The Student Room Group

Advanced Higher Computing 2016/17

Hi folks. just thought I'd start a thread for those of us doing AH Computing this year. Hopefully it'll be helpful for helping each other with the theory, and understanding what in the world you're meant to do for the project.

On the theory side, we've just finished programming paradigms. I feel pretty confident on imperative and concurrent programming, but I could use a little more work on OOP. The scholar notes seem okay, if very wordy. I think I still need to get used to the more independent way you typically do Advanced Highers, but it shouldn't be too bad.

For the project, I've written up a basic initial proposal, started a requirements specification and created a survey for research (It'd be great if you could fill it in here -
https://goo.gl/forms/NlrDYQGtYCQwttzm1
- it takes around 5 minutes, and I'd be happy to fill in your surveys if you'd like). I kind of get what I'm doing, but there's a bunch of it I still don't really get. I'll need to get a good look at the requirements and really understand it. I think I'll be okay once I really get into it - it was like that for Higher Physics last year. On top of that, I'm going to another school to do the subject, and because of timetable clashes I lose 3 out of 5 periods every 2 weeks, so I'm playing catchup from the start.

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Hey! Nice to see something about computing on here :smile: How's your project idea coming along?
Reply 2
Original post by chiefhopper
Hey! Nice to see something about computing on here :smile: How's your project idea coming along?


I think it's coming along okay. It's essentially a variation of the game "Fizzbuzz" (where you start counting and if a number's a multiple of 3 you say "Fizz", if it's a multiple of 5 you say "Buzz" and if it's both you say "FizzBuzz"), only rather than using "Fizz" and "Buzz" I'm using user-made lists of things (like halogens in chemistry). The idea's to help people learn and memorise "lists" of things.

How about your idea? How's it coming along?
Reply 3
I was one of the unlucky ones. I sat old higher in the 2014/2015 academic year and was forced to sit the new CFE Advanced Higher Computing in the 2015/2016 academic year. It was difficult having to catch up on literally a year's worth of Python. That, coupled with the lack of past papers and also with the inclusion of Information Systems made me wonder how I would pass this year. Thankfully, I got an A this year.

