IGCSE and A-level Computer Science (CS) note that specialize in study materials. These resources are designed to help students understand the key concepts and theories in computer science classes and provide additional support for their learning.
These notes offer various CS topics, such as algorithms, data structures, programming languages, computer systems, and databases.
Overall, a CS class notes shop is a great resource for students looking to get a deeper understanding of the subject.
IGCSE and A-level Computer Science (CS) note that specialize in study materials. These resources are designed to help students understand the key concepts and theories in computer science classes and provide additional support for their learning.
These notes offer various CS topics, such as algorithms, data structures, programming languages, computer systems, and databases.
Overall, a CS class notes shop is a great resource for students looking to get a deeper understanding of the subject.
This resource about AS - Level Computer Science - 9618.
Chapter 3.1 Computers and their components
*Syllabus contents
Candidates should be able to:
Show understanding of the need for input, output,
primary memory and secondary (including removable)
storage
Notes and guidance
Show understanding of embedded systems Including: benefits and drawbacks of embedded
systems
Describe the principal operations of hardware devices Including: Laser printer, 3D printer, microphone,
speakers, magnetic hard disk, solid state (flash)
memory, optical disc reader/writer, touchscreen,
virtual headset
Show understanding of the use of buffers
Explain the differences between Random Access
Memory (RAM) and Read Only Memory (ROM)
Including their use in a range of devices and systems
Explain the differences between Static RAM (SRAM)
and Dynamic RAM (DRAM)
Include their use in a range of devices and systems
and the reasons for using one instead of the other
depending on the device and its use
Explain the difference between Programmable ROM
(PROM), Erasable Programmable ROM (EPROM) and
Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (EEPROM)
Show an understanding of monitoring and control
systems
Including:
•• difference between monitoring and control
•• use of sensors (including temperature, pressure,
infra-red, sound) and actuators
•• importance of feedback
13 Data Representation
13.1 User-defined data types
Show understanding of why user-defined types are necessary
Define and use non-composite types Including enumerated, pointer
Define and use composite data types Including set, record and class/object
Choose and design an appropriate user-defined data type for a given problem
13.2 File organisation and access
Show understanding of the methods of file organisation and select an appropriate method of file organisation and file access for a given problem
Show understanding of methods of file access
Show understanding of hashing algorithms
13.3 Floating-point numbers, representation and manipulation
Describe the format of binary floating-point real numbers
Convert binary floating-point real numbers into denary and vice versa
Normalise floating-point numbers
Show understanding of the consequences of a binary representation only being an approximation to the real number it represents (in certain cases)
Show understanding that binary representations can give rise to rounding errors
17 Security
17.1 Encryption, Encryption Protocols and Digital certificates
Show understanding of how encryption works Notes and guidance Including the use of public key, private key, plain text, cipher text, encryption, symmetric key
cryptography and asymmetric key cryptography
How the keys can be used to send a private message from the public to an individual/ organisation
How the keys can be used to send a verified message to the public
How data is encrypted and decrypted, using symmetric and asymmetric cryptography
Purpose, benefits and drawbacks of quantum cryptography
Show awareness of the Secure Socket Layer (SSL)/ Transport Layer Security (TLS) Purpose of SSL / TLS
Use of SSL/TLS in client-server communication
Situations where the use of SSL/TLS would be appropriate
Show understanding of digital certification How a digital certificate is acquired
How a digital certificate is used to produce digital signatures
Cambridge Advanced Level Computer Science :
Unit 14 : Communication and Internet Technologies
14.1 Protocols
* Show understanding of why a protocol is essential for communication between computers
* Show understanding of how protocol implementation can be viewed as a stack, where each layer has its own functionality
* Show understanding of the TCP / IP protocol suite
* Show understanding of protocols (HTTP, FTP, POP3, IMAP, SMTP, BitTorrent) and their purposes
14.2 Circuit switching, packet switching
* Show understanding of circuit switching
* Show understanding of packet switching
16 System Software
16.1 Purposes of an Operating System (OS)
Describe the ways in which the user interface hides the complexities of the hardware from the user
Show understanding of process management The concept of multi-tasking and a process
The process states: running, ready and blocked
The need for scheduling and the function and benefits of different scheduling routines (including round robin, shortest job first, first come first served, shortest remaining time)
How the kernel of the OS acts as an interrupt
handler and how interrupt handling is used to manage low-level scheduling
Show understanding of virtual memory, paging and segmentation for memory management
The concepts of paging, virtual memory and segmentation
The difference between paging and segmentation
How pages can be replaced
How disk thrashing can occur
16.2 Translation Software
Show understanding of how an interpreter can execute programs without producing a translated version
Show understanding of the various stages in the compilation of a program
Including lexical analysis, syntax analysis, code generation and optimisation
Show understanding of how the grammar of a language can be expressed using syntax diagrams
or Backus-Naur Form (BNF) notation
Show understanding of how Reverse Polish Notation (RPN) can be used to carry out the evaluation of expressions
15 Hardware and Virtual Machines
15.1 Processors, Parallel Processing and Virtual Machines
Show understanding of Reduced Instruction Set Computers (RISC) and Complex Instruction Set Computers (CISC) processors
Show understanding of the importance / use of pipelining and registers in RISC processors
Show understanding of the four basic computer architectures
Show understanding of the characteristics of massively parallel computers
Show understanding of the concept of a virtual machine
15.2 Boolean Algebra and Logic Circuits
Produce truth tables for logic circuits including half adders and full adders
Show understanding of a flip-flop (SR, JK)
Show understanding of Boolean algebra
Show understanding of Karnaugh maps (K-map)
Unit 18 Artificial Intelligence (AI)…
18.1 Artificial Intelligence (AI) (graphs)
Explain how graphs can be used to aid Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Use A* and Dijkstra’s algorithms to perform searches on a graph.
18.1 Artificial Intelligence (AI) (applications)
Explain how artificial neural networks help with machine learning.
Explain the use of Deep Learning, Machine Learning and Reinforcement Learning and the reasons for using these methods.
Describe back propagation and regression methods in machine learning.
**A LEVEL COMPUTER SCIENCE - 9618
Chapter 19.1- Algorithms- Pseudocode - Python Code
Show understanding of linear and binary searching methods
Show understanding of insertion sort and bubble sort methods
Show understanding of and use Abstract Data Types (ADT)
Show how it is possible for ADTs to be implemented from another ADT
