AP Computer Science A

About This Course

This is a self-study course. Nobody is grading it and there is no dropbox. It exists so that a student who wants to sit the AP Computer Science A exam can prepare for it properly, on their own schedule, in Java.

You should already have written code in something. Python, JavaScript, Lua — any of them is enough. This course spends its time on what makes Java different: types you declare, integers that divide strangely, and objects you have to build before you can use them. It does not spend a page explaining what a loop is.

Every unit here matches a unit of the College Board's course framework, so anything you read in a prep book or answer in the online question bank lines up with where you are.

Course Content

Unit 1: Using Objects and Methods

Getting Started

Setup

Setting Up and Running Java

The Exam, and How to Pace Yourself

Java Basics

Activity 1.1: How Java RunsSoon

Activity 1.2: Static Types and PrimitivesSoon

Activity 1.3: Expressions, Integer Division, and OutputSoon

Activity 1.4: Assignment and Compound OperatorsSoon

Activity 1.5: Casting, Range, and OverflowSoon

Methods and Objects

Activity 1.6: The API, Libraries, and DocumentationSoon

Activity 1.7: Method Signatures and the Math ClassSoon

Activity 1.8: Objects and Instance MethodsSoon

Activity 1.9: Strings and String ManipulationSoon

Unit 2: Selection and Iteration

Making Decisions

Activities are still being writtenSoon

Loops and Analysis

Activities are still being writtenSoon

Unit 3: Class Creation

Writing Your Own Classes

Activities are still being writtenSoon

Unit 4: Data Collections

Arrays and ArrayLists

Activities are still being writtenSoon

Searching, Sorting, and Recursion

Activities are still being writtenSoon