Topic 1: Fundamentals of programming

Question 1

What is inheritance?

Answer 1

Inheritance allows one class to share the properties and method of another class, while having its own properties and methods too

Question 2

What are the names given to the class being inherited and the inheriting class?

Answer 2

The class being inherited from- Superclass
The class that is inheriting - Subclass

Question 3

What is overriding?

Answer 3

An overriding method has the same name method as a method in an inherited class but different implementation

Question 4

Integer

Answer 4

A whole number, positive or negative, including zero

Question 5

Real/float

Answer 5

A positive or negative number which can have a fractional part

Question 6

Boolean

Answer 6

A value which is either true or false

Question 7

Character

Answer 7

A single number, letter or symbol

Question 8

String

Answer 8

A collection of characters

Question 9

Data/Time

Answer 9

A way of storing a point in time, many different formats are used

Question 10

Pointer/ Reference

Answer 10

A way of storing memory addresses

Question 11

Records

Answer 11

A collection of fields, each of which could have a different data type. You can think of a record as a row from a table

Question 12

Arrays

Answer 12

A finite indexed set of related elements each of which has the same data type

Question 13

Variable decleration

Answer 13

Creating a variable for the first time, giving it a name and sometimes a data type

Question 14

Constant decleration

Answer 14

Creating a constant a constant for the first time, giving it a name and sometimes a data type(the value doesn’t change when the program is running)

Question 15

Assignment

Answer 15

Giving a constant or variable a value

Question 16

Iteration

Answer 16

Repeating an instruction, this could be definite or indefinite

Question 17

Selection

Answer 17

Comparing values and choosing an action based on those values

Question 18

Subroutine

Answer 18

A self contained set of commands that can be called from different parts of a program

Question 19

Definite iteration

Answer 19

A type of iteration in which the number of repetitions required is known before the loop starts

Question 20

Indefinite iteration

Answer 20

The number of repetitions is not known before the loop starts, the loop terminates when the conditions are met

Question 21

Nested structures

Answer 21

This is when one structure is placed within another.

Question 22

What is volatility

Answer 22

Data which is not stored permanently and will therefore be lost should the program crash

Question 23

Parameters

Answer 23

These are used to pass data between subroutines within programs, (specified within brackets)

Question 24

Argument

Answer 24

The actual value passed by a parameter

Question 25

Function

Answer 25

A subroutine that always returns a value

Question 26

Local variables

Answer 26

Declared and used inside a subroutine, only available to that routine. Created when routine is called and destroyed when it ends

Question 27

Global variables

Answer 27

Declared at the top of a program outside of subroutines. Usable throughout the program, created when program starts and destroyed when it ends

Question 28

Selection

Answer 28

Do a set of statements based on a condition

Question 29

Iteration

Answer 29

Do a set of statements again and again

Question 30

Definite itereation

Answer 30

Do a set of statements again and again a known number of times

Question 31

Indefinite iteration

Answer 31

Do a statement again and again until a condition is met

Question 32

Difference between a procedure or function

Answer 32

Both procedures and functions take parameters and carries out a set of tasks whilst a function returns a value

Question 33

Identifier

Answer 33

a name used to identify an entity in a program

Question 34

Variable

Answer 34

A name used to refer to
a particular memory location that is used to store data

Question 35

Constant

Answer 35

A name used to refer to a fixed value

Question 36

Advantages of constants over variable

Answer 36

-Cannot accidently change constant
-The program runs faster
-If value needs to be changed at a later date you just change it once
-Expressions using the value are much easier to understand if you choose an appropriate identifier

Question 37

How do you generate a new random number in VB

Answer 37

Randomize()
Rnd()

Question 38

Procedure

Answer 38

A self contained set of commands that can be called from different parts of the program

Question 39

Function

Answer 39

A function is a sub-routine that may take one or more parameters and returns a value

Question 40

Exception handling

Answer 40

As a programmer you should try to anticipate possible errors and write code to deal with them

Question 41

How do you do exception handling in VB.net?

Answer 41

try
…
catch
….
end try

Question 42

Recursion

Answer 42

A subroutine which calls itself

Question 43

The key characteristics of recursive algorithms
(3 points)

Answer 43

Must contain a stopping condition(base case)
For any input values other than the stopping condition the routine must call itself
The stopping condition must be reachable after a finite number of times

Question 44

Is recursion better than iteration?

Answer 44

No as recursion isn’t very efficient on memory