Fun With Google Trends: AP CS Edition

I was amused at this recent Slashdot posting: Google Searches For ‘Java’ Spiked During Friday’s Online AP CS Exam. Slashdot includes this interesting chart, showing traffic trends for Java searches peaking around the time of the AP CS test:

Credit: Slashdot

Apparently the first AP CS question was about java.util.ArrayList, and the Google Trends chart for ArrayList shows the same bump on Friday (this chart shows the search interest for ArrayList over the last 3 months):

Credit: Google Trends

It’s always fun to see how Google’s search volume changes depending on external events. Try looking at Google Trends whenever a major event occurs and watch the keywords people use.