Algorithms

Question 1

Which are the 3 computational thinking principles?

Answer 1

• decomposition
• abstraction
• algorithmic thinking

Question 2

Abstraction

Answer 2

The process of removing unnecessary details and only including relevant details

Question 3

Abstraction examples

Answer 3

• flowcharts
• variables in program

Question 4

Decomposition

Answer 4

Breaking down complex problem down into smaller problems and solving each one individually

Question 5

Advantages of decomposition

Answer 5

• problems easier to solve
• different people can work on different
  parts of a problem at the same time
• reduces development time
• program components developed in
  one program can easily be used in
  other programs

Question 6

algorithmic thinking

Answer 6

• a logical way of getting from the
  problem to the solution
• by creating a set of rules, an algorithm
  that is followed precisely leads to an
  answer

Question 7

syntax error

Answer 7

errors which break the grammatical rules of programming language
- stop from program from running

Question 8

Logic error

Answer 8

Produce an unexpected output but wont stop the program from running

Question 9

An advantage of using trace tables

Answer 9

Excellent way to track down logic errors in the program

Question 10

Binary search properties

Answer 10

• requires data to be ordered
• more efficient than linear search

Question 11

Linear search properties

Answer 11

• doesn’t require data set to be in order
• work on any type of storage devices
• can be efficient for smaller data sets
• inefficient for large data sets

Question 12

bubble sort

Answer 12

• most insufficient of sorting algorithms
• easy to implement
• made for small data sets

Question 13

merge sort

Answer 13

• works well for large data sets
• very efficient method of sorting

Question 14

What are the 5 data types?

Answer 14

• integer
• float
• boolean
• character
• string

Question 15

casting

Answer 15

converting a variable from one data type to another

Question 16

Assignment

Answer 16

giving a variable or constant a value

Question 17

difference between a constant and a variable?

Answer 17

variable = stored in memory
constant = assigned when the program
is designed

variable= value that can change while
constant = value doesn’t change

Question 18

Advantages of constants

Answer 18

• make program easier to read
• can be easily changed in one place in a
  program = less chance of errors
• compiler can optimise the code
• makes the program run more quickly