Keywords

OCR A Level Computer Science

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Scan the QR codes for revision games to help you understand and remember the definitions of the keywords in each topic

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1.1: The characteristics of contemporary processors, input, output and storage devices
The characteristics of contemporary processors, input, output and storage devices
1.1.1a: The Arithmetic and Logic Unit; ALU, Control Unit and Registers (Program Counter; PC, Accumulator;ACC, Memory Address Register; MAR, Memory Data Register; MDR, Current Instruction Register; CIR).Buses: data, address and control: how this relates to assembly language programs.
14 keywords 1 resources
1.1.1b: The Fetch-Decode-Execute Cycle; including its effects on registers.
5 keywords 1 resources
1.1.1c: The factors affecting the performance of the CPU: clock speed, number of cores, cache.
6 keywords 1 resources
1.1.1d: The use of pipelining in a processor to improve efficiency.
3 keywords 1 resources
1.1.1e: Von Neumann, Harvard and contemporary processor architecture.
10 keywords 1 resources
1.1.2a: The differences between and uses of CISC and RISC processors.
3 keywords 1 resources
1.1.2b: GPUs and their uses (including those not related to graphics).
4 keywords 1 resources
1.1.2c: Multicore and Parallel systems.
3 keywords 1 resources
1.1.3a: How different input, output and storage devices can be applied to the solution of different problems.
6 keywords 1 resources
1.1.3b: The uses of magnetic, flash and optical storage devices.
7 keywords 1 resources
1.1.3c: RAM and ROM.
4 keywords 1 resources
1.1.3d: Virtual storage.
3 keywords 1 resources
12 objectives, 68 keywords Revise
1.2: Software and software development
Software and software development
1.2.1a: The need for, function and purpose of operating systems.
6 keywords 1 resources
1.2.1b: Memory Management (paging, segmentation and virtual memory).
5 keywords 1 resources
1.2.1c: Interrupts, the role of interrupts and Interrupt Service Routines (ISR), role within the Fetch-Decode-Execute Cycle.
3 keywords 1 resources
1.2.1d: Scheduling: round robin, first come first served, multi-level feedback queues, shortest job first and shortest remaining time.
6 keywords 1 resources
1.2.1e: Distributed, embedded, multi-tasking, multi-user and Real Time operating systems.
7 keywords 1 resources
1.2.1f: BIOS.
4 keywords 1 resources
1.2.1g: Device drivers.
5 keywords 1 resources
1.2.1h: Virtual machines, any instance where software is used to take on the function of a machine, including executing intermediate code or running an operating system within another.
5 keywords 1 resources
1.2.2a: The nature of applications, justifying suitable applications for a specific purpose.
4 keywords 1 resources
1.2.2b: Utilities.
5 keywords 1 resources
1.2.2c: Open source vs closed source.
5 keywords 1 resources
1.2.2d: Translators:Interpreters, compilers and assemblers.
6 keywords 1 resources
1.2.2e: Stages of compilation (lexical analysis, syntax analysis, code generation and optimisation).
4 keywords 1 resources
1.2.2f: Linkers and loaders and use of libraries.
7 keywords 1 resources
1.2.3a: Understand the waterfall lifecycle, agile methodologies, extreme programming, the spiral model and rapid application development.
5 keywords 1 resources
1.2.3b: The relative merits and drawbacks of different methodologies and when they might be used.
5 keywords 1 resources
1.2.3c: Writing and following algorithms.
5 keywords 1 resources
1.2.4a: Need for and characteristics of a variety of programming paradigms.
4 keywords 1 resources
1.2.4b: Procedural languages.
5 keywords 1 resources
1.2.4c: Assembly language (including following and writing simple programs with the Little Man Computer instruction set).
10 keywords 1 resources
1.2.4d: Modes of addressing memory (immediate, direct, indirect and indexed).
4 keywords 1 resources
1.2.4e: Object-oriented languages with an understanding of classes, objects, methods, attributes, inheritance, encapsulation and polymorphism.
6 keywords 4 resources
22 objectives, 116 keywords Revise
1.3: Exchanging Data
Exchanging Data
1.3.1a: Lossy vs Lossless compression.
5 keywords 1 resources
1.3.1b: Run length encoding and dictionary coding for lossless compression.
3 keywords 1 resources
1.3.1c: Symmetric and asymmetric encryption.
