AQA A2 Computer Science A Level June 2017

Hello guys, I couldn't find an official exam thread for computer science A2 so I thought id make one

How is everyone feeling about our exam this year? I have begun revising for paper 1 but only the theory side. I am quite bad at programming - section C & D I feel like ill only get 1 or 2 marks. But paper 2 I feel I can get 50 marks or higher. I hope this is enough to scrape a C lol

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Reply 1

KCL Offer

I feel exactly the same way! I haven't even started preparing for preliminary skeleton. Hopefully I have enough time

Also thank u for this post

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Reply 2

iHDx

I'm actually worried for this exam, i feel like there's way too much content to take in

Reply 3

KCL Offer

I know bro, paper 2 has a lot.

But I'm more worried for paper 1, programming is not my strongest skill. And our exams next week. Plus I haven't even went through pre release material

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Reply 4

Narcoopppo

Hey guys, does anyone here feel confident on dry runs, they are the most confusing thing for me. If anyone has any advice, I would love it.

Reply 5

KCL Offer

I'm in the same position as you. I find dry run/ trace tables difficult

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Reply 6

KCL Offer

Apparently trace tables won't come up as someone saw no grid in the EAD?

Not sure tho

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Reply 7

105

Guys! iv been going over graph and tree traversal - graph traversal is fine but

tree traversal is a bit confusing. I do not know the difference between pre -order, post-order and in-order in terms of how to trace them. Will i have i have to use a stack/Queue in the exam? or just output the results

Also in in-order, is it always printed in ascending order (left-to-right) and if so is it fine if i just state this or will i need to go in depth? is there anything else i should know about in-order?

Reply 8

KCL Offer

<left> <root> <right>
Is in-order

(That's all I know lol)

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Reply 9

105

Original post by iHDx

I'm actually worried for this exam, i feel like there's way too much content to take in

going though the pre-release material 5 days before the exam (+ the content).

anyone else doing C# or am i the only one?

Reply 10

KCL Offer

Lol ur not serious

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Reply 11

KCL Offer

Check wiki books, they have really good resources. They have been empty before but now are popping

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Reply 12

vanguardsean

Original post by 105

Pre-Order:
<Output Node> [Node Left] [Node Right]
In-Order:
[Node Left] <Output Node> [Node Right]
Post-Order:
[Node Left] [Node Right] <Output Node>

In the exam, you may have to write the order of outputs for a specific traversal.
Pre-Order is used to produce prefix notation (for functional programming)
In-Order is used to output in sequential/alphabetical order
Post-Order is used to produce for example, reverse polish notation

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 13

105

Original post by vanguardsean

Thanks but i thought the uses were:

Pre-order: copying a tree
In-order: Outputting the contents of a binary search tree in ascending order
Post-order: produce RPN or emptying the contents of a tree

would these be valid?

[sources] - the spec

Reply 14

vanguardsean

Original post by 105

Yes, those are valid as well. The traversals can be used for lots of different operations.

Reply 15

cb799

Original post by vanguardsean

A good way to remember this is to just think about the prefix, and that's where the root goes. PREorder puts the root before the left. INorder puts the root inside the left and right. POSTorder puts the root after the right.

Reply 16

peterxz

Original post by iHDx

I'm actually worried for this exam, i feel like there's way too much content to take in

are you being serious? paper2 has like three times the amount of content in it, paper1 barely has any

Original post by Narcoopppo

Hey guys, does anyone here feel confident on dry runs, they are the most confusing thing for me. If anyone has any advice, I would love it.

don't think there will be any this year

Reply 17

ComputeiT

What questions do you think they could ask about object orientated programming?

Reply 18

KCL Offer

Original post by peterxz

are you being serious? paper2 has like three times the amount of content in it, paper1 barely has any

don't think there will be any this year

Are u judging this from the EAD?

If so how can I access it? Are there any FSM? Any grids/tables ?

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Reply 19

105

Original post by ComputeiT

What questions do you think they could ask about object orientated programming?

in my opinion, i think they will ask OOP questions about the skeleton code. for example, identify an example of inheritance etc..

However they could also ask you standard questions like why was inheritance used or something like that