by Gordon Moore in 1965 that computing power will double every 1.5-2 years, it has remained more or less true ever since.65
13808757139NET NEUTRALITYThe principle that all Internet traffic should be treated equally by Internet Service Providers.66
13808757140NETWORK REDUNDANCYHaving multiple backups to ensure reliability during cases of high usage or failure67
13808757141ONE-PAGERA business/corporate term for a one-page document that summarizes a large issue, topic or plan.68
13808757142PACKETSSmall chunks of information that have been carefully formed from larger chunks of information.69
13808757143PARAMETERAn extra piece of information passed to a function to customize it for a specific need70
13808757144PHISHING SCAMA thief trying to trick you into sending them sensitive information. Typically these include emails about system updates asking you send your username and password, social security number or other things.71
13808757145PIVOT TABLEIn most spreadsheet software it is the name of the tool used to create summary tables.72
13808757146PIXELShort for "picture element", the fundamental unit of a digital image, typically a tiny square or dot that contains a single point of color of a larger image.73
13808757147PRIVATE KEYIn an asymmetric encryption scheme the decryption key is kept private and never shared, so only the intended recipient has the ability to decrypt a message that has been encrypted with a public key.74
13808757148PROTOCOLA set of rules governing the exchange or transmission of data between devices.75
13808757149PUBLIC KEY ENCRYPTIONUsed prevalently on the web, it allows for secure messages to be sent between parties without having to agree on, or share, a secret key. It uses an asymmetric encryption scheme in which the encryption key is made public, but the decryption key is kept private.76
13808757150RANDOM SUBSTITUTION CIPHERAn encryption technique that maps each letter of the alphabet to a randomly chosen other letters of the alphabet.77
13808757151RETURN VALUEA value sent back by a function to the place in the code where the function was called form - typically asking for value (e.g. Gettext(id)) or the result of a calculation or computation of some kind. Most programming languages have many built-in functions that return values, but you can also write your own.78
13808757152RGBThe RGB color model uses varying intensities of (R)ed, (G)reen, and (B)lue light are added together in to reproduce a broad array of colors.79
13808757153ROUTERA type of computer that forwards data across a network80
13808757154SELECTIONA generic term for a type of programming statement (usually an if-statement) that uses a Boolean condition to determine, or select, whether or not to run a certain block of statements.81
13808757155SEQUENCINGPutting commands in correct order so computers can read the commands.82
13808757156SSL/TLSSecure Sockets layer / Transport Layer Security - An encryption layer of HTTP that uses public key cryptography to establish a secure connection.83
13808757157STRINGAny sequence of characters between quotation marks (ex: "hello", "42", "this is a string!").84
13808757158SUMMARY TABLEA table that shows the results of aggregations performed on data from a larger data set, hence a "summary" of larger data. Spreadsheet software typically calls them "pivot tables".85
13808757159TCPTransmission Control Protocol - provides reliable, ordered, and error-checked delivery of a stream of packets on the internet. TCP is tightly linked with IP and usually seen as TCP/IP in writing.86
13808757160TOP DOWN DESIGNA problem solving approach (also known as stepwise design) in which you break down a system to gain insight into the sub-systems that make it up.87
13808757161TURTLE PROGRAMMINGA classic method for learning programming with commands to control movement and drawing of an on-screen robot called a "turtle". The turtle hearkens back to early implementations in which children programmed a physical robot whose dome-like shape was reminiscent of a turtle.88
13808757162UI ELEMENTSOn-screen objects, like buttons, images, text boxes, pull down menus, screens and so on.89
13808757163URLAn easy-to-remember address for calling a web page (like www.code.org).90
13808757164USER INTERFACEThe visual elements of a program through which a user controls or communicates with the application. Often abbreviated UI.91
13808757165VARIABLEA placeholder for a piece of information that can change.92
13808757166VARIABLE SCOPEDictates what portions of the code can "see" or use a variable, typically derived from where the variable was first created. (see global v. Local)93
13808757167VIRUSA program that runs on a computer to do something the owner of the computer does not intend.94
13808757168WHILE LOOPA programming construct used to repeat a set of commands (loop) as long as (while) a boolean condition is true.95

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