Programming Fundamentals

Question 1

What is a data type?

Answer 1

The kind of values that can be used in a data item

Question 2

What are some examples of data types?

Answer 2

Integer, float/real, character, string, Boolean

Question 3

What are arithmetic operators?

Answer 3

A symbol that will perform an operation on numbers

Question 4

What are the arithmetic operators?

Answer 4

+, -, *, /, ^, MOD, DIV

Question 5

What is ^

Answer 5

Exponent (power of)

Question 6

What data type is the variable ‘numberOfStudents’

Answer 6

Integer

Question 7

What data type is the variable ‘circleArea’

Answer 7

Real/Floating point number

Question 8

What data type is the variable ‘found’

Answer 8

Boolean

Question 9

What data type is the variable ‘answer’

Answer 9

Character

Question 10

What data type is the variable ‘studentName’

Answer 10

String

Question 11

What type of data is a char

Answer 11

A single ASCII character such as A, b, 3, ! or space

Question 12

What type of data is a string

Answer 12

Zero or more characters

Question 13

What can you define other than variables

Answer 13

Constants

Question 14

What are some examples of constants

Answer 14

const PI = 3.14157926535
const VAT = 0.2
const MAX_PLAYERS = 6

Question 15

What is snake case

Answer 15

Words that are separated with an underscore, e.g. MIN_AGE

Question 16

Why declare a constant instead of a variable?

Answer 16

This prevents the value from being changed accidentally by a part of code
It shows a programmer that the value should stay the same throughout the program

Question 17

Can a constant ever change its value?

Answer 17

A constant cannot be changed when the program is running
A constant can be changed by a programmer before the program is compiled or translated

Question 18

What is DIV used for

Answer 18

Integer division, also known as quotient
e.g. 31 DIV 7 = 4 (remainder 3)

Question 19

What is MOD (modulus) used for

Answer 19

Used to find the remainder when dividing one integer by another
e.g. 31 MOD 7 = 3 (remainder)

Question 19

What is MOD (modulus) used for

Answer 19

Used to find the remainder when dividing one integer by another
e.g. 31 MOD 7 = 3 (remainder)

Question 20

What is represented differently in binary

Answer 20

Strings and numbers

Question 21

What is the string “17” represented in binary as

Answer 21

0011000100110111

Question 22

What is the integer 17 held in binary as

Answer 22

00010001

Question 23

What are functions/casting

Answer 23

They are used to convert data types

Question 24

What does the function int(s) do (written in pseudocode)

Answer 24

converts a string s to an integer

Question 25

What does the function float(s)/real(s) do (written in pseudocode)

Answer 25

converts a string s to a number with a decimal point

Question 26

What does the function str(x) do (written in pseudocode)

Answer 26

converts an integer or floating point number x to a string

Question 27

What does the function bool(s) do (written in pseudocode)

Answer 27

converts a string (e.g. “True”) to a Boolean

Question 28

What does the function ASC(‘a’) do (written in pseudocode)

Answer 28

evaluates to 97, using ASCII

Question 29

What does the function CHR(97) do (written in pseudocode)

Answer 29

evaluates to ‘a’

Question 30

What is wrong with the variable tickets = input(“Please enter number of tickets required: “)

Answer 30

You need to convert the variable to an integer, as the inputs from the user are strings e.g. tickets = int(tickets) or tickets = int(input(“Please enter number of tickets required: “))

Question 31

What is concatenating

Answer 31

Means joining together strings
e.g.
firstname = “Rose”
surname = “Chan”
fullname = firstname + “ “ + surname
print(fullname)
output = Rose Chan (not part of code)

x = “6” + “3”
print(x)
output = “63” (not part of code)

Question 32

Examples of string handling functions

Answer 32

word = “Algorithm”

print(word.length) = 9
print(word.substring(3,6)) = “orit”
print(word.left(3)) = “Alg”
print(word.right(4)) = “ithm”

zooName = “London Zoo”

zooName.length = 10
zooName.substring(1,4) = ondo
zooName.left = London Z
zooName.right(5) = n Zoo

Question 33

How can characters be converted to their ASCII value and vice versa?

Answer 33

Using the functions: ASC(character) and CHR(integer)
e.g.
x = ASC(‘a’) // sets x = 97
y = CHR(97) // sets y to ‘a’

Question 34

How can I convert a string to uppercase or lowercase?

Answer 34

phrase1 = “Good morning”
phrase2 = “HAPPY BIRTHDAY”
print(phrase1.upper) //”GOOD MORNING”
print(phrase2.lower) //”happy birthday”

Question 35

Why should I use comments in my programs?

Answer 35

to describe the purpose of the program
to state the author of the program
to explain what the code does

Question 36

How do comments start in different languages?

Answer 36

Pseudocode - //
Python - #
Visual Basic - ‘