A LEVEL COMPUTER SCIENCE

A LEVEL COMPUTER SCIENCE

1. COMPUTATIONAL THINKING

   • ABSTACTION
     • NATURE
       • complex systems can be simplified by abstraction
       • process of removing unnecessary details so its easier to use and interact with a system
     • DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THIS AND REALITY
       • an abstraction strips out parts of the real system which are irrelevant and leaves only a sub system of what is real so the user of the system is only left with what they need to be able to observe/ understand/use.
       • Reality is everything that is a part of the system / abstraction is the part of the system that only you need.
     • THE NEED FOR ABSTRACTION
       • So we can create a representation or idea of what we are trying to solve as we are only focussing on including in our system what is needed for the different parts. Like when creating a quiz system , we don't need to focus on making the quiz and the log in system at the same time
     • ABSTRACT SITUATIONS
       • Fergus quiz task for NEA. The students taking the quiz should not be able to see what Fergus is able to see for example students personal details and other peoples quiz scores
       • A map of the London underground as you don't need other things on the map like buildings, shops, roads, rivers , opening times of shops , only an outline of the underground is needed with station names
       • School canteen: only the staff that work there need to know the balance on my account whereas teachers don't . At a school only the teachers need to know students scores/results for assessments , the canteen staff don't need to know this so it is removed.