GCSE Computing Flashcards
Dedicated
Something which is designed for one particular purpose
Defragmenter
A utility that brings together file fragments on a disk and collects all of the free space in one area
Denary
A system of numbering using 10 digits, 0-9 (also called base-10)
Device Driver
A program that enables communication between a computer and a peripheral
Disk Organisation
The process of arranging files and data bytes on a secondary storage device
Domain name
A human-readable name for a resource on a network. It is changed to a numerical IP address by a DNS server
Clock Chip
The electronic device in a computer that controls the timing of signals
Code Editor
Text area used to enter code in an IDE
Colour Depth
The number of bits used for each pixel or dot. The more bits the more colours that can be represented.
Command Line
The place where typed commands are given to the operating system
Comparison
Comparing the values of two items and returning TRUE or FALSE depending upon the result of that comparison
Compiler
A translator that converts all of the source code to machine code in one go to produce the object code
Compression
Reduction in file size to reduce download times and storage requirements
Computer architecture
The internal, logical structure and organisation of the computer hardware
Concatenation
Combining two strings into a single string
Constant
A label referring to a location in memory containing a value that can be assessed but not changed by a program.
Boolean algebra
a method for expressing mathematically a logic circuit
Bus
a part of the computer architecture that transfers data and signals between the components of the computer
Byte
8 bits
Cache memory
special high memory used by a computer
Camera
a device to capture still or moving images
CD
a type of optical device with a capacity of 700MB
Character
a single alphabetic or numeric character
Character set
the characters available to a computer
CHR
uses the ASCII value to look up the character associated with a particular number
Client
software or hardware that requests services from a server
Accumulator
A register in the CPU that stores data currently being used by the CPU
ACID
A set of rules that protects a database from errors during a transaction.
Actuator
A device to produce physical movement based on output from a computer system.
Address
A location in main memory used to store data or instructions.
Algorithm
A series of steps designed to solve a mathematical or other problem
ALU
The ALU performs all the arithmetic and logical operations within the CPU.
Analogue
Refers to continuously changing values
Applet
A small application that performs one specific task.
Application
Software designed to carry out a useful real-world task
ASCII
(American Standard Code for Information Interchange)
7-bit system to code the character set of a computer.
Assembler
Software that translates assembly language code into machine code.
Assembly Language
A low-level programming language that uses more memorable mnemonic codes and labels to represent machine-level code. Each instruction corresponds to just one machine operation.
Assignment
Setting the value of a variable.
Attribute
A characteristic of an entity. It becomes a field in a data table.
Auto Documentation
System that tracks variables, modules and comments for maintenance purposes.
Bar Code
A pattern of thin and thick lines representing a number that can scanned by a reader for input into a computer system.
Binary
A system of numbers using only two digits, 0 and 1 (also called the base-2 system), unlike the decimal (or denary) system in everyday use that uses ten digits (base-10).
Bit
Binary digit 1 or 0.
Bit Rate
The bit rate is the space available for each sample, measured in kilobits per second.
Boolean
A value that can only be true or false.
Dual-core/quad core
A CPU with multiple processors ( a dual-core has two, a quad-core has four
DVD
A type of optical device with a capacity of 4.7GB
Editor
Software used for entering source code when writing a program
Embedded system
A computer system that forms part of an electronic device
Entity
Something that we store data about in a database
Entity relationship diagram
A diagram that shows how different entities used in a database are connected
Erroneous
Data that would not normally be expected such as the wrong data type
Error diagnostics
System to warn of errors in the code and potential programs
Extreme
Data that is the extreme limit of valid or invalid to check boundary conditions
Failover
Automatic switching to a backup computer system in the event of system failure
Control unit
The control unit works with the CPU to control the flow of data within the system
CPU
Central processing unit of the computer containing the control unit, ALU and cache memory
Custom written
Software developed specially for one or a few customers.
Data dictionary
The stored schema of a database
Data integrity
The state of data being as it should be, reflecting reality
Data redundancy
The unnecessary repetition of data
Debugger
Software that helps a programmer track down faults in a program
Decision
A flow diagram symbol used to show a decision stage, may be ‘yes’ or ‘no’ or multiple values.
Declaration
Identifying a variable or constant or array to a program so that memory space can be allocated
Decode
An instruction is decoded by the CPU into two parts – the operator and the operand
