Topic 2.

2 – Programming fundamentals
Challenges

Contents
Variable naming, input and output......................................................................................................7
Easy challenges!............................................................................................................................. 7
Question 1:.................................................................................................................................. 7
Question 2:.................................................................................................................................. 7
Question 3:.................................................................................................................................. 7
Question 4:.................................................................................................................................. 7
Question 5:.................................................................................................................................. 7
Question 6:.................................................................................................................................. 7
Medium challenges!........................................................................................................................ 8
Question 7:.................................................................................................................................. 8
Question 8:.................................................................................................................................. 8
Variable Data Types........................................................................................................................... 9
Easy challenges!............................................................................................................................. 9
Question 1:.................................................................................................................................. 9
Question 2:.................................................................................................................................. 9
Question 3:................................................................................................................................ 10
Question 4:................................................................................................................................ 10
Medium challenges!...................................................................................................................... 11
Question 5:................................................................................................................................ 11
Question 6:................................................................................................................................ 11
Question 7:................................................................................................................................ 11
Variables Operators.......................................................................................................................... 12
Easy challenges!........................................................................................................................... 12
Question 1:................................................................................................................................ 12
Question 2:................................................................................................................................ 12
Question 3:................................................................................................................................ 13
Question 4:................................................................................................................................ 13
Question 5:................................................................................................................................ 13
Question 6:................................................................................................................................ 13

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 Question 7:................................................................................................................................ 13
Question 8:................................................................................................................................ 14
Medium challenges!...................................................................................................................... 15
Question 9:................................................................................................................................ 15
Question 10:.............................................................................................................................. 15
Question 11:.............................................................................................................................. 15
Sequencing...................................................................................................................................... 16
Easy challenges!........................................................................................................................... 16
Question 1:................................................................................................................................ 16
Question 2:................................................................................................................................ 16
Question 3:................................................................................................................................ 16
Question 4:................................................................................................................................ 16
Question 5:................................................................................................................................ 17
Question 6:................................................................................................................................ 17
Question 7:................................................................................................................................ 18
Question 8:................................................................................................................................ 18
Question 9:................................................................................................................................ 18
Question 10:.............................................................................................................................. 18
Question 11:.............................................................................................................................. 19
Question 12:.............................................................................................................................. 19
Medium challenges!...................................................................................................................... 20
Question 13:.............................................................................................................................. 20
Question 14:.............................................................................................................................. 20
Question 15:.............................................................................................................................. 20
Question 16:.............................................................................................................................. 20
Question 17:.............................................................................................................................. 21
Question 18:.............................................................................................................................. 21
Question 19:.............................................................................................................................. 21
Selection........................................................................................................................................... 22
Question 1:................................................................................................................................ 22
Question 2:................................................................................................................................ 22
Question 3:................................................................................................................................ 22
Question 4:................................................................................................................................ 22
Question 5:................................................................................................................................ 23
Question 6:................................................................................................................................ 23
Question 7:................................................................................................................................ 23

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 Question 8:................................................................................................................................ 24
Question 9:................................................................................................................................ 24
Question 10:.............................................................................................................................. 24
Question 11:.............................................................................................................................. 24
Question 12:.............................................................................................................................. 24
Question 13:.............................................................................................................................. 25
Question 14:.............................................................................................................................. 25
Medium challenges!...................................................................................................................... 26
Question 15:.............................................................................................................................. 26
Question 16:.............................................................................................................................. 26
Question 17:.............................................................................................................................. 27
Iteration............................................................................................................................................ 28
Question 1:................................................................................................................................ 28
Question 2:................................................................................................................................ 28
Question 3:................................................................................................................................ 28
Question 4:................................................................................................................................ 28
Question 5:................................................................................................................................ 29
Question 6:................................................................................................................................ 29
Question 7:................................................................................................................................ 29
Question 8:................................................................................................................................ 29
Question 9:................................................................................................................................ 29
Question 10:.............................................................................................................................. 29
Question 11:.............................................................................................................................. 30
Question 12:.............................................................................................................................. 30
Question 13:.............................................................................................................................. 30
Question 14:.............................................................................................................................. 30
Question 15:.............................................................................................................................. 30
Question 16:.............................................................................................................................. 31
Question 17:.............................................................................................................................. 31
Medium challenges!...................................................................................................................... 32
Question 18:.............................................................................................................................. 32
Question 19:.............................................................................................................................. 32
Question 20:.............................................................................................................................. 32
Question 21:.............................................................................................................................. 32
Arrays............................................................................................................................................... 33
Question 1:................................................................................................................................ 33

