Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science A (also known as AP CompSci, AP CompSci A, APCSA, AP Computer Science Applications, or AP Java) is an AP Computer Science course and examination offered by the College Board to high school students as an opportunity to earn college credit for a college-level computer science course. AP Computer Science A is meant to be the equivalent of a first-semester course in computer science. The AP exam currently tests students on their knowledge of Java.
AP Computer Science AB, which was equal to a full year, was discontinued following the May 2009 exam administration.
Course
AP Computer Science emphasizes object-oriented programming methodology with an emphasis on problem solving and algorithm development. It also includes the study of data structures and abstraction, but these topics were not covered to the extent that they were covered in AP Computer Science AB. The Microsoft-sponsored program Technology Education and Literacy in Schools (TEALS) aims to increase the number of students taking AP Computer Science classes.
The units of the exam are as follows:
Case studies and labs
Historically, the AP exam used several programs in its free-response section to test students' knowledge of object-oriented programs without requiring them to develop an entire environment. These programs were called Case Studies.
This practice was discontinued as of the 2014–15 school year and replaced with optional labs that teach concepts.
Case studies (discontinued) Case studies were used in AP Computer Science curriculum starting in 1994.
Large Integer case study (1994-1999) The Large Integer case study was in use prior to 2000. It was replaced by the Marine Biology case study.
Marine Biology case study (2000-2007) The Marine Biology Case Study (MBCS) was a program written in C++ until 2003, then in Java, for use with the A and AB examinations. It served as an example of object-oriented programming (OOP) embedded in a more complicated design project than most students had worked with before.
The case study was designed to allow the College Board to quickly test a student's knowledge of object oriented programming ideas such as inheritance and encapsulation while requiring students to understand how objects such as "the environment", "the fish", and the simulation's control module interact with each other without having to develop the entire environment independently, which would be quite time-consuming. The case study also gives all students taking the AP Computer Science exams with a common experience from which to draw additional test questions.
On each of the exams, at least one free-response question was derived from the case study. There were also five multiple-choice questions that are derived from the case study.
This case study was discontinued from 2007, and was replaced by GridWorld.
GridWorld case study (2008-2014) GridWorld is a computer program case study written in Java that was used with the AP Computer Science program from 2008 to 2014. It serves as an example of object-oriented programming (OOP). GridWorld succeeded the Marine Biology Simulation Case Study, which was used from 2000–2007. The GridWorld framework was designed and implemented by Cay Horstmann, based on the Marine Biology Simulation Case Study. The narrative was produced by Chris Nevison and Barbara Cloud Wells, Colgate University.
The GridWorld Case Study was used as a substitute for writing a single large program as a culminating project. Due to obvious time restraints during the exam, the GridWorld Case Study was provided by the College Board to students prior to the exam. Students were expected to be familiar with the classes and interfaces (and how they interact) before taking the exam. The case study was divided into five sections, the last of which was only tested on the AB exam. Roughly five multiple-choice questions in Section I were devoted to the GridWorld Case Study, and it was the topic of one free response question in Section II.
GridWorld has been discontinued and replaced with a set of labs for the 2014–2015 school year.