Computing Paper 1

Question 1

What Is An Algorithm?

Answer 1

An algorithm is a set of instructions for the computer to follow

Question 2

What Is Abstraction?

Answer 2

Abstraction is the process of filtering out – ignoring - the characteristics of patterns that we don’t need in order to concentrate on those that we do.

Question 3

What Is The Purpose Of A Simple Algorithm?

Answer 3

To Make It Easier For The Programmer To Program The Program

Question 4

Can More Than One Algorithm Solve A Problem?

Answer 4

Yes

Question 5

What Are The Five Main Data Types?

Answer 5

Boolean, Float, String, Integer, Character

Question 6

How Are Subroutines Used In Programs?

Answer 6

They Are Used So If The Programmer Wants To Use The Same Function More Than Once They Don’t Have to Code it Again And Again.

Question 7

What is a Data Structure?

Answer 7

When You Store Data In Such A Way That It Can Be Accessed Easily And Efficiently

Question 8

How Are Lists (Arrays) Used In Programs?

Answer 8

They Are Used To Concentrate Data Of The Same Type.

Question 9

What Is The Definition Of Validation

Answer 9

It Is When The Computer Checks to see if the data is viable or not.

Question 10

What are the features of a low-level programming language?

Answer 10

A low-level programming language is a programming language that provides little or no abstraction from a computer’s instruction set architecture—commands or functions in the language map closely to processor instructions

Question 11

What are the features of a high-level programming language?

Answer 11

High-level languages deal with variables, arrays, objects, complex arithmetic or boolean expressions, subroutines and functions, loops, threads, locks, and other abstract computer science concepts

Question 12

Why must code written in a high level language be translated into machine code?

Answer 12

As high level languages are written in such a way that it is easier to use, it must be translated into machine code so that the CPU can understand it.

Question 13

What are the three common types of translator?

Answer 13

Interpreter, Compiler, Assembler

Question 14

What does a compiler do?

Answer 14

It translates the entire program and reports any problems it encounters.

Question 15

What does an interpreter do?

Answer 15

Translates the program line by line, and reports the error when it encounters one

Question 16

What does an assembler do?

Answer 16

It translates machine code into high-level code.

Question 17

What is the point of validation?

Answer 17

To make sure that the user’s input is the data type that you want in your program

Question 18

Why should extreme and invalid data be used to test a program?

Answer 18

So that you can see how it reacts to that data.

Question 19

Why must code written in high level language be translated into machine code?

Answer 19

Because a processor cannot read the code.

Question 20

What is the main difference between unicode and ASCII?

Answer 20

Unicode can represent characters from all around the world whereas ASCII can only represent the latin alphabet.