8 keywords 1 resources
1.3.1d: Different uses of hashing.
0 keywords 1 resources
1.3.2a: Relational database, flat file, primary key, foreign key, secondary key, entity relationship modelling, normalisation and indexing.
0 keywords 1 resources
1.3.2b: Methods of capturing, selecting, managing and exchanging data.
0 keywords 1 resources
1.3.2c: Normalisation to 3NF.
0 keywords 1 resources
1.3.2d: Interpret and modify SQL
0 keywords 1 resources
1.3.2e: Referential integrity.
0 keywords 1 resources
1.3.2f: Transaction processing, ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability), record locking and redundancy.
0 keywords 1 resources
1.3.3a: Characteristics of networks and the importance of protocols and standards.
0 keywords 1 resources
1.3.3b: The internet structure:The TCP/IP Stack.DNS; Protocol layering; LANs and WANs; Packet and circuit switching.
0 keywords 3 resources
1.3.3c: Network security and threats, use of firewalls, proxies and encryption.
0 keywords 1 resources
1.3.3d: Network hardware.
0 keywords 1 resources
1.3.3e: Client-server and peer to peer.
0 keywords 1 resources
1.3.4a: HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
0 keywords 3 resources
1.3.4b: Search engine indexing.
0 keywords 1 resources
1.3.4c: PageRank algorithm.
0 keywords 2 resources
1.3.4d: Server and client side processing.
0 keywords 1 resources
19 objectives, 16 keywords Revise
1.4: Data types, data structures and algorithms
Data types, data structures and algorithms
1.4.1a: Primitive data types, integer, real/floating point, character, string and Boolean.
0 keywords 1 resources
1.4.1b: Represent positive integers in binary.
0 keywords 1 resources
1.4.1c: Use of sign and magnitude and two's complement to represent negative numbers in binary.
0 keywords 2 resources
1.4.1d: Addition and subtraction of binary integers.
0 keywords 1 resources
1.4.1e: Represent positive integers in hexadecimal.
0 keywords 1 resources
1.4.1f: Convert positive integers between binary hexadecimal and denary.
0 keywords 1 resources
1.4.1g: Representation and normalisation of floating point numbers in binary.
0 keywords 3 resources
1.4.1h: Floating point arithmetic, positive and negative numbers, addition and subtraction.
0 keywords 1 resources
1.4.1i: Bitwise manipulation and masks: shifts, combining with AND, OR, and XOR.
0 keywords 1 resources
1.4.1j: How character sets (ASCII and UNICODE) are used to represent text.
0 keywords 1 resources
1.4.2a: Arrays (of up to 3 dimensions), records, lists, tuples.
0 keywords 2 resources
1.4.2b: The following structures to store data: linked-list, graph (directed and undirected), stack, queue, tree, binary search tree, hash table.
0 keywords 5 resources
1.4.2c: How to create, traverse, add data to and remove data from the data structures mentioned above. (NB this can be either using arrays and procedural programming or an object-oriented approach).
0 keywords 5 resources
1.4.3a: Define problems using Boolean logic.
0 keywords 1 resources
1.4.3b: Manipulate Boolean expressions, including the use of Karnaugh maps to simplify Boolean expressions.
0 keywords 4 resources
1.4.3c: Use the following rules to derive or simplify statements in Boolean algebra: De Morgan's Laws, distribution, association, commutation, double negation.
0 keywords 2 resources
1.4.3d: Using logic gate diagrams and truth tables.
0 keywords 1 resources
1.4.3e: The logic associated with D type flip flops, half and full adders.
0 keywords 2 resources
18 objectives, 0 keywords Revise
1.5: Legal, moral, cultural and ethical issues
Legal, moral, cultural and ethical issues
1.5.1a: The Data Protection Act 1998.
8 keywords 1 resources
1.5.1b: The Computer Misuse Act 1990.
6 keywords 1 resources
1.5.1c: The Copyright Design and Patents Act 1988.
5 keywords 1 resources
1.5.1d: The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.
5 keywords 1 resources
1.5.2a: The individual moral, social, ethical and cultural opportunities and risks of digital technology: Computers in the workforce; Automated decision making; Artificial intelligence; Environmental effects; Censorship and the Internet; Monitor behaviour; Analyse personal information; Piracy and offensive communications; Layout, colour paradigms and character sets.
