Author: Mr Stratton

Computing teacher and a PT at Coltness High School.

Advanced Higher – Project Ideas

Suitable projects could include, but are not limited to, the following: Designing and developing a:

  • program/information system that processes, stores and allows updating of sporting or other results
  • 2–dimensional game with ability to pause and store state of the game and restart, such as Connect 4, Battleships, Minesweeper, Noughts & Crosses, Chess, Draughts, Sudoku, etc
  • small social media website, that allows registered users to blog and share information
  • database-driven website, that allows users to search content and display, edit and update it appropriately
  • multi-player card game such as ‘Top Trumps’ or a card-matching game
  • question-based quiz, that randomises questions, processes and stores results, for example ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire’, ‘Mastermind’, ‘Pointless’
  • simulation of the operation of a queue, a stack or a sort algorithm, or other similar computing science concept/process
  • interactive computer assisted learning tool that gathers and stores information
  • or any other projects offering similar challenge and complexity to the candidate

A question from the floor

I have been asked a few questions by a higher pupil I thought I might share the answers with you.

1.) Can you explain object orientated code ?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/z3fgcdm/revision/7

OOC is similar to procedural languages. The main difference is in how the program is organised. While procedural languages tend to have all functions built into the program and keep the contents of the variable separate from the program. A OO language would make use of objects to store the program and data, this object can then be cloned and acted upon separately.

2.) Can you explain 2’s complement to me and how to convert negative number and real numbers into binary ? e.g -120, 0.16 etc..

http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/zsnbr82/revision/3

Two’s complement is a method of storing negative integers in binary. The first digit can the thought of as both sign and magnatude so-128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

1      0    0   0   0  0 0 1   = -127 as it is -128+1

3.)What are the use of <meta> tags ?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/z96psbk/revision/2
Meta tags are used in HTML to describe the contents of the page. For example the name of the author or version of HTML used. They can also be used by search engines to categorise pages.

4.) What are the purpose of tag styles,ID’s and classes ?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/z96psbk/revision/2

These are used in CSS to change the appearance of a web page. ID’s and classes are selectors. You might want to memorise something like

p {
text-align: center;
color: red;
}

http://www.w3schools.com/css/css_syntax.asp

5.)Differences between client side and server side scripting ?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/ztj2xnb/revision/4

http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/ztj2xnb/revision/5

Client side scripting is when the processing is done on the clients machine, using a language like Javascript. Server side scripting processes the the script on the server, like PHP. A day to day example would be booking a ticket for the cinema, the website would allow the user to enter their details. The Client side scripting would check that the details are valid (date formatted correctly etc.) before passing the data back to the server. The server would then use server side scripting to adjust the contents of the database to store the booking.

Scholar Homework Sessions – Higher Computing Science, Wednesday 18th May, 7.00pm

These are the final SCHOLAR online sessions for this academic year focusing on exam preparation.

  • National 5 Maths                                                           Monday 9th May              6.00pm
  • Higher Modern Languages                                          Monday 9th May              7.30 pm
  • Higher Math                                                                   Tuesday 10th May            6.00pm
  • Advanced Higher Modern Languages                       Tuesday 10th May            7.30 pm
  • Higher Computing Science                                          Wednesday 18th May      7.00pm

Full details can be found on the SCHOLAR website: http://scholar.hw.ac.uk/Resources/Live_Online_Sessions/

The Tutors will also be online to answer student questions on the discussion boards, details can be found: http://scholar.hw.ac.uk/Resources/Ask_a_Tutor.html

Higher – Technical Implementation Hardware Requirements – Revision

Comparison of

  • input devices
    • Digital Camera
      • Resolution – Measured in mega pixels, typically the larger the better.
      • Optical Zoom – How close you can make the image appear without losing any quality.
    • Touch Screen
      • Resistive – Single touch
      • Capacitive – Multi touch
  • output devices
    • Printers
      • Resolution – Measured in DPI (dots per inch)
      • Speed – Measured in PPM (pages per minute)
      • Type – Laser or Ink Jet
    • Monitors
      • Size – Measured diagonally in inches (9″,21″)
      • Resolution – Measured in pixels (1920×1080)
      • Type – LCD/TFT uses a flat panel of coloured cells to change the colour of the light shining through it. OLED uses a  matrix of tiny LEDs to produce an image.
  • processor type – How many bits can be processed in a single operation (16bit, 32bit, 64bit )
  • number of processors – Single Core, the processor can appear to do more than one thing at a time using time slicing.  Multi core, different processes are run on different cores.
  • Processor speed (Hz) – The number of times per second the processors voltage is switched, this allows the processor to carry out an operation. Typically measured in Gigahertz (GHz).
  • memory
    • RAM – Volatile, losses contents when power disconnected. Dynamic, requires constant refreshing to remember contents.
    • ROM – Non Volatile, contents kept when power disconnected. Not writeable, contents can not be changed.
    • cache – Located on (or very near) processor. Static, contents do not need refreshing.
  • device type
    • Desktop – Used for tasks that require a fair amount of processing power and storage.
    • Laptop – Portable devices that use a battery and keyboard.
    • Tablet – Ultra Portable device that uses a battery and touch screen.
    • Smartphone – Small Ultra Portable device that uses a batter and small touch screen.