Checklist for AS

EXAM PREPARATION CHECKLIST 

 Information Representation 

 ☐ Binary, Denary, Hex conversion ☐ Two's complement representation ☐ BCD encoding ☐ ASCII vs Unicode ☐ Bitmap calculations (file size, resolution, colour depth) ☐ Vector vs Bitmap graphics ☐ Sound digitization (sampling rate, resolution) ☐ Lossless vs Lossy compression 

 Communication 

 ☐ LAN vs WAN characteristics ☐ Client-server vs P2P models ☐ Network topologies (Bus, Star, Mesh, Hybrid) ☐ Transmission media (copper, fibre, wireless) ☐ IP addressing (IPv4, IPv6) ☐ DNS function ☐ Cloud computing 

 Hardware 

 ☐ Computer system components ☐ Input/output devices ☐ RAM vs ROM ☐ SRAM vs DRAM ☐ Storage devices ☐ Embedded systems 

 Processor Fundamentals 

 ☐ Von Neumann architecture ☐ Registers and their functions ☐ Fetch-Execute cycle ☐ Assembly language addressing modes ☐ Bit manipulation (shifts, masking) 

 System Software 

 ☐ OS functions ☐ Memory, file, process management ☐ Compiler vs Interpreter ☐ Utility software 

 Security 

 ☐ Threats (malware, hacking, phishing, pharming) ☐ Security measures (firewall, encryption, authentication) ☐ Data validation methods ☐ Data verification (parity, checksum) 

 Ethics 

 ☐ Professional ethics ☐ Software licensing types ☐ AI impacts 

 Databases 

 ☐ Database vs file-based systems ☐ Relational database terminology ☐ Normalization (1NF, 2NF, 3NF) ☐ SQL basics (DDL, DML) 

 Algorithms 

 ☐ Computational thinking (abstraction, decomposition) ☐ Pseudocode writing ☐ Search algorithms (linear, binary) ☐ Sort algorithms (bubble, insertion) 

 Data Structures 

 ☐ Primitive data types ☐ Records ☐ Arrays (1D, 2D) ☐ Stacks, Queues, Linked Lists 

 Programming 

 ☐ Variables and constants ☐ Selection (IF, CASE) ☐ Iteration (FOR, WHILE, REPEAT) ☐ Procedures and functions ☐ Parameter passing 

 Software Development 

 ☐ Development lifecycle ☐ Testing methods and data ☐ Maintenance types