GCSE Computer Science / Component 02 / Computational Thinking , Algorithms And Programming

Question 1

In a flowchart, what does a diamond represent ?

Answer 1

Decisions, often a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’.

Question 2

In a flowchart, what does a rectangle represent ?

Answer 2

A general instruction, process or calculations.

Question 3

In a flowchart, what does a parallelogram represent ?

Answer 3

Anything that is put into or taken out of the algorithm.

Question 4

In a flowchart, what does a rectangle with rounded corners represent ?

Answer 4

The beginning and end of the algorithm.

Question 5

State an example of and briefly describe what an integer is.

Answer 5

0, 6, 10289. Whole numbers only.

Question 6

State an example of and briefly describe what a real ( or float ) is.

Answer 6

0.15, -4.688. Number that have a decimal.

Question 7

State an example of and briefly describe what a boolean is.

Answer 7

True/false. 1/0. Can only take two values.

Question 8

State an example of and briefly describe what a character is.

Answer 8

“A”, “5”. A single letter, number or symbol.

Question 9

State an example of and briefly describe what a string is.

Answer 9

“TfuI35F”, “$money$”. Used to represent text, a collection of characters.

Question 10

Define a range check.

Answer 10

Checks data is within a specified range.

Question 11

Define a presence check.

Answer 11

Checks data has actually been entered.

Question 12

Define format check.

Answer 12

Checks data has the correct format. ( eg. dd/mm/yyyy )

Question 13

Define a look-up table.

Answer 13

Checks data against a table of acceptable values.

Question 14

Define length check.

Answer 14

Checks data is the correct length.

Question 15

Define a translator.

Answer 15

A program that turns a programming language into machine code.

Question 16

Define source code.

Answer 16

The actual written code of the program.

Question 17

Define compiler.

Answer 17

A programming tool to translate source code into machine code.

Question 18

Describe the role of the compiler.

Answer 18

Translates all of the source code at the same time and creates one executable file. Only needed once to create an executable file. Returns a list of errors for the entire program once compiling is complete. Once compiled the program runs quickly but compiling can take a long time.

Question 19

Describe the role of the interpreter.

Answer 19

Translates and runs the source code one instruction at a time, but doesn’t create an executable file. Needed every-time you want to run the program. The interpreter will return the first error it finds and then stop- this is useful for debugging. Programs will run more slowly because the code is being translated as the program is running.

Question 20

Define an IDE.

Answer 20

An integrated development environment is a piece of software that provides features to help a programmer to develop their program.

Question 21

State common features of an IDE.

Answer 21

A run-time environment which allows the code to be run quickly within the IDE. Features to keep track of the line number and character number that you are working on. Error diagnostics and debugging tools. Etc.

Question 22

Define a ‘syntax error’.

Answer 22

When the compiler or interpreter doesn’t understand something you’ve typed because it doesn’t follow the rules or grammar of the programming language.

Question 23

Define a ‘logic error’.

Answer 23

When the compiler or interpreter is able to run the program but the program does something unexpected.