***AP Computer Science A 2015-2016 Thread***

@iamokok The appendix is included as a reference during the exam.

Ok Thank you so much! That’s what I first thought, but then I see practice tests in Barron don’t have those…

Is it true that a 38% overall on the exam results a 3 and a 77%ish overall on the exam results a 5?

@clichescreenname The cutoffs for each year’s exam are set differently, based on how easy/hard the exam is that year. But from what I’ve seen … the cutoff line for a 3 is usually around 50%; for a 5, it’s around 75%. (It’s a hard exam.)

@iamokok Yes, you are.

@Ashwin123 Anyone else correct me if i’m wrong but interface methods and variables are always public and abstract, abstract classes can have concrete classes but have at least one abstract method preventing it from being a concrete class. “this” is usually used when the instance variable name is the same as the variable name from the parameter, so this would refer to the instance variable

So, before we get too deeply into this week, let me introduce myself and put a few disclaimers out there.

I’m a college instructor, and I’ve been a reader for the AP Computer Science exam for many years now. I don’t have any special knowledge of the exam you’re about to take, so … no, I don’t have any tips other than the ones you’ve been hearing from your teachers. Good luck to you all!

After the exam is over, I’ll be glad to answer questions, based on my past experiences as a reader. HOWEVER, there are some big caveats:

  1. My opinions are mine only, and don’t reflect any official positions of ETS or the CollegeBoard. So I’m happy to say “oh, that won’t be a problem” or “wow, that’s going to be a huge deduction” … but keep in mind that these are just my personal opinions.

  2. As you will be informed when you take the exam … you’re not allowed to discuss the contents of the multiple choice section at all, and you’re not allowed to discuss the free-response questions until they’re published on the AP Central website 48 hours after the exam (so, probably around 4pm ET on Thursday). CollegeBoard takes exam security seriously and monitors social media … and reserves the right to take action against you. So, please be careful about what you say until Thursday afternoon.

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Good luck!

Where can I find previously released exams?

https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/apcourse/ap-computer-science-a/exam-practice
There are previously tested FRQs on the collegeboard site, and a sample multiple choice (on the Course Description). I’m not sure where we could find actual released exams, or if they are legal.

When can/should you call a instance variable using the class’s name? So if I had a BankAccount class with a String name instance variable, when can/should you do BankAccount.name? I know there are restrictions to that but I forget exactly what they are. And also, if you had another BankAccount object passed in as a parameter, let’s say, myBankAccount, when can/should you do myBankAccount.name?

do we need to know hexadecimal and binary number conversions? what number conversions if any do we need to know?

@garyasho
Technically, the variable has to have public visibility to be able to access it like that.

But instance variables pretty much always have private visibility, so you shouldn’t do that. Instead, the class should have a method like getName() that returns the name.
I’m pretty sure it matters for the AP test. I never saw a class variable defined as public on any FRQ (they just have the get methods), and I think that I remember seeing points awarded for making instance variables private.

@ro2400 I doubt. My class never talked about it. It isn’t that hard to quickly learn though. They all have the same basic steps for conversions. I think we’re technically supposed to know hexadecimal, binary, and octal.

I believe you do have to know base conversions, but there will only be a question or two - not much.
It’s not that hard once you understand the logic.

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@dango98 Actually, an abstract class is not required to have one abstract method. It can have no abstract methods at all, in fact.

@dango98 @garyasho I was taught that it has to have at least one abstract method. There wouldn’t really be any point in making it abstract without an abstract method, would there?

Do we need to know the code for the searches and sorts? Or do we just need to know the big o notations?

@arrayloops I think they give us a paper with the common algorithms on it. Someone correct me if I am wrong. Big O notation may be tested indirectly (which loop is faster/how many calls). I think my teacher said that it was something that was directly tested on the AB exam when it existed.

@Hamlon If a class has an abstract method, it must be an abstract class. However, the converse is not true. This was in my Barron’s book, and can also be found here: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2283399/should-an-abstract-class-have-at-least-one-abstract-method