Category Archives: 2. Software Development

2. Software Development, Computing Higher

Scary Software Development Story

All the way through the Software development unit I have tried to instill in you, the idea that programming must be carried out in a rigorous manor. This story shows how important it is that all aspects of software development come together.

The failing may have been a simple HCI problem, if the dashboard had reported the error and asked the driver to restart the car when safe, then all may have been right. Or was is a problem with how the car handled the ice in the first place? In truth the answer may never be known and the error may be unrepeatable, good forward thinking design should be minimise these errors.

1. Computer Systems, 2. Software Development, Homework, Revision

School closure

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Well the wind has picked up and we are off school. To prepare for tomorrow’s lesson you can read over the scholar section on computer structure we are working through. Remember, I have a useful report section that allows me to check who has read this and who has not.

You can also head over to revise computing and try their resources.

Finally, there are a few of you still to hand in this weeks programming homework, so you could finish that off.

Plenty to keep you busy and out of the weather, stay safe and I’ll see you tomorrow.

2. Software Development, Computing Higher, Homework

Homework for Wed 7th Dec

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  1. Give two reasons why computers use binary numbers to represent and store data.(2)
  2. Represent 0111 0100 in decimal.(1)
  3. Describe how graphics are stored using a bit-mapped package.(2)
  4. An image is 4 x 6 inches, has a resolution of 800 dpi and each pixel can display 65,536 different colours. Calculate the storage requirements of this image. Express your answer using suitable units. Show all working. (3)
  5. State two advantages of storing the above image as a vector graphic rather than a bit-map.(2)
  6. Represent 13.25 in floating point notation.  Express the mantissa in 16-bits and the exponent in 8-bits.(2)
  7. What is meant by the term lossless compression?(1)
  8. Explain how the Unicode system overcomes the limitations of ASCII.(1)
  9. How many different colours could be represented with a bit depth of one byte(1)

Out of 15.

2. Software Development, Computing Higher, Homework

NAB Preparation Task

Right, you should have finished off the prep task for next Tuesday Dec 6th.

The submission must have the following parts

  • Your pseudocode design
  • An implemented program matching your design
  • Indication of data flow at the top level of the algorithm
  • A test run showing the data from the task sheet

No time will be given in class to print it off, if you need to print it then do so at lunch time this week or on Monday.