2.2 – Programming fundamentals

Question 1

What is an Arithmetic Operator?

Answer 1

Symbol used in mathematical expressions to perform an action on two numbers (operands)
+, -, /, *, ^

Question 2

What is an Assignment?

Answer 2

Giving a variable or constant a value

e.g. counter = 0

Question 3

What is a Boolean Operator?

Answer 3

Operators used in conditions, such as AND, OR, NOT

e.g. IF choice < 1 OR choice > 3. The operators are < and >.

Question 4

What is a Condition Controlled Loop?

Answer 4

Repeating instructions depending on a condition

e.g. WHILE x < 6.

Question 5

What is a Count Controlled Loop?

Answer 5

An iteration which repeats instructions a fixed number of times

e.g. FOR counter = 1 TO 10

Question 6

What are Inputs?

Answer 6

Any information or data which goes into a computer system

Question 7

What is Iteration?

Answer 7

Code which is repeated a set number of times
Or a variable number of times based on the evaluation of a Boolean expression

condition controlled loop (e.g.WHILE)

counter controlled loop (e.g.FOR)//condition controlled loop (e.g.WHILE)

One of the three basic programming constructs

Question 8

What is an Output?

Answer 8

Any data that leaves a system

Question 9

What is Selection?

Answer 9

A decision point within a computer program
Evaluated by the ALU

One of the three basic programming constructs

Question 10

What is Sequence?

Answer 10

Instructions executing one after another

One of the three basic programming constructs

Question 11

What is a Variable?

Answer 11

A name for a memory location
Temporarily holds a value that can change while the program is running

Question 12

What is Boolean?

Answer 12

A data type used to store one of two states, true or false

Or two states 0 and 1 or 0 and -1

Often translated to On/Off, Yes/No etc

Question 13

What is Casting?

Answer 13

Converting a variable from one data type to another

e.g.variable entered as a string needs to be an integer for calculation

Question 14

What is a Character?

Answer 14

A single alphanumeric

Includes letters a-z and A-Z, symbols e.g. #, @, ! & numbers 0-9.

Question 15

What is a Data Type?

Answer 15

A definition of the characteristics of a data item

Better described w/ an example such as integer, real, character, Boolean

Question 16

What is an Integer?

Answer 16

A data type used to store positive and negative whole numbers

Question 17

What is a Real?

Answer 17

A data type used to store numbers with a fractional part

(decimals)

Question 18

What is a String?

Answer 18

A sequence of characters often stored as a variable in a computer program
Can include numbers, letters and symbols

Question 19

What is a Constant?

Answer 19

A value that cannot change while a program is running

Question 20

What is a Function?

Answer 20

A section of code that may take parameters that can be called by another part of the program with the purpose of returning a value

can create self-contained reusable program components that can eliminate code duplication

Question 21

What is a List?

Answer 21

A set of data items of the same type grouped together using a single identifier
A dynamic data structure

Question 22

What is a Procedure?

Answer 22

A routine within a larger program that can take parameters
Used to produce structured code
Does not return a value

makes it easier to read and debug programs

Question 23

What is SQL?

Answer 23

Structured Query Language
A language to return, define and manipulate records in a database

Includes commands: SELECT, FROM, WHERE etc.

Question 24

What is the SQL command “FROM”?

Answer 24

SQL command to signify which table(s) to return data from

Question 25

What is the SQL command “SELECT”?

Answer 25

SQL command to signify which fields to return

Question 26

What is the SQL command “WHERE”?

Answer 26

SQL command to filter the results of a query

Question 27

What is String Manipulation?

Answer 27

Commands that extract or change characters in strings

e.g. LENGTH, LEFT, RIGHT, SUBSTRING, UPPER, LOWER, ASC, CHAR etc.

Question 28

What is a Subroutine?

Answer 28

A block of reusable code given a unique identifiable name within a program
Supports code reuse and program maintenance

Also called a subprogram, includes functions and procedures

Question 29

What is a zero-indexed array?

Answer 29

The first element is stored at index 0
Array is an area of memory, used to store variables of the same type