Table of Contents

• Vocab
• Important blocks
• On the AP Exam
• Notebook Style Guide
  • Headings
  • Text Formatting

Vocab

Abstraction

The most fundamental idea in computer science, giving a name to something in a program to make it more readable.

Procedural abstraction

Using a procedure to name an idea, ex. the procedure "who" to the idea of picking an item from the list of people or cats.

Transparency

The transparency of an image is how much you can see what's behind it. Ex:

Sprites & Costumes

One is a sprite, which is like an actor on the stage who knows how to do many different things, such as walk around the stage and speak the lines of the play. The other two are costumes, picture that can be "worn" by a sprite.

Expressions & Values

An expression is a either a constant value (such as "4" or "winter") or a call to a reporter block including its inputs. Expressions are evaluated to produce a single value (a value can be a number, a string, a sprite, a costume, a script, a list—anything) , , or ).

List, Strings, and Concatenation

A list is an ordered sequence of items. Ex: The items of this list are strings. A string is a sequence of characters (letters, digits, punctuation, etc.). A substring is just a piece of some existing string. For example, "Hanna," "anna", and "nnah" are each substrings of the string "Hannah." (The empty string as well as the original string are both also substrings.) To concatenate strings means to make a bigger string by connecting two or more smaller strings. In Snap!, the block lets you concatenate strings.

Procedures, Reporters, and Commands

A procedure is a named sequence of instructions that may take inputs and may report a value. Some languages call procedures methods or functions. Here are two types of procedures you have seen in Snap!: Reporters have an oval shape. They report a value

Iteration

Computer scientists describe a repeating program structure as looping, repetition, or iteration. The code can be repeated forever, a specific number of times (such as when using repeat), or until something specific happens (such as when using repeat until as you'll see in Lab 5).

Personally Identifiable Information (PII)

Information that can identify you as an individual is called personally identifiable information (PII). It includes details that could reveal who you are—such as your Social Security number, age, race, phone number(s), medical information, financial information, or biometric data like a thumbprint or face scan.

Light Sensor

Light Sensor is a sensor that detects ambient light. Light Sensors can be either digital or analog. The Light Sensor in your ITEEA ExCITE Robotics System is Digital and will report a value of 1 or 0 (on or off).

Important Blocks

broadcast

Sends a message to all the sprites. To set the message, click the down arrow and select "new..."

when I receive

(Click help on the block to learned more about it in order to complete this definition)

On the AP Exam

• Many languages (and the AP CS Principles Exam) use return instead of report as the name of the command to give a value back at the end of a function call.
• The exam uses “value of a procedure” to mean the value the procedure returns when called. For example, “the value of double(5)” means 10.

## Markdown Style Guide for Coding Notebooks

Headings

When to use: Organize your notebook into sections (like days, topics, or projects).

• # for the notebook title (use once at the top).

• ## for each day or major topic.

• ### for subsections (like “Notes”, “Practice”, “Reflections”).

Example:

My Coding Notebook

Day 1

Notes

Practice

Text Formatting

When to use: Highlight important ideas or add emphasis.

Use bold for key terms or definitions.

Use italic for emphasis or side comments.

Use inline code for keywords, functions, or commands.

Example:

Class = a blueprint for objects

Remember: always test your code

Use System.out.println() to print

Code Blocks

When to use: Anytime you write multiple lines of code.

Inline code for short snippets.

Fenced code blocks with language for full examples.

Example:

public class Hello {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        System.out.println("Hello World!");

    }

}

Lists

When to use: Organize steps, notes, or key points.

Numbered lists for sequences or steps.

Bulleted lists for unordered ideas.

Example:

Define the class Write the main method Test your program Variables

• Loops

• Conditionals

Checklists

When to use: Track progress on assignments or tasks.

Example:

[x] Complete coding warm-up

• Finish project draft

• Reflect on learning

Blockquotes

When to use: Call out notes, reminders, or teacher comments.

Example:

💡 Remember: Loops repeat code until a condition is false.

Tables

When to use: Compare values, track progress, or organize data neatly.

Example:

Task

Status

Notes

|————–|————|—————–|

Homework 1

Done #

Submitted

Homework 2

Pending

Needs review

Links & Images

When to use: Add references, resources, or visuals.

Example:

Java Docs

To make an image that is a link, paste the image, then add the following before it, replacing website address with the link:

And after the image info, add: </a>

Collapsible Sections

When to use: Hide solutions, extended notes, or extra details.

Example:

Click to reveal solution

System.out.println("Answer: 42");

Footnotes

When to use: Add references or side notes without cluttering the page.

Example:

This concept is related to object-oriented programming.¹

Style Rules

Consistency matters more than creativity

Always use headings to structure your notes.

Always use code blocks for multi-line code.

Clarity first

Bold key terms.

Use lists instead of long sentences when outlining steps.

Professional tone

Don’t mix casual notes with formal work in the same section.

Use blockquotes for reflections or teacher feedback.

Track your learning

Use checklists to mark what’s done.

Use collapsible sections if you want to hide answers until review time.

Bottom Line:

Headings = Structure

Bold/Italic = Emphasis

Code blocks = Code

Lists = Steps/Ideas

Tables = Organization

Checklists = Progress

Blockquotes = Notes/Tips

Collapsible = Hide/Show detail

Keep it simple, consistent, and clear.

1. See “Objects and Classes” in your textbook. ↩