OCR A-level Computer Science Paper 1 (H446/01) - 12th June 2023 [Exam Chat]

I thought of a potential 9-12 marker, let me know what else you guys would add and let me know if i said anything wrong:

compare the use of declarative and imperative languages including advantages and drawbacks

define declarative : defines the problem and lets the programming language solve it using the conditions set by the user, the process is abstracted from the programmer, an example of declarative is SQL

define imperative : the programmer defines the exact steps to fix a problem, an example is python

PRO OF IMPERATIVE:
+ programmer has more control of the program
+programmer can make use of programming paradigms and use libraries which saves time and increases efficiency of programming

CON OF IMPERATIVE:
- however programmer has more work to do as they have to define the exact steps, which can be time consuming
- higher risk of logical error when programming, since the programmer can make mistakes during the logic of the program
- more lines of code which can increase the size required (maybe true let me know if im wrong)

PRO OF DECLARATIVE
+ programmer has less work to do as they only need to define conditions and the problem
+less likely hood of logical errors in the program as the programming language takes care of the exact steps to fix the problem
+ can perform more functions with less lines of code saves memory space

CONS OF IMPERATIVE
- programmer has less control of the solution to the problem

let me know if you will add any more or change anything

Unlikely to come up in my opinion, I feel like something to do with CPU/Processor performance or Moral/Ethical issues may pop up

Reply 61

Yvgtunvdrilj

asymmetric encryption involves 2 different encrypt keys for the receiver and sender but is the decrypt key the same on both ends?

(edited 10 months ago)

Reply 62

kelrasheed

13

Original post by Yvgtunvdrilj

asymmetric encryption, involves 2 different encrypt keys for the receiver and sender but is the decrypt key the same on both ends?

Either one of the public or private key can be used to decrypt messages.

Reply 63

Kingemperor07

11

Original post by kelrasheed

Either one of the public or private key can be used to decrypt messages.

Im assuming one of the 9 markers on weird topics that we haven't seen before, e.g. on databases, DNS, TCP/IP stack, Binary. I also think there will be a 9 marker on ethics and legal.

(edited 10 months ago)

Reply 64

hhhhheeeee

12

would we be asked for psuedocode for OOP in this paper or is that more paper2

Reply 65

OluSeye1

11

Original post by gogetter2k19

I thought of a potential 9-12 marker, let me know what else you guys would add and let me know if i said anything wrong:

compare the use of declarative and imperative languages including advantages and drawbacks

define declarative : defines the problem and lets the programming language solve it using the conditions set by the user, the process is abstracted from the programmer, an example of declarative is SQL

define imperative : the programmer defines the exact steps to fix a problem, an example is python

PRO OF IMPERATIVE:
+ programmer has more control of the program
+programmer can make use of programming paradigms and use libraries which saves time and increases efficiency of programming

CON OF IMPERATIVE:
- however programmer has more work to do as they have to define the exact steps, which can be time consuming
- higher risk of logical error when programming, since the programmer can make mistakes during the logic of the program
- more lines of code which can increase the size required (maybe true let me know if im wrong)

PRO OF DECLARATIVE
+ programmer has less work to do as they only need to define conditions and the problem
+less likely hood of logical errors in the program as the programming language takes care of the exact steps to fix the problem
+ can perform more functions with less lines of code saves memory space

CONS OF IMPERATIVE
- programmer has less control of the solution to the problem

let me know if you will add any more or change anything

It seems very good, however I would say the definitions need to be more specific. For example I would describe a declarative language as one that focuses on the desired result rather than the instructions needed in order to get to that result.

As well as this I would add to the cons of declarative languages with saying that when using declarative languages the programmer has to be more specific in order to carry out complex tasks or how declarative languages are often harder to understand for beginners

Reply 66

helluzaa

8

can anyone give me a list of topics that might come up on this

Reply 67

oil24244224

4

Original post by hhhhheeeee

would we be asked for psuedocode for OOP in this paper or is that more paper2

Very likely but It probably won’t be writing your own pseudo code but more like instantiating an object or defining properties of OOP with an example, like what is a constructed method or smth like thatev

Reply 68

oil24244224

4

Does anyone know the exact definition for encapsulated in OOP because I swear every time I look it up it tells me something different, I thought it was the process of making attributes/methods private to ensure consistency of data but when I look it up it’s doesn’t say that ?

Reply 69

genghiskhan2

2

Original post by hhhhheeeee

would we be asked for psuedocode for OOP in this paper or is that more paper2

A 7 marker on it was on last year's paper 1.

Reply 70

unknown0609

9

Original post by oil24244224

Does anyone know the exact definition for encapsulated in OOP because I swear every time I look it up it tells me something different, I thought it was the process of making attributes/methods private to ensure consistency of data but when I look it up it’s doesn’t say that ?

ur definition is correct dw. mark scheme is NOT exhaustive and is a guide

Reply 71

genghiskhan2

2

Original post by oil24244224

Does anyone know the exact definition for encapsulated in OOP because I swear every time I look it up it tells me something different, I thought it was the process of making attributes/methods private to ensure consistency of data but when I look it up it’s doesn’t say that ?

The implementation and state of each object can be private. This characteristic of data hiding provides greater program security and avoids unintended data corruption.

Reply 72

anon5648

4

hey what info that may or may not end up being useful can you throw at me about OOP

Reply 73

Sanchez110

1

At this point i dont even know what to revise. I have to still cover Boolean algebra, legal ethical issues and databases. What should i focus more on. I have revised everything else, still struggling a bit with data structures so might give it a last min revision tom.

Reply 74

mokord

5

Original post by Sanchez110

At this point i dont even know what to revise. I have to still cover Boolean algebra, legal ethical issues and databases. What should i focus more on. I have revised everything else, still struggling a bit with data structures so might give it a last min revision tom.

Databases right now because that comes up in almost every paper 1. Then legal issues because questions about them are usually some free marks. In terms of Boolean algebra you can do that last and some problems on them on PMT.

Reply 75

mokord

5

Original post by damarfm

exponent is -2
therefore you move the dot 2 places to the left
since it starts with a 1, fill the front with two 1s
this gives you 1.11010, which is -0.1875

What if the mantissa started with 0 should you fill the front with two zeros instead?

Reply 76

Sanchez110

1

What other topics come up very often which i should weight more. I feel like I’m the least prepared for this exam…

Original post by mokord

Databases right now because that comes up in almost every paper 1. Then legal issues because questions about them are usually some free marks. In terms of Boolean algebra you can do that last and some problems on them on PMT.

Reply 77

mokord

5

Original post by Sanchez110

What other topics come up very often which i should weight more. I feel like I’m the least prepared for this exam…

Hard to say exact topics but here’s some few:
- Data Structures, Fetch Decode Execute Cycle, Types of OS e.g Real Time, Embedded etc.
- Processor Scheduling
- Networks
- CISC and RISC, RAM and ROM
- Encryption Hashing and Compression

thats just some of which I’ve seen pop up quite a bit probably missing a lot more but best of luck!

Reply 78

seemly

Original post by Sanchez110

At this point i dont even know what to revise. I have to still cover Boolean algebra, legal ethical issues and databases. What should i focus more on. I have revised everything else, still struggling a bit with data structures so might give it a last min revision tom.