Computer Science study guides
A-LEVEL-AQA Β· A-Level (AQA) Β· aligned to AQA.
- AQA A-Level Computer Science 4.1 Fundamentals of programming: a complete overview of data types, constructs, subroutines and OOP
A deep-dive AQA A-Level Computer Science guide to 4.1 Fundamentals of programming. Covers the built-in and composite data types, the three basic constructs, arithmetic and logical operations, subroutines, parameters, scope and recursion, and the principles of object-oriented programming.
π 18 min read4.1 - AQA A-Level Computer Science 4.10 Fundamentals of databases: data modelling, normalisation, SQL and transactions
A deep-dive AQA A-Level Computer Science guide to 4.10 Fundamentals of databases. Covers conceptual data modelling and ER diagrams, relational databases with primary and foreign keys, normalisation to third normal form, SQL queries and data modification, and transaction processing with the ACID properties.
π 17 min read4.10 - AQA A-Level Computer Science 4.2 Fundamentals of data structures: arrays, queues, stacks, graphs, trees, hash tables and dictionaries
A deep-dive AQA A-Level Computer Science guide to 4.2 Fundamentals of data structures. Covers arrays and records, queues, stacks, graphs, trees, hash tables and dictionaries, with how each works, its operations, and when to use it.
π 18 min read4.2 - AQA A-Level Computer Science 4.3 Fundamentals of algorithms: traversal, searching, sorting, Dijkstra and Big-O
A deep-dive AQA A-Level Computer Science guide to 4.3 Fundamentals of algorithms. Covers graph and tree traversal, linear and binary search, bubble and merge sort, Dijkstra's shortest path, and Big-O time and space complexity with the common orders of growth.
π 18 min read4.3 - AQA A-Level Computer Science 4.4 Theory of computation: abstraction, finite state machines, languages, Turing machines and complexity
A deep-dive AQA A-Level Computer Science guide to 4.4 Theory of computation. Covers abstraction and automation, finite state machines, regular expressions and context-free languages, Turing machines, and the classification of algorithms into tractable, intractable and non-computable problems.
π 18 min read4.4 - AQA A-Level Computer Science 4.5 Fundamentals of data representation: number systems, binary, characters, images, sound and compression
A deep-dive AQA A-Level Computer Science guide to 4.5 Fundamentals of data representation. Covers number systems and base conversion, signed binary in two's complement, fixed and floating point, bits and bytes, character encoding, representing images and sound, and data compression and encryption.
π 18 min read4.5 - AQA A-Level Computer Science 4.6 Fundamentals of computer systems: hardware, software, logic gates, languages and translators
A deep-dive AQA A-Level Computer Science guide to 4.6 Fundamentals of computer systems. Covers hardware and software and the operating system, logic gates and Boolean algebra, the classification of programming languages, and the types of program translation including the stages of compilation.
π 17 min read4.6 - AQA A-Level Computer Science 4.7 Computer organisation and architecture: the processor, fetch-execute, addressing and storage
A deep-dive AQA A-Level Computer Science guide to 4.7 Computer organisation and architecture. Covers the internal hardware and buses, the stored program concept and Von Neumann and Harvard architectures, the processor components and fetch-execute cycle, addressing modes, and secondary storage.
π 18 min read4.7 - AQA A-Level Computer Science 4.8 Communication and networking: transmission, networks, TCP/IP, security and the web
A deep-dive AQA A-Level Computer Science guide to 4.8 Communication and networking. Covers serial and parallel transmission, LANs, WANs and topologies, wireless networking, the internet and the TCP/IP model, network security and encryption, and the client-server, peer-to-peer and web models.
π 18 min read4.8 - AQA A-Level Computer Science consequences of computing and functional programming: ethics, legislation and the functional paradigm
A deep-dive AQA A-Level Computer Science guide to the consequences of computing and functional programming. Covers the moral, ethical, legal and cultural issues raised by computing and the relevant UK legislation, and the functional programming paradigm including first-class functions, composition, and map, filter and reduce.
π 16 min read4.12