AP Computer Science A

AP Computer Science A is equivalent to a first-semester, college-level course in computer science. AP Computer Science A introduces students to college-level computer science through programming. The course emphasizes object-oriented programming, problem-solving, and design using the Java programming language. Fundamental topics in this course include the design of solutions to problems, the use of data structures to organize large sets of data, development and implementation of algorithms to process data and discover new information, analysis of potential solutions, as well as, ethical and social implications of computing systems. 

The AP Computer Science A course reflects what computer science teachers, professors, and researchers have indicated are the main goals of an introductory, college-level computer science programming course: 

Program Design and Algorithm Development: Determine required code segments to produce a given output. 

Code Logic: Determine the output, value, or result of program code given initial values. 

Code Implementation: Write and implement program code. 

Code Testing: Analyze program code for correctness, equivalence, and errors. 

Documentation: Describe the behavior and conditions that produce the specified results in a program. 

Ethical Computing: Understand the ethical and social implications of computer use.