Flashcards · 9645 · AS Topic 3

Program design (AS Level) flashcards

8 cards on AS Topic 3. Pick a subtopic or study them all.

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What is the structured approach to program design?: Designing and building a program from separate modules, passing data by parameters and return values, and using local (or block scope) variables.
Hierarchy chart vs structure chart: Both show the modules and which module calls which. Only a structure chart also shows the data passed between modules: parameters down, return values up.
Abstraction vs decomposition: Abstraction removes unnecessary detail ("what can I leave out?"). Decomposition breaks a problem into sub-problems, each doing an identifiable task ("what smaller jobs is this made of?").
What is an algorithm?: A sequence of steps that can be followed to complete a task and that always terminates.
What is the critical path in software development?: The part of a solution that everything else depends on. Implementation may be iterative, solving the critical path first.
Normal, boundary and erroneous test data: Normal: typical valid data that should be accepted. Boundary: values at the edges of the valid range and just outside them. Erroneous: data that should be rejected.
Name the five aspects of software development: Analysis, design, implementation, testing and evaluation.
Name three criteria for evaluating a system: Correctness, efficiency and maintainability.