AP Computer Science A

AP Computer Science A (Java)

Intro to Computers and Computer Programs:
- Introduction to the "computer" as a programmable computing device
- Overview on how a computer works (+ information encoding):
- The computer memory and the binary number system
- Introduction of computer program/algorithm:
- What does a computer program contain?:
- The process of writing computer programs --- what is going on behind the scenes
- Installing the BlueJ Integrated Development Environment:
Introduction to Java programming
- Hello.java - Everyone's first Java program:
- How to compile and run a Java program with BleuJ (demo interactively):
Chapter 2: Elementary Programming
- Writing a simple Java program that compute area of a circle:
- Java input and output:
- Variables, Identifiers and Primitive data types:
  - In depth: How does a (Java) compiler work ?
- Arithmetic operations and short hand operators:
  - Assign homework 1:
- Mixed data type operations:
- Named constants and naming convention:
- Misc topics: (1) cascaded assignment, (2) swap variables
Chapter 3: Selections
- Conditions, boolean data type, boolean variables and boolean expressions:
- if-statements: (1) one-way if-statement and (2) two-way if-statement (a.k.a. "if-else"-statement) + their flow charts:
- Advanced if-statements: (1) nested if-statement and (2) multi-way if-statement
  - Assign homework 2:
- Some common errors made with if-statements:
- Generating random numbers + making a subtraction quiz:
  - Assign homework 3:
- Logical operators (!, &&, ||)
- Case study: checking for leap year --
- The switch statement
- The conditional expression (? :)
- Operator precedence and operator associativity
Chapter 4a: Using the static methods in the Math class
- Intro to using methods:
- Java's Math class:
  - Assign homework 4:
Chapter 4b: using the instance methods in the String class
- The char primitive data type:
- Advanced usage of char data in Java programs:
  - Assign homework 5:
- Intro to instance methods using the String class:
  - Java's methods: instance methods and static methods:
- Advanced usage of String data in Java programs:
  - Assign homework 6:
- (1) Mixed type operations with String and (2) string input operation:
- Converting number strings into integers or float/double
Chapter 5: Loops
- Introduction:
- The while-loop:
  - Assign homework 7:
- The do-while-loop:
- The for-loop:
- Some algorithms using loops (find GCD, prime number factoring and perfect number):
- Nested loops:
  - Assign homework 8:
- The break and continue statements:
- Algorithm design and implementation example (that use loops) ((1) palindrome test and (2) prime number test):
Chapter 6: (Static) Methods
- Introduction:
- Defining a method:
  - Assign homework 9:
- Program control when calling a method + activation record:
- Passing arguments by value - what happens when you update a parameter ?:
- Programming with methods - how to use methods to package code together that perform a useful task:
  - Assign homework 10:
- Overloading methods - how Java picks the method to invoke:
- The scope and life time of a local variable:
- Program development using the divide and conquer strategy:
  - Assign homework 11:
Chapter 18: Recursion
- Intro to recursion:
- How a recursive method works - computing factorial of n recursively:
- Solving problems with recursion:
  - A graphical explanation of recursion:
- Writing a recursive isPalindrome() method:
  - Assign homework 12:
- Improving program efficiency:
  - The private modifier:
- Solving a complex problem with recursion - the Tower of Hanoi problem:
- Recursion vs iteration (loop):
  - Assign homework 13:
Chapter 7: Single-Dimensional Arrays
- Introduction to array:
- Array basics:
  - Defining and using (accessing) array elements:
  - Processing data stored in arrays:
    - Assign homework 14:
  - The for-each loop access array elements:
- Using an array to represent a deck of cards:
  - Assign homework 15:
- Copying arrays:
- Extending the size of an array:
- Passing arrays as arguments to methods:
- Methods with variable number of arguments in Java:
- Returning an array from a method:
  - Assign homework 16:
- Searching arrays:
  - Assign homework 17:
- Sorting arrays:
  - The selection sort algorithm:
  - The insertion sort algorithm:
  - The merge sort algorithm: (My material on Chapter 23.4)
    - Merging 2 sorted arrays:
    - The merge sort algorithm:
  - The running time of the sorting algorithms:
- Java's Arrays class with useful array methods:
- The command line argument of the main( ) method:
- Arrays used in Mathematics:
Chapter 8: Multi-dimensional Arrays
- Introduction to 2-dimensional arrays:
- 2-dimensional array basics:
  - Defining and using 2-dimensional arrays:
  - Processing data stored in 2-dimensional arrays:
- Passing a 2-dimensional array to a method and returning a 2-dim array:
- 2-dimensional arrays used in Mathematics:
  - Assign homework 18:
Chapter 9: Objects and Classes
- Intro to object oriented programming
- Defining classes and creating objects with classes:
  - Assign homework 19:
- Constructors of a class:
- Accessing object via reference variables:
- The this reference variable:
- Copying object:
- The copy constructor of a class:
  - Assign homework 20:
- Array of objects:
- Intro to Object Oriented Programming - implementing a deck of cards
- Using classes from the Java Library:
  - Assign homework 21:
- Data (field) encapsulation:
- Passing object arguments to methods:
- The other kinds of variables and methods in a class: static variables (and constants) and static methods:
Chapter 11.11: The ArrayList class
- Intro to the ArrayList class in Java's utilities library:
- Adding (= inserting) new elements into an ArrayList object (and automatic arraylist size adaptation):
- Looking up elements in an ArrayList object:
- Replacing and Removing elements in/from an ArrayList object and other useful methods:
- Helper methods for Lists:
- Summary: similarities and differences between an array and an arraylist:
Chapter 10: processing primitive types as objects
- Processing primitive data type as objects:
- Automatic conversion between a primitive type and its wrapper class:
  - Assign homework 26:
Chapter 11: Inheritance and Polymorphism
- Introduction to inheritance:
- The Object Oriented Design methodology (superclass and subclass): ------------------------------------ 9/12
- Program design using the Object Oriented Design methodology:
- Relationship between superclass and subclass and their constructors:
- Java's Object class and its toString() method:
- Overriding vs. overloading: -------------------------------------------------------- 9/14
- Intro to Polymorphism: request on object vs. ability of object
- Application of polymorphism: making algorithms work for more general data types -------------------------------------------------------- 9/19
- Terminology: Upcasting, downcasting and the instanceof operator: -------------------------------------------------------- 9/21
- The protected accessibility classfier:
- Preventing a class from being extended by other classes:
Released AP Exam:
- Multiple Choice questions 1-10:
- Multiple Choice questions 11-20:
- Multiple Choice questions 21-30:
- Multiple Choice questions 31-40: