SDD Flashcards
What 3 basic control structures can all programming languages be reduced to?
Sequence, selection and iteration
What are the different types of programming languages?
Procedural, Declarative, Object-oriented, domain specific
What must happen before high level languages are executed?
Translated into machine code
What will modern programming languages include?
A text editor and debugging tools
Floating point representation uses what?
A mantissa and exponent, the mantissa determines the accuracy of the number and the exponent determines the range of numbers which can be stored
What is Unicode?
Unicode is a 16bit code for storing characters
Compare ASCII and UNICODE?
Unicode uses more storage than ascii but allows a wider range of characters to be displayed
How are sound files stored?
Sound files are stored digitally by sampling the analogue sound wave?
Data types can be divided into two sorts called what?
Simple and structured
What are the simple data types?
Integer, Real, Character, Boolean
What are the structured data types?
Array, string, record
Arrays, strings and records use what to identify there contents?
Indexes which start at 0
What kind of process is software development ?
Software development is an iterative process
Explain RAD?
Rapid application development is an attempt to streamline the waterfall model by using prototyping and involving the client at more development stages
Explain Agile Development?
Agile development is small teams of developers work to complete the finished product. it is designed to be flexible to change in requirements.
Why are graphical design notations used in the design stage of the software development process?
To help the developers break the problem down into manageable sub problems
Explain structure diagrams?
Structure diagrams are a graphical representation of the top down design where blocks in the diagram correspond to modules in the program
What are data flow diagrams used for?
Data flow diagrams are used to represent how data is passed between modules?
Psedocode is what?
Psedocode is an informal description of the logic of each module which can then be used to write source code
Where are wireframes used?
Program and website design
Describe input validation?
Input validation is used to ensure that software is robust by repeatedly asking the user for input data and rejecting invalid data
What is a computational construct?
A computional construct is a combination of control structures which can be used to make solving programming problems more intuitive
What is meant by the scope of a variable?
The scope of a variable describes where it can be accessed from
Explain global and local variables?
Global variables have a scope throughout a program, local variables can only be accessed within their own sub procedure
What is a method in an object oriented language?
A method is a function that is defined inside a class
explain passing by value and by reference?
Parameters which are passed into a procedure but not changed are passed by value. parameters which are passed into a procedure and can be changed are passed by reference.
What is the job of a test plan?
A test plan is a set of test data which should systematically and comprehensively test the software to ensure it meets original specification.
what is a syntax error?
A syntax error is where the grammatical rules of the language have been broken
What is a logic error?
A logic error is one where the code is grammatically correct but does not result as expected.
What is an execution error?
An execution error is one which cause the program to crash when run
What is a dry run?
A dry run is a manual walk through of the program
What is a breakpoint?
A breakpoint is a set point in a program where it will stop execution so that the values of variables can be examined
What is a watchpoint?
A watchpoint is when a program is set to halt when a variable has reached a certain value
Describe the CPU?
The CPU consists of several different parts the Arithemtic and logic unit, the control unit and registers?
What is the ALU?
The Arithmetic and logic unit performs calculations and makes logical decisions
What is the control unit?
The control unit loads, decodes, and executes instructions
What are registers?
Registers are small temporary memory locations used by the processor
What are buses?
Buses are groups of lines which connect the CPU to main memory
The total number of memory locations which can be addressed by the processor is determined by what?
The number of lines in the address bus
The number of lines in the data bus determines what?
The word size of the processor
What is an emulator?
An emulator is software which imitates the behaviour of another computer system
What is a virtual machine?
A virtual machine is a type of emulator that recreates a complete substitute of a full computer system