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 Question 2:................................................................................................................................ 33
Question 3:................................................................................................................................ 33
Question 4:................................................................................................................................ 33
Question 5:................................................................................................................................ 33
Question 6:................................................................................................................................ 34
Question 7:................................................................................................................................ 34
Question 8:................................................................................................................................ 34
Question 9:................................................................................................................................ 34
Question 10:.............................................................................................................................. 34
Question 11:.............................................................................................................................. 34
Question 12:.............................................................................................................................. 35
Question 13:.............................................................................................................................. 35
Medium challenges!...................................................................................................................... 36
Question 14:.............................................................................................................................. 36
Question 15:.............................................................................................................................. 36
Question 16:.............................................................................................................................. 36
Question 17:.............................................................................................................................. 37
Question 18:.............................................................................................................................. 37
Question 19:.............................................................................................................................. 37
Data Persistence Files...................................................................................................................... 38
Question 1:................................................................................................................................ 38
Question 2:................................................................................................................................ 38
Question 3:................................................................................................................................ 38
Question 4:................................................................................................................................ 38
Question 5:................................................................................................................................ 38
Question 6:................................................................................................................................ 38
Medium challenges!...................................................................................................................... 39
Question 7:................................................................................................................................ 39
Question 8:................................................................................................................................ 39
Records and SQL............................................................................................................................. 40
Easy challenges!........................................................................................................................... 40
Question 1:................................................................................................................................ 40
Question 2:................................................................................................................................ 40
Question 3:................................................................................................................................ 40
Question 4:................................................................................................................................ 41
Question 5:................................................................................................................................ 41

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 Question 6:................................................................................................................................ 41
Question 7:................................................................................................................................ 41
Question 8:................................................................................................................................ 41
Question 9:................................................................................................................................ 41
Question 10:.............................................................................................................................. 42
Question 11:.............................................................................................................................. 42
Question 12:.............................................................................................................................. 42
Question 13:.............................................................................................................................. 42
Question 14:.............................................................................................................................. 42
Question 15:.............................................................................................................................. 42
Question 16:.............................................................................................................................. 42
Question 17:.............................................................................................................................. 43
Question 18:.............................................................................................................................. 43
Question 19:.............................................................................................................................. 43
Medium challenges!...................................................................................................................... 44
Question 20:.............................................................................................................................. 44
Question 21:.............................................................................................................................. 45
Question 22:.............................................................................................................................. 45
Question 23:.............................................................................................................................. 45
Question 24:.............................................................................................................................. 45
Question 25:.............................................................................................................................. 45
Question 26:.............................................................................................................................. 46
Question 27:.............................................................................................................................. 46
Question 28:.............................................................................................................................. 46
Question 29:.............................................................................................................................. 46
Question 30:.............................................................................................................................. 46
Question 31:.............................................................................................................................. 47
Question 32:.............................................................................................................................. 47
Question 33:.............................................................................................................................. 47
Question 34:.............................................................................................................................. 47
Question 35:.............................................................................................................................. 48
Stretch / Extension Challenges!....................................................................................................49
Question 36:.............................................................................................................................. 49
Question 37:.............................................................................................................................. 49
Question 38:.............................................................................................................................. 50
Question 39:.............................................................................................................................. 50

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 Question 40:.............................................................................................................................. 51
Question 41:.............................................................................................................................. 51
Question 42:.............................................................................................................................. 52
Question 43:.............................................................................................................................. 52
Question 44:.............................................................................................................................. 53
Question 45:.............................................................................................................................. 53
Question 46:.............................................................................................................................. 54
Question 47:.............................................................................................................................. 54
Question 48:.............................................................................................................................. 55
Question 49:.............................................................................................................................. 55
Question 50:.............................................................................................................................. 56
Question 51:.............................................................................................................................. 57
Question 52:.............................................................................................................................. 58
Question 53:.............................................................................................................................. 58
Question 54:.............................................................................................................................. 59
Question 55:.............................................................................................................................. 60

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Variable naming, input and output
Easy challenges!
Question 1
What is a variable?

Question 2
Explain what makes a good variable name.

Question 3
Describe how a constant is different from a variable.

Question 4
Code a solution that will prompt the user to input a number, multiply it by ten and output the result to the
user.

Question 5
Modify that solution to output the result to the user in this format: <original number> + “x10=” + <result>.

Question 6
Code a solution that will ask the user for three numbers and then output the numbers in the opposite
order from which they were input.

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 Medium challenges!
Question 7
Given three variables, code a solution to output the values of all three, then assign the value of one
variable to the other two and output all three variables again.

