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Note- As from September 2016, this syllabus has been replaced by a newer version:  AQA GCSE Computer Science (8520)

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