1.1.3. Transitioning from AP CSP to AP CSA

If you have taken the AP CSP (Computer Science Principles) course and exam you should be well prepared for AP CSA. However, there are likely to be a few new things to get used to. If your CSP class used a block coding language like App Inventor, Scratch, Snap!, or App Lab, you learned to create program structures by plugging together blocks. In Java you’ll find the structures are similar but you’ll have to get used to expressing them in text.

On the other hand, if you’ve previously used a different text-based language, such as Python or Javascript, while you will be used to the idea of writing programs in text you’ll have to get used to some specific details of Java’s syntax.

Here are some tips to keep in mind when you are writing Java code, especially if your prior programming experience was with a block language:

Here is a comparison of some App Inventor blocks compared to AP CSP pseudocode and Java code used in AP CSA (open in Google Docs).

And here is a a comparison of code.org App Lab code to Java:

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