Foundations of Computing
Revision for Foundations of Computing: notes on 10 units, 356 practice questions with explanations, 96 flashcards and 91 common traps, plus timed mock papers marked like the real quiz (+1 correct · −0.25 wrong · 0 blank). Free, and it remembers what you get wrong.
What's covered
Computing & the IPO model
What computing actually is · The IPO model · Knight Capital — the cost of bad computing · Computing in non-tech industries · Why learn to program in the LLM era
Data & the DIKW chain
Data — the definition · DIKW — Data → Information → Knowledge → Wisdom
Data classification
1 · By structure: structured / unstructured / semi-structured · 2 · Across time: cross-sectional / panel / time series · 3 · By nature: quantitative / qualitative · 4 · By origin: primary / secondary / metadata
Algorithms
Definition and origin · The five essential properties
Hardware
Why hardware matters, and the GPU story · CPU vs GPU · Memory: RAM, ROM, secondary storage · Input and output devices
Software, OS & utilities
The three layers of software · Operating systems · Utility software · Application software · Interpreter vs compiler · Textbook: Getting Started
Python basics
Python and Google Colab · Variables and naming rules · Strings · Numbers, type conversion, comments · Live Lecture 4: strings, numbers and errors · Textbook: Getting Started · Textbook: Variables and Simple Data Types
Lists, slicing & tuples
Creating and accessing lists · Adding and removing — the five methods · Organising: sort, sorted, reverse, len · Looping and indentation errors · range(), numerical lists and comprehensions · Slicing · Copying lists, and tuples · Live Lecture 4: list operations worked through · Textbook: Introducing Lists · Textbook: Working with Lists
Conditional tests & if statements
Conditional tests: equality and comparisons · Combining tests: and, or, in, not in, Booleans · if, if-else and if-elif-else · Omitting else, and independent ifs · if statements with lists · Textbook: if Statements
Dictionaries & nesting
Working with dictionaries · A dictionary of similar objects · Looping through key-value pairs and keys · Keys in order, values and set() · A list of dictionaries · A list in a dictionary · A dictionary in a dictionary · Textbook: Dictionaries
Other Semester 1 courses
- Economic & Business History 369 questions
- Algorithmic Thinking in Business 401 questions
- Financial Accounting 312 questions
- Statistics for Managers 510 questions
- Principles of Marketing 294 questions