What Is This Course About?
Get a brief introduction to the course's objectives and its target audience.
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What is AP CS?
AP CS (Advanced Placement Computer Science) is a group of Advanced Placement courses and examinations related to computer science. Advanced Placement (AP) exams allow high school students to learn college-level material and earn college credit. These exams are offered by the College Board and can be taken anywhere in the world that has a registered test center.
📌 Note: You can take an AP exam anywhere in the world as long as your school is registered. However, college credit is generally only given in the US.
One of the classes in this suite is AP Computer Science A, which is the main focus of this course.
⏳ Note: AP CS has been taught in Java since 2004.
What is AP CS A?
AP CS A is a programming class. It focuses on the following concepts:
- Object-oriented programming methodology
- Problem solving and algorithm development
- Data structures
Don’t be alarmed if you are hearing these terms the first time! In fact, you’ve come to the right place. We’ll explore each of these concepts throughout the course with hands-on exercises and comprehensive explanations.
📌 Note: The College Board issues the curriculum and exam content, and the exams are held in the spring.
About this course
Targeted audience
This course is designed for high school students in the U.S. who plan to take the AP CS A exam to earn college credits. Based on their performance in the exam, students can earn between one to three college credits in Computer Science.
This course aims to help high-school students with no computer science background get familiar with a subset of Java. By the end of this course, you’ll have the skills you need to write, design, and test computer programs to solve common AP CS problems.
Prerequisites
This course is designed for beginners, so there are only a few prerequisites. To get the most out of this course, you need to be familiar with algebra, mathematical functions, and the concepts used in function notation. That’s all!
Targeted skills
After completing this course, you’ll be able to:
✔️ Develop an algorithm
✔️ Design a program
✔️ Write code to solve a problem
✔️ Test a program and remove errors
✔️ Document and explain the code
📌 Note: The AP CS A class is equivalent to a first-semester course in Computer Science.
Without further ado, let’s start our informative journey to earn college credits!