This article explains the type of questions that are likely to be in the AP Computer Science Principles exam according to the practice exercises and exams and other online material.
We don’t know what questions will be in the exam, but this article suggests areas that if you know, will help you in the exam.
AP Computer Science Principles (CSP) exam
The AP Computer Science Principles (CSP) exam is a multiple choice exam of 70 questions. These include multiple answer questions. The exam is 2 hours long and does not include the create performance task, that is submitted earlier.
AP Computer Science Principles (CSP) course
The AP Computer Science Principles (CSP) course is based in America
but is taught elsewhere. Although it is an ‘advanced program’ it
presents beginner material to Computer Science in a selected area of fields.
What is in the AP CSP exam?
Officially, the five ‘big ideas’ which consist of the following, the percentage in brackets denotes the exam weighting of the multiple choice questions:
- Algorithms & Programming (30-35%)
- Impact of Computing (21-26%)
- Data (17-22%)
- Computer Systems & Networks (11-15%)
- Creative Development (10-13%)
Details from the college board website.
If the big ideas don’t tell you what is actually in the exam then there are lists of areas like the following:
- Digital Information
- The Internet
- Programming
- Algorithms
- Data Analysis
- Simulations
- Online Data Security
- Computing Innovations
But this does not fully help us prepare for the exam. So what can we expect?
What questions are likely to be in the AP CSP Exam?
We know there are likely to be questions about general computing,
programming such as understanding code written in pseudo code,
networking, algorithms and understanding data. So lets have a look at these areas.
Computing questions in the AP CSP Exam
There are two areas of computing that are included in the sample practice questions and therefore assumed to be in the actual exam. The first is the initial lessons on how computers work with the use of binary numbers.
These questions start off simple with how to convert binary to and from decimal, what can a bit hold and errors such as overflow and rounding errors.
There seems to be one or two hex number questions, text encoding and compressions questions that come from the digital media area of computing.
binary-related computing questions
- bits & bytes
- converting to and from binary numbers
- overflow and rounding errors
- binary with text (encoding)
- binary with sound
- binary with images (compression, hex numbers)
The other computing questions we group together as they range from innovation, simulation, digital divide, copyright, user interfaces and design, APIs, and other areas of computing covered in the CSP course that are not really about data, networks or programming.
general computing questions
- user interfaces
- copyright
- innovations
- simulations
AP CSP students wishing to practice computing questions from the sample exam from last year and before can visit the article where practice questions and answers are given. Click on this link to visit the computing question article from the Alps Academy:
Network questions in the AP CSP Exam
There are going to be questions about the internet and networks in
the CSP exam. These will include some basic internet and world wide web
questions, some questions about the protocols such as TCP, IP and HTTP,
and questions on security risks.
How does public key encryption work, what happens if a router is
damaged in a network, and what is the outcome of a type of threat (e.g.
DDOS), are all candidate questions.
network questions
- WWW and the Internet
- TCP/IP
- protocols
- packets
- routing
- bandwidth
- domains
- network architecture
- fault tolerance
- security and attacks
AP CSP students wishing to practice internet and network questions from the sample exam from last year and before can visit the article where practice questions and answers are given. Click on this link to visit the network questions article from the Alps Academy:
Programming questions in the AP CSP Exam
There are different types of programming questions that are included in the AP CSP exam. The first type of questions involve coding, specifically pseudo code.
There are programming concepts like loops, lists, list indexes and procedures that will make up some of the coding questions. You can also expect conditionals such as if statements, if-else and nested if statements.
Part of conditional statements are Boolean expressions and these with Boolean logic will also be represented. So understanding the ‘and’ and ‘or’ logic table to know how to read the true or false boolean statements will help with these exam questions.
AND logic table
OR logic table
There are general questions about programming that are not coding also likely to feature as will questions that we call robot movement. In these questions there is a grid with a start and an end. There are movement and direction instructions, and you are required to match the correct set of instructions to the movement from the start arrow to the end position on the grid.
programming questions (in pseudo code)
- Boolean logic and expressions
- programming logic
- conditionals (if, if-else statements)
- nested if statements
- loops
- lists, list indexes
- procedures
- robot movement
- programming languages (lower / higher level)
- readable code
AP CSP students wishing to practice programming questions from the sample exam from last year and before can visit the article where practice questions and answers are given. Click on this link to visit the programming questions article from the Alps Academy:
Data questions in the AP CSP Exam
The questions may refer to tables of data, to which you will be required to answer a simple question, assuming you understand how to read the table.
Other data questions may include big data, data analysis, data mining, cloud storage and metadata.
data questions
- table data
- big data
- data mining
- metadata
- cloud storage
- data analysis
- data security
AP CSP students wishing to practice data questions from the sample exam from last year and before can visit the article where practice questions and answers are given. Click on this link to visit the data questions article from the Alps Academy:
Algorithm questions in the AP CSP Exam
Apart from some coding questions where you may be presented with a simple algorithm, there will be some general questions on algorithms.
There are design questions that include selection, iteration, sequences, etc. and also types of algorithms like search algorithms and heuristic algorithms.
algorithm questions
- design (sequence, selection, iteration)
- types of algorithms (e.g. search, heuristic)
AP CSP students wishing to practice algorithm questions from the sample exam from last year and before can visit the article where practice questions and answers are given. Click on this link to visit the algorithm questions article from the Alps Academy:
Preparation for the questions in the AP CSP Exam
It is good to be prepared before any exam and the AP CSP exam is no different. Exam preparation should include practice questions therefore we have provided many resources to help you for this.
On our dedicated web page for the AP CSP exam:
- WEBPAGE. exam details, useful downloads, news, information, links to courses and articles for practice questions, and frequently asked questions
- SHORT COURSES. We have short courses if you have 15 minutes of free time.
- ARTICLES. We provide articles that include sample questions for the CSP exam including computing, networks, data, programming and algorithms.
https://www.alps.academy/apcspexam/
Other resources for the AP CSP exam:
- SHORT VIDEOS. The 30-day challenge is a series of 1 minute or less videos released on YouTube that include practice questions for the CSP exam. See the Dr Codie YouTube channel for a new video everyday
- YOUTUBE VIDEOS. In addition to the 30 day challenge videos we plan to explain some of the sample exam questions to help students understand how to answer exam questions.
- FULL COURSE. We have a whole course that covers the AP CSP course and python available on Udemy called Computer Science Principles and Python.
PRACTICE EXAM run through. Available on YouTube at AP CSP Practice Test
Big Ideas exam practice questions
There are also practice questions grouped by the ‘big ideas’ that are here in pdf format.
So, if you want free download AP CSP questions and answers, then click on the big idea:
Conclusion
We have given you some help and we so much hope you do well in the exam. If you have any questions or issues please let us know, we really want to help.
Good luck with all your studies and crush that CSP exam!