APCSP Creating Computational Artifacts 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which of the following best describes a computational artifact?
- A physical device like a keyboard or monitor
- Something created by a person using a computer, such as a program or image (Correct answer)
- Any object that exists in the real world
- A mathematical equation written on paper
Correct answer: Something created by a person using a computer, such as a program or image
A computational artifact is anything created by a human using a computing device, including programs, images, audio, video, or presentations.
Question 2: A student uses a drag-and-drop tool to build a mobile app without writing code. This is an example of what type of development environment?
- Compiled language IDE
- Visual/block-based programming environment (Correct answer)
- Assembly language editor
- Command-line interface
Correct answer: Visual/block-based programming environment
Visual or block-based environments allow users to create programs by dragging and connecting components rather than writing text-based code.
Question 3: When iterating on a computational artifact, a developer reviews user feedback and makes improvements. What phase of development does this represent?
- Initial design
- Testing and refinement (Correct answer)
- Deployment
- Requirements gathering
Correct answer: Testing and refinement
Reviewing feedback and making improvements is part of the testing and refinement phase, which is a core component of the iterative development process.
Question 4: Which of the following is the BEST reason to use version control when creating a computational artifact?
- To make the artifact run faster
- To track changes and revert to earlier versions if needed (Correct answer)
- To share the artifact with the public automatically
- To convert code from one language to another
Correct answer: To track changes and revert to earlier versions if needed
Version control systems track changes over time so developers can revert to earlier versions, compare changes, and collaborate without losing work.
Question 5: A programmer decomposes a large music composition tool into separate modules for recording, editing, and playback. What benefit does this provide?
- It makes the program run slower but more accurately
- It makes each module easier to develop, test, and maintain independently (Correct answer)
- It prevents the program from being shared online
- It requires more memory to store the artifact
Correct answer: It makes each module easier to develop, test, and maintain independently
Decomposing a program into modules allows each piece to be built and tested independently, simplifying development and maintenance.
Question 6: Which of the following is an example of combining existing computational artifacts to create a new one?
- Writing a new operating system from scratch
- Using open-source image libraries and audio files to build a video game (Correct answer)
- Designing a circuit board by hand
- Calculating equations with a calculator
Correct answer: Using open-source image libraries and audio files to build a video game
Reusing existing libraries, images, and audio files to build a new program is a classic example of combining existing artifacts into a new computational artifact.
Question 7: A student creates an animated story using a presentation tool, adding images, transitions, and recorded narration. This artifact is best classified as:
- A database
- A multimedia computational artifact (Correct answer)
- A hardware component
- An algorithm
Correct answer: A multimedia computational artifact
An animated story combining images, transitions, and audio created with a computing tool is a multimedia computational artifact.
APCSP Creating Computational Artifacts 2
Which of the following best describes a computational artifact?