ATAR Computer Science

Programming skills and concepts

·       characters represented as numbers in binary, decimal and hexadecimal

·       program control structures

o   sequence

o   selection

o   iteration

·   modular coding using functions

o   scope of variables (Global, Local)

·       data types used in solutions, including:

o   integer

o   float

o   string

o   Boolean

·       types of operators:

o   Arithmetic operators (+, -, *, /, % or MOD)

o   Relational operators (=, !=, >, <, >=, <=)

o   Logical operators (AND, OR, NOT)

·       Identify the characteristics of the following data structures:

o   one-dimensional array

·       processing of text files, including:

o   open for read, write and append

o   read and process data 

o   write and append content

o   close

Framework for development

  investigate

o   problem description

o   define requirements

o   development schedules, including Gantt charts

  design

o   design data structures

o   design and test algorithm

  develop

o   develop and debug code

o   unit testing

  evaluate

o   user acceptance testing

o   developer retrospective

·       good programming practice, including:

  validate input before processing

  use of meaningful variable names

  use constants for readability and maintenance

  use of comments to explain code

  appropriate use of standard control structures

  use of appropriate indentation and white space

  one logical task per module

  meaningful names for modules

  exception handling