Programming (Intro)

Question 1

Define data

Answer 1

Data is a collection of facts such as values, measurements, readings or descriptions

Question 2

Define character

Answer 2

a single number, letter or special character

Question 3

Define field

Answer 3

a number of characters. E.g. a number of persons (120)

Question 4

Define record

Answer 4

Records group related fields together E.g. a student record contains the student’s name and surname and the course

Question 5

Define file

Answer 5

A collection of related records such as an employees file that contains records of all the employees employed by a specific company.

Question 6

Define table

Answer 6

A structure made up of rows and columns

Question 7

Define database

Answer 7

consists of a number of related files or tables

Question 8

Define data warehouse

Answer 8

largest structure used to collect and store data for processing, analysis and reporting. May consist of several databases.

Question 9

Define variable

Answer 9

refer to a position or location in the memory of the computer where a value can be stored.

Question 10

Give the seven structures in the data hierarchy

Answer 10

1. character; 2. field; 3. record; 4. file; 5; table; 6. database; 7. data warehouse

Question 11

What is camel casing?

Answer 11

When you name a variable that contains more than one word e.g. Name of employee - empName

Question 12

what are the names of numeric variables?

Answer 12

Integers and Real Numbers

Question 13

What is an integer?

Answer 13

contains a whole number that is positive, negative or zero.

Question 14

What is a real number

Answer 14

A positive or negative number that contains a decimal

Question 15

Name the non-numeric variables

Answer 15

Character; String; Boolean value

Question 16

Explain a string variable

Answer 16

consists of two or more characters and must be enclosed in quotes

Question 17

A Boolean value

Answer 17

can only be a true (non-zero value) or false value (0)

Question 18

What is the difference between a variable and a constant?

Answer 18

All the rules for variables apply to constants, however, constants have a fixed value throughout the program whereas variables vary

Question 19

What is a constant?

Answer 19

a data type for which the value will not change - direct opposite of a variable

Question 20

Explain “operator”

Answer 20

an operator is a symbol used within an expression or equation that tells the computer how to process the data

Question 21

Explain “operands”

Answer 21

the values used in equations

Question 22

Define algorithm

Answer 22

a set of instructions in a specific sequence to solve a problem. Must be unambiguous and precise

Question 23

Explain input

Answer 23

data that must be processed to produce meaningful output

Question 24

Explain output (information)

Answer 24

processed data

Question 25

Explain the relationship between an algorithm and pseudocode

Answer 25

Algorithm - steps to solve the problem | Pseudocode is the way in which these steps are expressed

Question 26

Explain desk checking

Answer 26

Checking the logic in the algorithm for accuracy

Question 27

Explain pseudocode

Answer 27

A way in which the algorithm steps are written so that they can be followed easily and understood.