Section 1 Chapter 1 - Programming Basics

Question 1

What is an algorithm

Answer 1

A sequence of steps that can be followed to complete a task and that always terminates

Question 2

What is pseudocode

Answer 2

A tool for developing programs which is halfway between English and program statements. There are no concrete rules or syntax for how it is to be written

Question 3

Integer

Answer 3

A whole number

Question 4

Real / Float

Answer 4

A number with a fractional part

Question 5

Boolean

Answer 5

A variable that can be either true or false

Question 6

Character

Answer 6

A letter, number or special character typically represented with ASCII

Question 7

String

Answer 7

A sequence of characters

Question 8

Syntax to round n

Answer 8

round(n, decimalPlaces)

Question 9

Syntax for exponentiation

Answer 9

a**b

Question 10

Syntax for integer division

Answer 10

a div b

Question 11

Syntax for modulo

Answer 11

a mod b

Question 12

Syntax for finding length of string

Answer 12

len(string)

Question 13

Syntax for getting the index of a substring in a string

Answer 13

string.find(substring)

Question 14

Syntax for getting the integer (ASCII) value of a character

Answer 14

ord(char)

Question 15

Syntax for getting the character represented by an integer

Answer 15

chr(integer)

Question 16

Syntax for converting a string to an integer

Answer 16

int(string)

Question 17

Syntax for converting an integer to a string

Answer 17

str(integer)

Question 18

Syntax for converting a string to a float

Answer 18

float(string)

Question 19

Characteristics of the bullshit returned by date(year, month, day)

Answer 19

Is a number but also a date >:(

(Assumptions)
When made via the date function and then printed it is so in the format “year-month-day”

When two dates are subtracted from each other the result is an integer representing the number of days difference between them

Question 20

What actually are variables

Answer 20

Identifiers given to memory locations whose contents can change over the course of the program

Question 21

Constant

Answer 21

An identifier given to a memory location whose contents cannot change over the course of the program

Question 22

Advantage of using constants

Answer 22

In a lengthy program there is no chance that they can be accidentally changed

Question 23

Why meaningful variable names should be used

Answer 23

Makes the program easier to update and follow

Question 24

Data Type

Answer 24

The ‘type’ of a piece of data describes how it is meant to be handled and what operations are valid/invalid for it,

Question 25

Record

Answer 25

A collection of fields. A table is a collection of records.

Question 26

Declaration

Answer 26

A variable or constant must be declared before it can be used. When declaring a variable or constant you specify the identifier, the initial value and in some languages the data type.

Question 27

Assignment

Answer 27

Sets the value in a variable

Question 28

Difference between variable and constant

Answer 28

The value of a variable can be changed during runtime, whereas the value of a constant cannot be changed.

Question 29

Python syntax for current time

Answer 29

import datetime

datetime.datetime.now()

Question 30

Pointer

Answer 30

A reference to a location in memory