A P ® C OM PUTER SCIEN C E A

About the Advanced Placement Program® (AP®)

The Advanced Placement Program® has enabled millions of students to take college-level courses and earn college credit, advanced
placement, or both, while still in high school. AP Exams are given each year in May. Students who earn a qualifying score on an AP Exam are
typically eligible, in college, to receive credit, placement into advanced courses, or both. Every aspect of AP course and exam development
is the result of collaboration between AP teachers and college faculty. They work together to develop AP courses and exams, set scoring
standards, and score the exams. College faculty review every AP teacher’s course syllabus.

AP Computer Science Program Goals of AP Computer Science A

Students should be able to
There are two AP computer science offerings, and students • Design, implement, and analyze solutions to problems;
can take either course in any order. The AP Computer Science
A course and exam continues to focus on computing skills related • Use and implement commonly used algorithms;
to programming in Java. The new AP Computer Science Principles • Develop and select appropriate algorithms and data structures
course complements AP Computer Science A as it aims to broaden to solve new problems;
participation in the study of computer science. The courses underscore • Write solutions fluently in an object-oriented paradigm;
the importance of communicating solutions appropriately and
• Write, run, test, and debug solutions in the Java programming
in ways that are relevant to current societal needs. AP Computer
language, utilizing standard Java library classes and interfaces
Science courses can help address traditional issues of equity, access,
from the AP Java subset;
and broadening participation in computing while providing a strong
and engaging introduction to fundamental areas of the discipline. • Read and understand programs consisting of several classes
and interacting objects;
AP Computer Science A Course Overview • Read and understand a description of the design and
development process leading to such a program; and
AP Computer Science A is equivalent to a first-semester, college- • Understand the ethical and social implications of computer use.
level course in computer science. The course introduces students
to computer science with fundamental topics that include problem Topic Outline for AP Computer Science A
solving, design strategies and methodologies, organization of I. Object-Oriented Program Design
data (data structures), approaches to processing data (algorithms),
A. Program and class design
analysis of potential solutions, and the ethical and social implications
of computing. The course emphasizes both object-oriented and II. Program Implementation
imperative problem solving and design using Java language. A. Implementation techniques
These techniques represent proven approaches for developing
B. Programming constructs
solutions that can scale up from small, simple problems to large,
complex problems. The AP Computer Science A course curriculum is C. Java library classes and interfaces included in the
compatible with many CS1 courses in colleges and universities. AP Java Subset
III. Program Analysis
RECOMMENDED PREREQUISITES A. Testing
The assumed prerequisites for entering the AP Computer Science A B. Debugging
course include knowledge of basic English and algebra. A student C. Runtime exceptions
in the AP Computer Science A course should be comfortable with
D. Program correctness
functions and the concepts found in the uses of function notation,
such as f (x) - x + 2 and f (x) = g(h(x)). It is important that students E. Algorithm analysis
and their advisers understand that any significant computer science F. Numerical representations of integers
course builds upon a foundation of mathematical reasoning that IV. Standard Data Structures
should be acquired before attempting such a course.
A. Primitive data types (int, boolean, double)
Lab Requirements B. Strings
The AP Computer Science A course must include a minimum of 20 C. Classes
hours of hands-on structured lab experiences to engage students D. Lists
in individual or group problem solving. Thus, each AP Computer
E. Arrays (1-dimensional and 2-dimensional)
Science A course includes a substantial laboratory component
in which students design solutions to problems, express their V. Standard Operations and Algorithms
solutions precisely (e.g., in the Java programming language), test A. Operations on data structures
their solutions, identify and correct errors (when mistakes occur),
B. Searching
and compare possible solutions.
C. Sorting
Computer Language VI. Computing in Context
The AP Computer Science A course requires that solutions of
A. System reliability
problems be written in the Java programming language. Because
the Java programming language is extensive with far more features B. Privacy
than could be covered in a single introductory course, the AP C. Legal issues and intellectual property
Computer Science A Exam covers a subset of Java. The AP Java D. Social and ethical ramifications of computer use
subset can be found in Appendix A of the Course Description.
 AP Computer Science A Exam Structure

AP COMPUTER SCIENCE A EXAM: 3 HOURS Format of Assessment

Assessment Overview Section I: M
 ultiple Choice | 40 Questions | 1 Hour, 30 Minutes |
All code on the AP Computer Science A Exam is consistent with 50% of Exam Score
the AP Java subset that can be found in Appendix A of the Course
• Discrete Question topics will include: programming
Description. All questions involving code should be answered in
fundamentals, data structures, logic, algorithms/problem
Java. Students are not tested on minor points of syntax.
solving, object-oriented programming, recursion, and software
engineering.

Section II: F
 ree Response | 4 Questions | 1 Hour, 30 Minutes |
50% of Exam Score

• Short Answer (each requiring Java programming language)

• Solve problems involving more extended reasoning.

AP COMPUTER SCIENCE A SAMPLE EXAM QUESTIONS

Sample Multiple-Choice Question

A car dealership needs a program to store information about the cars for sale. For each car, they want to keep track
of the following information: number of doors (2 or 4), whether the car has air-conditioning, and its average number
of miles per gallon. Which of the following is the best object-oriented program design?

(a) Use one class, Car, with three instance variables: int numDoors, boolean hasAir, and milesPerGallon.

(b) Use four unrelated classes: Car, Doors, AirConditioning, and MilesPerGallon.

(c) Use a class Car with three subclasses: Doors, AirConditioning, and MilesPerGallon.

(d) Use a class Car, with a subclass Doors, with a subclass AirConditioning, with a subclass MilesPerGallon.

(e) Use three classes: Doors, AirConditioning, and MilesPerGallon, each with a subclass Car.

Correct Answer: A

Sample Free-Response Question: Experimental Design

A travel agency maintains a list of information about airline flights. Flight information includes a departure time and
an arrival time. You may assume that the two times occur on the same day. These times are represented by objects of
the Time class.
The declaration for the Time class is shown below. It includes a method minutesUntil, which returns the difference (in
minutes) between the current Time object and another Time object.
Students are provided with a scenario and part of the program to solve that scenario. They are then asked to
complete a method in that program so that the program can calculate the duration of flights.

Educators: apcentral.collegeboard.org/apcompscia
Students: apstudent.collegeboard.org/apcompscia

© 2016 The College Board. 00558-026 (Updated December 2016)