Materials
The AP Computer Science A course typically consists of the following content areas:
- Primitive Data Types (mostly
int
,double
,boolean
) - Objects, Classes, and Methods
- Boolean Expressions and Conditional Statements (
if
,if-else
) - Iteration (
for
-loops,while
-loops) - Object-oriented design
Array
andArrayList
lists of data- 2-dimensional Arrays
- Inheritance
- Recursion
Course Materials available on this website
The materials listed here I've developed for use in my own teaching. They are freely available for students and teachers to use.
- Worksheet - Encapsulation and Binary
- Worksheet - Organizing Files
- Worksheet - Files and Folders
- Worksheet - Navigating with the Command Line
- Review - Conditions
- Review - Basic Object-Oriented Programming
- Review - Code Tracing
- Review - Iterations
- Review - Lists
- Review - Design Patterns
- Review - Inheritance and Interfaces
- Handout - the
Car
class
College Board materials
- Course and Exam Description
- Course Overview - a brief, 2-page look at the course and its topics
- Java Quick Reference - the "Java subset" that specifies most Java syntax that you'll need to know for the exam
- Past Exam Questions
- College Board Test Review Playlist [YouTube]
Online textbooks, references, practice problems
- CSAwesome [Runestone] - Comprehensive, interactive, with practice problems.
- PracticeIt - University of Washington practice problems
- CodingBat - Nick Parlante's free live coding problems to build your skills
- Downey & Mayfield. Think Java: How to think like a computer scientist (2nd edition). Free online.
- Skylight Publishing Java Methods, (4th edition)
- Skylight Publishing's Solution to Past Exams
- AP Computer Science A course - New Jersey Center for Teaching & Learning
CS Blogs, Podcasts, Twitter accounts, etc.
- Computer Science Teacher, @AlfredTwo - Alfred Thompson's blog, Twitter
- C'est la Z, @zamansky - Mike Zamansky's blog, Twitter
- Mark Guzdial's blog (CS Education)
- Barbara Ericson's blog (CS Education)
Videos
- Introduction to Sorting: What's the Fastest Way to Alphabetize Your Bookshelf? [KQED, YouTube video]
- 15 Sorting Algorithms in 6 Minutes - a classic
- The Collatz Conjecture [Numberphile, YouTube]
Other
- Online Parsons Problem Creator
- Nifty Assignments - Nick Parlante's projects page