Types of programming languages

Question 1

What is a programming paradigm?

Answer 1

A different approach to using a programming language to solve a problem

Question 2

State the two categories of programming paradigm

Answer 2

Imperative
Declarative

Question 3

State one type of imperative paradigm

Answer 3

Procedural
Object Oriented

Question 4

State one type of declarative paradigm

Answer 4

Logic
Functional

Question 5

Define imperative programming

Answer 5

Code that clearly specifies the actions to be performed

Question 6

Define declarative programming

Answer 6

Code that focuses on stating the desired result rather than a series of instructions that need to be performed to get the result

Question 7

Define procedural programming

Answer 7

Code which uses a sequence of instructions carried out step-by-step, which may be contained within procedures

Question 8

When should procedural programming be used?

Answer 8

For problems that can easily be expressed as a series of instructions using programming constructs

Question 9

State two advantages of procedural programming

Answer 9

• Can be easily applied to a wide range of problems
• relatively easy to write and interpret

Question 10

State two languages that use procedural programming

Answer 10

Pascal
Python
Logo

Question 11

Name a subsection of procedural programming

Answer 11

Structured programming

Question 12

State the programming structures of structured programming

Answer 12

Sequence
Selection
Iteration
Recursion

Question 13

Define sequence

Answer 13

Where code is executed line-by-line from top to bottom

Question 14

Define selection

Question 15

Define iteration

Answer 15

Where a block of code is executed a certain number of times or while a condition is met

Question 16

Define recursion

Answer 16

Where functions are executed until a base case condition is met

• functions are expressed in terms of themselves

Question 17

Define object oriented programming

Answer 17

A programming language where the code is made up of units called objects, which are instances of a class

Question 18

What are objects?

Answer 18

Instances of a class which have their own attributes and methods and can interact with each other

Question 19

What is a class?

Answer 19

A template defining the attributes and methods that can be used to create an object

Question 20

Define encapsulation

Answer 20

A method of maintaining data integrity by only allowing class methods to access data in an object’s attributes

Question 21

Define instantiation

Answer 21

The process of creating an object from a class template

Question 22

What is a constructor method?

Answer 22

A special method within the class that runs when an object of that class type is created, it allows a new object to be created

Question 23

Define inheritance

Answer 23

Where a class retains the methods and attributes of its parent class as well as having its own

Question 24

Define overriding

Answer 24

Where a method is redefined within a subclass so that it functions differently and produces a different output

Question 25

What are attributes?

Answer 25

Data recorded as a variable defining the properties associated with an object

Question 26

What are methods?

Answer 26

Program subroutines that represent an action an object can perform

Question 27

Define polymorphism

Answer 27

Where an object behaves differently depending on their class

Question 28

What is a setter?

Answer 28

A method that sets the value of a given attribute

Question 29

What is a getter?

Answer 29

A method which retrieves the value of a given attribute

Question 30

When is object oriented programming used?

Answer 30

For problems with lots of reusable components which have similar characteristics

Question 31

What is the main advantage of OOP?

Answer 31

It makes programs that are reusable and easy to update and maintain

Question 32

Why are getters and setters used?

Answer 32

To ensure that attributes cannot be directly accessed and edited by users

Question 33

State the advantage of encapsulation

Answer 33

Helps keep data related to an object safe

Question 34

Why are attributes declared as private?

Answer 34

So they can only be altered by public methods

Question 35

State the advantage of inheritance

Answer 35

It allows programmers to effectively reuse certain components and properties whilst making changes

Question 36

State the two types of polymorphism

Answer 36

Overriding Overloading

Question 37

State 3 advantages of OOP

Answer 37

- Allows for high level of re usability enabled my inheritance and polymorphism - Classes can be used across multiple projects - Code is more reliable because encapsulation protects attributes from being directly accessed and accidentally altered - Code for other classes can be produced independent of the others - Can result in high-quality piece of software with fewer vulnerabilities - Modular structure makes it easy to maintain and update - High level of abstraction which saves time and effort

Question 38

State two disadvantages of OOP

Answer 38

- Requires an alternative style of thinking because it is a different style of programming - no suited to all types of problems, especially where few components are reused - Unsuitable for smaller programs

Question 39

Define functional programming

Answer 39

The concept of reusing a set of functions Code is made up of lines of function calls combined together

Question 40

State an example of a functional language

Answer 40

Haskell C# Java

Question 41

Define logic programming

Answer 41

Code which defines a set of facts and rules based on the problem Queries are used to find answers to the problem

Question 42

State an example of a logic programming language

Answer 42

Prolog

Question 43

Where is assembly language useful and why?

Answer 43

In embedded systems because it allows direct interaction with the hardware

Question 44

Why are assembly language commands processor specific?

Answer 44

Because they directly interact with the CPU’s special purpose registers

Question 45

What is the purpose of the opcode?

Answer 45

To specify the instruction to be performed

Question 46

What is the purpose of the operand?

Answer 46

To hold a value which is related to the data in which the instruction is to be performed

Question 47

What is the purpose of addressing modes?

Answer 47

To allow for much greater number of locations for data to be stored

Question 48

What do addressing modes do?

Answer 48

They specify how the operand should be interpreted

Question 49

Define immediate addressing

Answer 49

The operand is the actual value upon which the instruction is to be performed

Question 50

Define direct addressing

Answer 50

The operand gives the address of the value upon which the instruction is to be performed

Question 51

Define indirect addressing

Answer 51

The operand gives the address of a register which holds another address, where the data is located

Question 52

Define index addressing

Answer 52

The address of the operand is determined by adding the operand to a value in an index register

Question 53

Why is index addressing used?

Answer 53

To add an offset in order to access data stored contiguously in memory (arrays)