AP Computer Science Principles
If you’ve ever been curious about how the websites and apps you love are built, this introductory computer science course is for you. You don’t need a coding background to succeed, and your school will provide the computer. In AP Computer Science Principles, you’ll learn how computers and technology impact our daily lives by examining the apps we use, how our personal data is collected, and how technology can have positive and negative consequences.
Course Content
Big Idea 1: Creative Development
You'll learn how important collaboration is in developing programs and how to use an iterative process in your work.
Big Idea 2: Data
You'll explore how computers handle data and how data can be used to produce new information and solve problems.
Big Idea 3: Algorithms and Programming
You'll learn how to use algorithms and abstractions to create programs that solve problems or to express your own creativity.
Big Idea 4: Computer Systems and Networks
You'll explore how computer systems and networks work and how using multiple computers to divide tasks can speed up processes.
Big Idea 5: Impact of Computing
You'll examine the effects computing has had on societies, economies, and cultures and consider the legal and ethical responsibilities of programmers.
Tips
Grace Kang
Score: 3
AP Computer Science Principles can be considered one of the more “easy” AP classes, but that does not mean that you do not need to study. It is still important to keep up with lectures and understand how the coding works and builds upon each other. It could be helpful to keep a list on how the commands work in order to use it as a reference while you are still learning and be able to code faster and overall be able to memorize/learn the codes better. As for the exam, it is important to be clear on the explanations for your create task and be as detailed as possible. For the actual MCQ portion make sure to brief on what different lines of code in other formats looks like and how to understand what is happening.
Resources
Course Description
Know what is expected of you to know and what is the makeup of your exam. Each topic has its dedicated page. Look at what the rubric will look like for your essays.