The exam is 3 hours long and includes 40 multiple-choice questions and 4 free-response questions. As part of the exam, students will be given the Java Quick Reference, which lists accessible methods from the Java library that may be included in the exam.

The  AP Computer Science A Assessment is divided in two sections

• ​Multiple-choice | 40 Questions | 90 Minutes | 50% of Exam Score
  
• Mostly individual questions, with one or two sets of multiple​ questions (typically two to three questions per set).
  
• Computational Thinking Practices 1, 2, 4, and 5 are assessed.

• Free-response | 4 Questions | 90 Minutes | 50% of Exam Score
  
• Question 1: Methods and Control Structures (9 points)
• Question 2: Class (9 points)
  
• Question 3: Array/ArrayList (9 points)
  
• Question 4: 2D Array (9 points)
  
• Computational Thinking Practice 3 is assessed
  

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• Program Design and Algorithm Development: Determine required code segments to produce a given output.
  
• Code Logic: Determine the output, value, or result of given program code given initial values.
  
• Code Implementation: Write and implement program code.
  
• Code Testing: Analyze program code for correctness, equivalence, and errors.
  
• Documentation: Describe the behavior and conditions that produce identified results in a program.

The course content is organized into ten commonly taught units:

• Unit 1: Primitive Types
• Unit 2: Using Objects
  
• Unit 3: Boolean Expressions and if Statements
  
• Unit 4: Iteration
  
• Unit 5: Writing Classes
  
• Unit 6: Array
  
• Unit 7: ArrayList
  
• Unit 8: 2D Array
  
• Unit 9: Inheritance
  
• Unit 10: Recursion​​

The course requires problems be written in the Java programming language. 

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