Scotland · SQAQ&A

Computer ScienceQ&A by dot point

A short Q&A bank for every Scotland Computer Science syllabus dot point. Each question and answer is drawn directly from our worked dot-point page, so you can scan key concepts before opening the long-form answer.

Computer systems

Computer architecture: the role of the processor, memory and the buses that connect them; and the environmental impact of the manufacture, use and disposal of computer systems.
0Q&A pairs
Data representation in a computer system: storing positive integers, real numbers and characters in binary, and the units used to measure storage from the bit upwards.
0Q&A pairs
Security risks and precautions: common threats to a computer system, the precautions of encryption, passwords and biometrics, and the legal protection of the Computer Misuse Act.
0Q&A pairs

Database design and development

Database analysis and design: identifying end-user and functional requirements, designing tables with fields and appropriate field types, and choosing primary and foreign keys and validation.
0Q&A pairs
SQL implementation: searching and sorting with SELECT, FROM, WHERE and ORDER BY, and changing data with INSERT, UPDATE and DELETE, then testing and evaluating the database.
0Q&A pairs

Software design and development

Analysis: identifying the purpose, scope and boundaries of a problem and writing functional requirements in terms of inputs, processes and outputs.
0Q&A pairs
Computational constructs: assignment, arithmetic, comparison and logical operators, concatenation, predefined functions, and the control structures of selection and iteration (fixed and conditional).
0Q&A pairs
Data types and structures: variables holding character, string, numeric (integer and real) and Boolean values, and the 1-D array as a structure for holding many values of the same type under one name.
0Q&A pairs
Design techniques: representing a program design with structure diagrams, flowcharts and pseudocode, and designing the user interface with a wireframe.
0Q&A pairs
The iterative software development process: analysis, design, implementation, testing, documentation and evaluation, and why the process is iterative rather than strictly linear.
6Q&A pairs
Low-level operations and data representation: representing positive integers in binary, characters using a code such as ASCII, real numbers using floating point (mantissa and exponent), and graphics as bit-mapped or vector data.
0Q&A pairs
Standard algorithms: input validation, running total within a loop, and traversing a 1-D array, each as a reusable pattern built from selection and iteration.
0Q&A pairs
Testing with normal, extreme and exceptional test data; the three kinds of error (syntax, execution and logic); and evaluating software for fitness for purpose, efficiency, robustness and readability.
0Q&A pairs

Web design and development

Web analysis and design: identifying end-user and functional requirements, and designing the structure and page layouts of a website using a wireframe and a navigation structure.
0Q&A pairs
HTML and CSS: building page content and hyperlinks with HTML elements, and controlling appearance with CSS using element, class and id selectors and common properties.
0Q&A pairs
JavaScript and media: adding interactivity with event-driven JavaScript (such as onmouseover, onmouseout and onclick), and using media files with appropriate standard file formats and compression, then testing and evaluating the website.
0Q&A pairs