AP Principles Study Guide
WHAT DO I DO FIRST?
You have access to a lot of resources to study for this class and prepare for the AP Exam. Most importantly, I want you to think of studying as coming in two phases: learning and practice.
I've listed the following materials in an intentional order.
For learning, the first items are broad overviews moving toward more in depth dives on specific topics.
For practice we do the reverse - align your study with a current topic, then later on use full practice tests to gauge your overall learning.
To Learn
Barrons Book Readings (Big Idea #1-5)
To Practice
AP Classroom Problems (Extra Practice #1-5)
Barrons Book Questions (Big Idea #1-5)
Barrons Book Practice Tests (2+4)
BARRONS BOOK
Using the Barrons Books
The book has five units centered on each of the big ideas
Each unit is divided into a READING and QUESTIONS
Unit Study Strategy
Skim the main headings and bold terms of the reading
Read deeply anything that isn't 100% familiar
If you're finding a concept is difficult, explore the resources page for video support.
Complete practice questions
They're sorted by topic, so make sure you skip around once you understand an idea
Practice Tests
Your book has 2 physical practice tests and 4 digital tests
Once you've finished all the unit reviews, I recommend taking at least one full practice exam
Find a quiet place to focus for the full 2 hours
Take it like a proper exam - no notes, no pausing, no distractions
Grade yourself and make corrections
THE BIG IDEAS
Big Idea #1
Creative Development
General
Software
Hardware
Collaboration
Development Process
Incremental Programming
Programming and Errors
Program Input
Program Output
Logic Error
Syntax Error
Runtime Error
Big Idea #2
Data
General
Abstraction
Analog vs. Digital Data
Roundoff Errors
Overflow Errors
Lossy vs. Lossless Compression
Metadata
Predicting Algorithms
Binary
Bit
Byte
Converting Binary to Decimal
Converting Decimal to Binary
Capacity
How to find the highest decimal number I can store in a certain number of bits
How to find the least number of bits needed to store a certain decimal number
Big Idea #3
Algorithms
Basics
Algorithm
Programming Design Steps
Flow Charts
Loops
Conditionals
Variables
Arrays
Searches and Big O
Big O Notation
Linear Search
Worst Case Comparisons
Binary Search
Worst Case Comparisons
Basics
Programming Order of Operations
Addition
Subtraction
Multiplication
Division
Modulus
Big Idea #4
Internet
Basics
Computing Devices
Sender
Receiver
Path
Packet
Broken Node
Protocols
Internet Protocol (IP)
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)
User Datagram Protocol (UDP)
Fault Tolerance
Redundancy
Networks and Computing
Network
Internet
World Wide Web
Sequential Computing
Parallel Computing
Distributed Computing
Big Idea #5
Impact of Computing
General
Digital Divide
Causes
Bias
Crowdsourcing
Citizen Science
Creative Commons
Open Source
Open Access
Possible Impact of Innovations
Personally Identifying Information (PII)
Security
Multifactor Authentication
Knowledge
Possession
Inherence
Encryption
Symmetric Key
Asymmetric Key/Public Key
Decryption
Hazards
Malware
Computer Viruses
Phishing
Keylogging
Rogue Access Point