Practical Computer Studies Book 2 [antikvár]

PrefaceThis is the second book of the Practical Computer Studies series. Its purpose is to provide further work beyond Book 1 to cover examination courses up to 16+. It also aims to help the pupil develop project work, including both written and programming topics. Like all books covering this area it will be out of date before it is published, but I hope I have encouraged pupils to acquire skills in finding out new information so that they and their teacher can update their work from more frequent publications like newspapers and magazines.Each chapter ends with a set of questions mainly from past exam papers relating to the subject matter of the chapter, but there is also a large section of mixed examination questions at the end of the book, since it is important for pupils to get used to combining different ideas to answer questions. In the text of each chapter there are tasks and questions for the user. The questions are intended to prompt pupils to find out things for themselves. Often they are no more than reminders and the answer is given in the next sentence or can be looked up at the end of the chapter; this helps pupils remember important points by writing them down, but also gives them the idea that the rest of the book can be used as a reference to look things up in. Pupils should also be encouraged to use the glossary and the index to find out the meaning of different words.Many of the chapters use small programs to illustrate various ideas. These may need slight adaptations to fit different versions of BASIC on different machines.Accompanying the series there is a software package of ten programs with an accompanying teacher booklet. Some of these cover topics in Book 1, but most help to support thechapters in this book. The software programs fit together with the two books as follows:(Book 1)Chapter 2"CLASS", a simple demonstration of how computers handle data; and "QUIZ", a simple multiple-choice quiz on computing; Chapter 6"ROBOT TRUCK", a program to build and test a robot; Chapter 7 "SIMPLE ML", a simulation of programming in a low-level language.(Book 2)Chapter 1the "CHARTS" file program (see Chapter 7 below) simulates the case study in this chapter of keeping a record of the pop music charts; Chapter 3the "ROBOT TRUCK", "CLASS" and "SIMPLE ML" programs from Book 1 can also be used to demonstrate different types of software in this chapter; Chapter 5the "LETTER WRITER" and "CAD" programs (see Chapter 7 below) demonstrate various applications; Chapter 7 six project programs showing how different useful types of software can be developed, including: "CAD", a computer-aided design package; "HEXANOIDS", a demonstration game to show animation and graphics; "TRAFFIC", a simulation of a traffic flow problem; "LETTER WRITER", a simple word-processing package to write a letter; "GRAPH", a program to demonstrate how the computer can show data graphically; and "CHARTS", a transaction file program of a record collection.Lastly, I would like to give my thanks to a whole variety of people who have helped and encouraged me. My thanks also go to Anne Swainston for her patience in typing the manuscript.Peter Avisv