GCSE Computing — AQA

This is a book about GCSE Computing. It aims to fit in with the AQA GCSE Computing 4512 syllabus but is not endorsed by AQA. It should be useful as a revision guide or to find alternative explanations to the ones in your textbook. If you haven't heard of a GCSE then this book probably won't be of much interest to you but you can find out about them at GCSE.

If any part of this book is unclear or even wrong then please post a comment on the discussion page or simply fix it yourself! In particular, please say if the book assumes any knowledge or skills which not all GCSE Computing students have.

Note- As from September 2016, this syllabus has been replaced by a newer version: AQA GCSE Computer Science (8520)

The course contains three units. All units must be completed to be awarded the GCSE Computing. The available units are:

• Constants, variables and data types  (Jun 13, 2012)
• Structures  (Jun 13, 2012)
• Program flow control  (Jun 13, 2012)
• Procedures and functions  (Jun 13, 2012)
• Scope of variables, constants, functions and procedures  (Jun 13, 2012)
• Error handling  (Jun 13, 2012)
• Handling external data  (Jun 13, 2012)
• Computer structure  (Jun 13, 2012)
  • Systems  (Jun 13, 2012)
  • Hardware  (Jun 13, 2012)
  • CPU (Central Processing Unit)  (Jun 13, 2012)
  • Memory  (Jun 13, 2012)
  • Secondary storage  (Jun 13, 2012)
  • Algorithms  (Jun 13, 2012)
• Data representation  (Jun 13, 2012)
• Software development life cycle  (Jun 13, 2012)
  • Prototyping  (Jun 13, 2012)
• Application testing  (Jun 13, 2012)
• Networking  (Jun 13, 2012)
• Client server  (Jun 13, 2012)
  • Web application concepts  (Jun 13, 2012)
• Use of external code sources  (Jun 13, 2012)
• Database concepts  (Jun 13, 2012)
  • Query methods (SQL)  (Jun 13, 2012)
• Connecting to databases from applications and web based apps  (Jun 13, 2012)
• The use of computer technology in society  (Jun 13, 2012)