CXC Theory Syllabus Unit 2 (Year 11-12)

Source code, object code, compiling, executing, interpreting, loading.


UNIT 2
INTRODUCTION TO PROGRAMMING
GENERAL OBJECTIVE
This Unit seeks to provide students with an appreciation of the fundamental principles and practices of
Computer Programming.
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
CONTENT
The students should be able to:
1.
Identify and describe levels of programming languages;
Characteristics of the following classes of languages: Machine level; Assembly level, High level; Fourth generation.
2.
3.
Partition a simple problem into its components;
Develop pseudocode algorithms to solve simple problem;
Identification of sub-processes in a task: input; process; storage; output.
Use of Read, Write, If-then; If-then-else; For loop; while loop; (questions which require nested conditionals or nested loops will not be asked). Use of simple logical operations: <, >; =; <; > =; < >; Problems can include simple arithmetic formulae (e.g. average) involving variables; +., -, * /. Use of simple data types; integer; real, string.
4.
code solution of problem using a programming language;
Use programming language constructs, data type operators and features to code pseudocode algorithm in specific objective 3 above.
5.
construct and use trace table to test algorithms and programs;
Trace table consisting of variable names (identifiers) as column heading and values in the cells, one row for each pass.
6.
test program and algorithms for correctness and make required changes;
Testing, debugging, logic errors, syntax errors, test data, dry-run.
7.
explain the terms associated with running a program.