APCSP Program Design and Development Flashcards

Which documentation practice best helps others understand a program's purpose?

Answer: Writing comments that explain the 'why' behind complex logic

Comments explaining the reasoning behind logic help future developers (and yourself) understand design decisions.

What is the purpose of using a development process when building a program?

Answer: To provide a structured approach that reduces errors and improves collaboration

A structured development process (plan, design, implement, test) reduces errors and helps teams collaborate effectively.

Which best describes an incremental development strategy?

Answer: Building and testing small pieces of functionality before adding more

Incremental development involves building small, testable components and integrating them step by step to reduce complexity.

What does it mean to 'refactor' code?

Answer: Rewrite the code to improve structure without changing its behavior

Refactoring improves code readability and structure while keeping the program's external behavior identical.

In the AP CSP 'Explore Task,' what must students include when citing a computational innovation?

Answer: Proper citation of sources including author, title, date, and URL

The AP CSP Explore Task requires complete citations so that sources can be verified and credit is properly given.

Which practice best supports collaborative program development?

Answer: Using version control so team members can track and merge changes

Version control systems like Git allow multiple developers to work simultaneously and merge changes without losing progress.