Create Performance Task

The Create PT is the anchor of 30% of your AP score— its share of Section II, alongside the written responses about it — and the most controllable 30 points in the building. You get 9 hours of class time (Apr 13-27 for us) to build an individual program, and you submit three things to the AP Digital Portfolioby Friday, April 30, 2027, 11:59 PM ET. On the May exam you then answer written-response questions about this exact program — so build something you understand deeply, not something impressive you cannot explain.

The program requirements (all five, or it caps your score)

Requirement	What it means	Where you already did this
List(s)	At least one list that stores data your program uses — not just for show	Card jam deck: `List<Card_data>`; boss phases; patrol arrays
Procedure with a parameter	A student-developed procedure (method) that takes at least one parameter	`ChangeHealth(int amount)`, `Shuffle(List<Card_data> deck)`
Algorithm: sequencing + selection + iteration	Inside that procedure: statements in order, an if/else, and a loop	Enemy state machine; deck traversal with conditionals
Call to the procedure	Something in your program actually calls it	Everywhere — you call your own code
Input and output	The program takes input (buttons, clicks, keys) and produces output (screen, audio, motion)	Every game you have built since September

Trap: the "impressive" program. Graders cannot give points for ambition you cannot explain. A card game, a grid puzzle, a small boss fight, a 2-button toy — all of these earn 6/6 when you can walk through every line. Pick something you can finish and fully understand, not a physics-based MMO.

What you submit (3 pieces)

Program code — your whole program, as a PDF or a file upload, including the list, the procedure, and the call.
Video — under 60 seconds and under 30 MB, showing the program running: input, then the behavior it causes. A .mp4 under a minute at screen-record quality lands well inside 30 MB; if yours does not, lower the recording resolution rather than trimming the demo. Plan it like a jam demo; screen-record it in one take.
Personalized Project Reference (PPR) — four code segments: (1) your procedure, with its parameter and the algorithm inside it, (2) the call to that procedure, (3) where data is stored in your list and what the list is called, and (4) where that same list is used toward your program's purpose. Each segment gets its own box, and a box holds up to three screen captures — long code is fine, capture it in order. No comments in the captured code. Capture at 10-point font or larger and 100% zoom: the reader must be able to read every character without expanding anything. The PPR is the ONLY thing you see during the exam's written-response section — make it legible and complete.

The collaboration line (read this twice)

You MAY: brainstorm together, look at each other's code, pair-debug, reuse ideas from our starter project and the internet (with attribution in comments — you learned this in9.10).

You may NOT: submit code you did not personally write for this task, share your PPR, or let anyone write your video's program. The College Board treats unattributed copying as an integrity violation that can void the whole exam.

Our timeline (Apr 13 - Apr 30)

Day	Milestone	Gate
Apr 13	Launch: pick the program, write a one-page spec (purpose, inputs, outputs, the list, the procedure)	Spec approved by the teacher
Apr 15	Build day 1 — the loop: input → state → output works, ugly	It runs
Apr 19	Build day 2 — the list + procedure + algorithm requirements land	Requirement checklist green
Apr 21	Build day 3 — polish, edge cases, error handling you can talk about	Playtest-ready
Apr 23	Build day 4 + list check — final hardening	Feature freeze
Apr 27	Video (under 60s) + PPR screen captures	All three pieces exist
Apr 29	Submit as FINAL in the AP Digital Portfolio — in class, together	Submitted ≠ "in progress"
May 3	Written-response practice with your own PPR	You can explain every line

The deadline is real. Friday, April 30, 2027, 11:59 PM ET is a national deadline — no extensions, no late work, no "my laptop died." We submit in class on Apr 29 so a bad evening never costs you 30%.