Edexcel GCSE Computer Science
questions and verified answers
1. What is a character?: A letter,number or symbol on a given character set
2. What is a string?: A sequence of characters
3. What is casting?: Changing the data type of a variable
4. What is a count-controlled loop?: A loop that repeats a specific number of
times (FOR loops)
5. What is a condition controlled loop?: A loop that runs until a condition is
met (WHILE loops)
6. When would you use a variable?: When a value might need to change while
the program is running
7. When would you use a constant?: When a value would not need to change
while while the program is running
8. Why are constants useful?: Readability and easier to update
9. What is a subprogram?: A block of code that performs a specific task
10. What are libraries?: Collections of pre-written subprograms for specific
purposes
11. What is a local variable?: A variable that is declared inside a function or
procedure so can be accessed within the subprogram
12. What is a global variable?: A variable that can be accessed from anywhere
13. Do functions return a value?: Yes
14. Do procedures return a value?: No
15. What is an array?: A data structure with one or more elements of the same
type
, (have a fixed length only contain elements of the same data type)
16. What is an index?: A position within an array
17. What is a 1D array?: An array that stores data in one direction (horizontal)
18. What is a 2D array?: An array that stores data horizontally and vertically
(indexed with two numbers)
19. Why is it good to close files after use?: It frees up resources,prevents
corruption and flushes the buffer
20. What's does MOD do?: Gives remainder
21. What does DIV do?: Shows how many times x goes into y (23 DIV 5 = 4)
22. What does the Boolean operator NOT do?: The opposite of the input
23. What does the Boolean operator OR do?: If one side is true then the output
is true
24. What does the Boolean operator AND do?: Both sides have to be true for
the output to be true
25. What is iterative testing?: Testing in stages
26. What is final testing?: Testing after implementation
27. What is sanitisation?: Modifying an input to make it valid
28 What is an overflow error?: An error that occurs because a value is too large
for the program to handle
29. What is a bitmap?: An image stored as an array of individual pixels
30. What is a pixel?: An individual picture element
31. What is the resolution?: The amount of detail an image holds
32. What is the equation for size of image?: Width * Height
33. What is colour depth?: The number of bits allocated to represent each pixel's
colour
questions and verified answers
1. What is a character?: A letter,number or symbol on a given character set
2. What is a string?: A sequence of characters
3. What is casting?: Changing the data type of a variable
4. What is a count-controlled loop?: A loop that repeats a specific number of
times (FOR loops)
5. What is a condition controlled loop?: A loop that runs until a condition is
met (WHILE loops)
6. When would you use a variable?: When a value might need to change while
the program is running
7. When would you use a constant?: When a value would not need to change
while while the program is running
8. Why are constants useful?: Readability and easier to update
9. What is a subprogram?: A block of code that performs a specific task
10. What are libraries?: Collections of pre-written subprograms for specific
purposes
11. What is a local variable?: A variable that is declared inside a function or
procedure so can be accessed within the subprogram
12. What is a global variable?: A variable that can be accessed from anywhere
13. Do functions return a value?: Yes
14. Do procedures return a value?: No
15. What is an array?: A data structure with one or more elements of the same
type
, (have a fixed length only contain elements of the same data type)
16. What is an index?: A position within an array
17. What is a 1D array?: An array that stores data in one direction (horizontal)
18. What is a 2D array?: An array that stores data horizontally and vertically
(indexed with two numbers)
19. Why is it good to close files after use?: It frees up resources,prevents
corruption and flushes the buffer
20. What's does MOD do?: Gives remainder
21. What does DIV do?: Shows how many times x goes into y (23 DIV 5 = 4)
22. What does the Boolean operator NOT do?: The opposite of the input
23. What does the Boolean operator OR do?: If one side is true then the output
is true
24. What does the Boolean operator AND do?: Both sides have to be true for
the output to be true
25. What is iterative testing?: Testing in stages
26. What is final testing?: Testing after implementation
27. What is sanitisation?: Modifying an input to make it valid
28 What is an overflow error?: An error that occurs because a value is too large
for the program to handle
29. What is a bitmap?: An image stored as an array of individual pixels
30. What is a pixel?: An individual picture element
31. What is the resolution?: The amount of detail an image holds
32. What is the equation for size of image?: Width * Height
33. What is colour depth?: The number of bits allocated to represent each pixel's
colour