About AP Computer Science A

AP Computer Science A is an introductory college-level computer science course. Students cultivate their understanding of coding through analyzing, writing, and testing code as they explore concepts like modularity, variables, and control structures.

Course Content

The course covers the following main areas:

1. Primitive Types
2. Using Objects
3. Boolean Expressions and if Statements
4. Iteration
5. Writing Classes
6. Array
7. ArrayList
8. 2D Array
9. Inheritance
10. Recursion

Computational Thinking Practices

The course emphasizes the following computational thinking practices:

1. Program Design and Algorithm Development: Determine required code segments to produce a given output.
2. Code Logic: Determine the output, value, or result of given program code given initial values.
3. Code Implementation: Write and implement program code.
4. Code Testing: Analyze program code for correctness, equivalence, and errors.
5. Documentation: Describe the behavior and conditions that produce identified results in a program.

Programming Language: Java

The course uses Java as its primary programming language. Java is an object-oriented language that provides a foundation for further study in computer science.

AP Exam

The AP Computer Science A Exam assesses student understanding of the computational thinking practices and learning objectives outlined in the course framework. The exam is 3 hours long and includes 40 multiple-choice questions and 4 free-response questions.