13 keywords 5 resources
5 objectives, 37 keywords Revise
2.1: Computational Thinking
Computational Thinking
2.1.1a: The nature of abstraction.
0 keywords 1 resources
2.1.1b: The need for abstraction.
0 keywords 1 resources
2.1.1c: The differences between an abstraction and reality.
0 keywords 1 resources
2.1.1d: Devise an abstract model for a variety of situations.
0 keywords 1 resources
2.1.2a: Identify the inputs and outputs for a given situation.
0 keywords 1 resources
2.1.2b: Determine the preconditions for devising a solution to a problem
0 keywords 1 resources
2.1.2c: The nature, benefits and drawbacks of caching.
0 keywords 1 resources
2.1.2d: The need for reusable program components.
0 keywords 1 resources
2.1.3a: Identify the components of a problem.
0 keywords 1 resources
2.1.3b: Identify the components of a solution to a problem.
0 keywords 1 resources
2.1.3c: Determine the order of the steps needed to solve a problem
0 keywords 1 resources
2.1.3d: Identify sub-procedures necessary to solve a problem.
0 keywords 1 resources
2.1.4a: Identify the points in a solution where a decision has to be taken.
0 keywords 1 resources
2.1.4b: Determine the logical conditions that affect the outcome of a decision.
0 keywords 1 resources
2.1.4c: Determine how decisions affect flow through a program.
0 keywords 1 resources
2.1.5a: Determine the parts of a problem that can be tackled at the same time.
0 keywords 1 resources
2.1.5b: Outline the benefits and trade offs that might result from concurrent processing in a particular situation.
0 keywords 1 resources
17 objectives, 0 keywords Revise
2.2: Problem solving and programming
Problem solving and programming
2.2.1a: Programming constructs: sequence, iteration, branching.
0 keywords 1 resources
2.2.1b: Recursion, how it can be used and compares to an iterative approach.
0 keywords 1 resources
2.2.1c: Global and local variables.
0 keywords 1 resources
2.2.1d: Modularity, functions and procedures, parameter passing by value and by reference.
0 keywords 1 resources
2.2.1e: Use of an IDE to develop/debug a program.
0 keywords 1 resources
2.2.1f: Use of object oriented techniques.
20 keywords 1 resources
2.2.2a: Features that make a problem solvable by computational methods.
0 keywords 1 resources
2.2.2b: Problem recognition.
0 keywords 1 resources
2.2.2c: Problem decomposition.
0 keywords 1 resources
2.2.2d: Use of divide and conquer.
0 keywords 1 resources
2.2.2e: Use of abstraction.
0 keywords 1 resources
2.2.2f.a: Learners should apply their knowledge of backtracking, data mining, heuristics
0 keywords 1 resources
2.2.2f.b: Learners should apply their knowledge of performance modelling, pipelining and visualisation to solve problems.
0 keywords 1 resources
13 objectives, 20 keywords Revise
2.3: Algorithms
Algorithms
2.3.1a: Analysis and design of algorithms for a given situation.
0 keywords 1 resources
2.3.1b: The suitability of different algorithms for a given task and data set, in terms of execution time and space
0 keywords 1 resources
2.3.1c: Measures and methods to determine the efficiency of different algorithms, Big O notation constant, linear, polynomial, exponential and logarithmic complexity.
0 keywords 1 resources
2.3.1d: Comparison of the complexity of algorithms.
0 keywords 1 resources
2.3.1e: Algorithms for the main data structures, stacks, queues, trees, linked lists, depth-first post-order and breadth-first traversal of trees
0 keywords 5 resources
2.3.1f.a: Standard algorithms bubble sort
0 keywords 1 resources
2.3.1f.b: Standard algorithm for insertion sort
0 keywords 1 resources
2.3.1f.c: Standard algorithm for merge sort
0 keywords 1 resources
2.3.1f.d: Standard algorithm for quick sort
0 keywords 1 resources
2.3.1f.e: Standard algorithm for Dijkstra's shortest path
0 keywords 1 resources
2.3.1f.f: Standard algorithm for A* algorithm
0 keywords 2 resources
2.3.1f.g: Standard algorithm for binary search
0 keywords 1 resources
2.3.1f.h: Standard algorithm for linear search
0 keywords 1 resources
13 objectives, 0 keywords Revise