Miscellaneous Paper 2 topics

Question 1

maintainability

Answer 1

how well structured a program is and how easy it is for users to understand the purpose of it

Question 2

methods to help maintainability

Answer 2

comments, indentation, sub-programs

Question 3

comments in a program

Answer 3

useful for explaining the key features of a program

Question 4

indentation

Answer 4

separates segments and blocks of code

Question 5

sub-programs

Answer 5

make it easier for other programmers to see how different parts of a program work

Question 6

defensive design

Answer 6

methods of ensuring that programs function correctly, and don’t break and produce errors

Question 7

input validation

Answer 7

checking that data meets certain criteria before passing it into a program

Question 8

examples of input validation checks

Answer 8

length check, type check, range check, presence check, format check

Question 9

length check

Answer 9

checks the length of a string e.g ensuring that a password is 8 or more characters in length

Question 10

type check

Answer 10

checks the data type of a field e.g. checking that a user’s age has been entered as an integer

Question 11

range check

Answer 11

ensures that data entered as a number falls in a particular range e.g. checking that a user’s age is between 0-100

Question 12

presence check

Answer 12

looks to see if any data has been entered into a field

Question 13

format check

Answer 13

ensuring that data has been entered in the correct format e.g. checking whether an email address contains the @symbol and a full stop