GACE Computer Science - independent content foundations key terms

The process of converting readable data into an encoded form that unauthorized people cannot easily understand. A key is used to encrypt and typically to decrypt the data.

The process of verifying a user's or system's claimed identity, often through passwords, tokens, biometrics, or multi-factor methods. It answers whether the identity is genuine.

A social-engineering attack that tricks people into revealing sensitive information or clicking malicious links by impersonating a trustworthy organization or person.

Software designed to harm, disrupt, or gain unauthorized access to a computer system. Examples include viruses, worms, ransomware, spyware, and trojan horses.

The gap between people who have effective access to digital technologies and those who do not, often due to cost, location, skills, or infrastructure.

Legal rights that protect creations of the mind, such as inventions, artistic works, software, and trademarks. These rights control use, copying, and distribution.

A base-2 number system that uses only two digits, 0 and 1. It is the fundamental representation of data in digital computers.

A base-16 number system using digits 0-9 and letters A-F. It provides a compact way to represent binary values, often used in programming and memory addresses.

The smallest unit of data in computing, representing a single binary digit (0 or 1). It is the basic building block for all digital information.

A unit of data consisting of 8 bits. It is commonly used to represent a single character (e.g., in ASCII) or small integer values.

A character encoding standard that assigns numeric codes (0-127) to letters, digits, and symbols. It enables computers to represent and exchange text data.

A universal character encoding standard that supports a wide range of characters from many writing systems, enabling consistent text representation across different platforms and languages.

A data structure that stores a fixed-size sequence of elements of the same type in contiguous memory locations. Elements are accessed by index.

A dynamic data structure consisting of nodes, each containing data and a reference (link) to the next node. It allows efficient insertion and deletion but slower access than arrays.

A linear data structure that follows the Last-In-First-Out (LIFO) principle. Elements are added and removed from the same end, called the top.

A linear data structure that follows the First-In-First-Out (FIFO) principle. Elements are added at the rear and removed from the front.

The central processing unit is the main processor in a computer. It fetches instructions, decodes them, and carries out arithmetic, logic, and control operations while coordinating other components.

Temporary, volatile computer memory that holds programs and data currently in use. Its contents disappear when power is lost, but it allows fast reading and writing.

A small, fast memory area close to the processor that stores frequently used instructions and data. It reduces average access time by keeping likely-needed information nearby.

System software that manages hardware resources, provides services to applications, and controls basic operations such as process scheduling, memory allocation, file storage, and device input and output.

A computer design in which instructions and data share the same memory and travel over common pathways. The processor fetches instructions sequentially from memory during execution.

A basic electronic circuit that performs a Boolean operation on one or more binary inputs and produces a binary output. Common examples include AND, OR, and NOT gates.

The repeating sequence a processor follows to execute an instruction, typically fetching it from memory, decoding its operation, executing it, and storing any result.

A database that stores data in tables made of rows and columns and uses relationships between tables. It is queried with languages such as SQL and follows the relational model.

A column or set of columns whose values uniquely identify each row in a database table. It cannot contain duplicate or null values.

A column or set of columns in one table that refers to the primary key of another table. It enforces referential integrity between related records.

Structured Query Language, a standard language for defining, querying, updating, and managing data in relational databases. It includes statements for creating tables and retrieving rows.

The process of organizing relational database tables to reduce duplicated data and avoid update anomalies. It typically involves dividing data into related tables and defining keys.

A data structure that speeds up searches on a database table by providing quick lookup paths to rows. It uses extra storage and must be updated when data changes.

Data that describes other data, such as a file's author, creation date, format, or size. In databases, it describes table structures, constraints, and other schema information.