Some tips:
1. Theory - Do your own research and make sure you try your best to understand the different programming elements and constructs. I needed to Google the hell out of my Scholar notes just to make sure my knowledge was cement.
DON'T get too carried away in your languages syntax as different schools use different languages. The SQA won't ask you specifics about your language.
2. NABs - Be prepared to spend some time with these. I found these pretty time consuming so make sure you pay attention especially for the practical parts.


~~~~~ATTENTION~~~~~
I can't stress the my next point enough - DON'T OVERCOMPLICATE YOUR PROJECT.
I know people who wrote literally thousands upon thousands of lines of code and made fancy GUIs and ended up getting a lesser mark than me, who did a simple text-based game for my project.

The marks you get the actual code is ONLY 20 marks out of 90. That's only about 20%.

DO spend the majority of your time planning and documenting your project. ADD as much detail as you possibly can and answer all the bullet points given in the project guide!

It may sound stupid, but I lost marks for failing to properly make a diary of my project.
What I recommend you do is finish your project and then go back and just say that you made some changes and write out what these changes were and maybe add some diagrams as well.
I personally hated keeping a diary of what changes I made so I only did it in the last minute so I lost a few marks for that.

That's all for now, but later on in the year I will probably write up a detailed post of what you should produce for each stage of the project.
Most importantly, enjoy the course, you are a small, elite group of computerphiles who took onthe challenge of Advanced Computing, well done!
Reply 4
Hi folks, just found out something pretty important today - not sure if you know yet. The SQA have updated the guide for the project, and there's some fairly significant changes:

* There is no more presentation, apparently because it was difficult to verify or something like that.
* Instead of there being 10 marks for "requirement specification and test plan", there's 10 marks for "requirements specification" and 10 marks for "test plan".
* For each section, there's a bullet-pointed list of things you need to include, and the differnet "marking bands" are mostly standardised (e.g do everything in detail for 9-10, do the majority of it for 6-8, do a few things for 3-5, do very little for 0-2).

Personally, I'm unsure about the changes. The sections and what you need to do seem quite a bit clearer now, but personally I quite enjoy presentations and that would've probably helped my mark quite a bit.
Reply 5
Original post by arnott98
Thank you fo the advice. Do you have a copy of that "project guide" you mentioned because I'm the only one in my school doing the course?

I'm doing a database driven website for my project. I've been using c9.io as my IDE since it's an awesome cloud IDE that I can use at school and home. Then once I finish my site I'll launch it on a subdomain on my own site to kick start my portfolio. I'll probably add features while I'm at uni and may launch it on a dedicated domain eventually.
It would be interesting to see how everybody else is getting on with this course considering they probably have an actual class to be part of -- I am actually timetabled with the higher CS people but I work next door haha, not ideal.

Here is the link to what you need. Pretty much all you need to include for your project report is there. Make sure you include all the bulletpoints! Remember to include your future plans for your website in your evaluation.
Reply 6
Hi, is anyone here doing a web based project?
Reply 7
Should i drop this? got an unconditional for computing year 1. 3 advanced highers required for year 2 entry. all As required at AH.
I dont even feel like the course covers all of year 1.
Reply 8
Original post by Hamza_33
Should i drop this? got an unconditional for computing year 1. 3 advanced highers required for year 2 entry. all As required at AH.
I dont even feel like the course covers all of year 1.


Firstly, congrats on getting the offer!

Secondly, keep in mind that unconditional offers are based on the information in the UCAS form. If you drop out of a course, it's possible for the university to withdraw their offer based on that, as they expected that you would be completing that qualification (I believe a university - perhaps Edinbrugh? - sent a letter to a bunch of secondary schools a while back making this clear).

Thirdly, if they made the offer, then they must see it as enough to prepare students from Year 2. Naturally, it's not going to completely cover Year 1 - you can do more in a university course than a school course, But they clearly think it covers enough of the course, and that because you're very academically able (seeing as you'll have got AAA) you'll be able to catch up and bridge the gap. If you're applying to Glasgow, I believe their Computer Science course specifically includes special courses for Year 2 entry, to cover some stuff you'll have missed. Either way, it might be worth getting some familiarity with the language the university uses in first year.
Reply 9
Original post by Hamza_33
Should i drop this? got an unconditional for computing year 1. 3 advanced highers required for year 2 entry. all As required at AH.
I dont even feel like the course covers all of year 1.


No you shouldn't, it is worth it, provided you put in the effort. I, too, felt like there was no hope last year when I started Adv Higher Comp but then I realised that I would be intellectually more prepared than kids in other CS high scool courses as you cover such a variety of things from databases to coding to stan algos and more.

Also, as aforementioned, some unis provide special courses for pupils skipping straight ahead to 2nd year so they won't leave you in the dark. Furthermore, provided you can land yourself a job after you graduate, you are gaining an extra year's worth of pay over your peers, who are on a four year degree.
Original post by AmyMac7
Hi, is anyone here doing a web based project?


web based too. i hate this stuff.

all has to be coded entriely.
Reply 11
Hey, can anyone help me with the inputs and outputs part of the project?
Thanks :smile:
Reply 12
Original post by AmyB3
Hey, can anyone help me with the inputs and outputs part of the project?
Thanks :smile:


For that part, I just put in all the possible letter/word inputs for my program and the output result when those inputs were input.
Anyone teaching themselves here? I am :frown: isn't the hardest thing in the world tbh
Reply 14
Hello Again,
I'm confused as to which parts of my program that should be component tested and which should be tested using integration. Could someone help?
Reply 15
Original post by arnott98
I'm doing a database driven website for my project :smile:


Same here! are you using MySQL to build your database? what kind of website are you creating?
Reply 16
Original post by Hamza_33
web based too. i hate this stuff.

all has to be coded entriely.


same here! Its taking me ages to finish! what kind of website are you creating? I know the rest of my class are coding games like connect 4 and they look so much easier to create
Original post by AmyMac7
same here! Its taking me ages to finish! what kind of website are you creating? I know the rest of my class are coding games like connect 4 and they look so much easier to create


Use ipage and get Web Baker installed. type I page special offer and pay in cad.
Reply 18
Original post by Ethan100
Hey, doing higher this year :smile:

What was your assignment last year?

Oh and got any tips/feedback that would help somebody studying Higher Computing Science ?


Hi! Our assignment last year was about a diving competition where we had to create a program to find the overall winner. What is yours this year?

My teacher gave us lots of past papers to complete and it honestly helped me so much! Also just keep practising code by creating mini programs and honestly you will do really well! Good luck!
How many marks out of 90 did everyone get for their project??

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