Question 8
Given 2 variables, code a solution that swaps their values.

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Variable Data Types
Easy challenges!
Question 1
Explain why variables can be of different types.

Question 2
For each of these variables, choose the most appropriate data types, provide a sample value and justify
your choice:

1 Username

2 PhoneNumber

3 Registered

4 Counter

5 DivisionResult

6 PIN

7 FileName

8 AmountOwed

9 Male

10 YearOfBirth

11 DateOfBirth

12 Sorted

13 VotedYes

14 SecretMessage

15 SPEED_OF_LIGHT

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Question 3
Provide five examples of variable casting.

Question 4
Given four variables holding words, join them with spaces into a readable sentence.

Ext: use a constants SPACE and FULL_STOP in your code.

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 Medium challenges!
Question 5
Newton’s Second Law of Motion states that acceleration of an object moving in space is directly
proportional to the magnitude of all forces that act on this object in the same direction as its movement,
and inversely proportional to the mass of the object. If a catapult throws a rock with mass of 10 kg
forward at the force of 50 Newtons (unit of force, where 1 Newton = 1kg m/sec2). Code a solution that
can calculate the rock’s acceleration.

Question 6
A pupil wrote the following lines of code:

YearOfBirth=”1990”
CurrentYear=”2016”
Age=CurrentYear-YearOfBirth
OUTPUT Age
Can you spot any problems with this code? If yes, how would you fix them?

Question 7
Write a program that can generate a random 4-digit PIN, made up of digits 0-9.

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Variables Operators
Easy challenges!
Question 1
Explain, with examples, the purpose of operators and how they are used with variables.

Question 2
For each of these operators, identify the associated data type (could be more than one):
Operator Data type
1 Addition

2 AND

3 ASCII

4 CHR

5 Concatenation

6 Division

7 Equal

8 Escape/whitespace characters

9 Exponentiation

10 integer division

11 Larger

12 Lowercase

13 modular division

14 Modulus

15 Negation

16 NOT

17 Not equal

18 OR

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 19 Quotient

20 Smaller

21 Split

22 Subtraction

23 Titlecase

24 UPPERCASE

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Given the necessary inputs, calculate the volume of the following shapes (PI is 3.142, and r is radius, h
is height, where V is volume):

Question 3
Volume of a sphere: V=4/3(PI*(r**3))

Question 4
Volume of a cylinder: V=PI*(r**2)*h

Question 5
Volume of a cone: V=PI*(r**2) *h/3

Question 6
A pupil wants to write a program that can tell if a number is odd or even. Which operator can he use for
this and why this operator?

Question 7
Here is an assignment statement for a Boolean variable:

CodeValid:=Cond1 OR (Cond1 AND Cond2)

Complete the truth table below for this statement:

Cond1 Cond2 CodeValid

FALSE FALSE
FALSE TRUE
TRUE FALSE
TRUE TRUE

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Question 8
Here is an assignment statement for a Boolean variable:

CodeValid:=(Cond1 AND Cond2) OR NOT(Cond1)

Complete the truth table below for this statement:

Cond1 Cond2 CodeValid

FALSE FALSE
FALSE TRUE
TRUE FALSE
TRUE TRUE

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 Medium challenges!
Question 9
Code a solution where a character is replaced with the one that follows it in the alphabet (ASCII table
position), e.g. “a” becomes “b”, “x” becomes “y”, etc.

Question 10
Convert 4 character string of a binary number to a decimal value, e.g. “0110” is 6.

Question 11
A pupil has been struggling to keep up with making notes in class. It was taking too long for her to write
things in full. She develops a shorthand system, where all words longer than 5 characters, are shortened
to two first characters, followed by a dash, followed by the two last characters of that word.

For example, “plus” would not be shortened, but “addition” becomes “add-on”, “economics” becomes
“ec-cs”, etc.

Design a program that will use this system on any text string.

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Sequencing
Easy challenges!
The following process is shown with a flowchart.

Question 1
What is the output, if the inputs are 5,6?

Question 2
Rewrite this process in pseudocode.

Question 3:
Create a flowchart for any of the algorithms we have covered.

Question 4
Create a pseudocode solution for any of the algorithms we have covered.

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Question 5
Given the following function, rewrite it as a procedure:

Num:=5
FUNCTION Doubler(x)
RETURN x*2
END FUNCTION
OUTPUT Doubler(Num) // Prints “10”

Question 6
Rewrite the procedure in Question E2A.1D to have parameters

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The following code refers to the questions below.

PROCEDURE BodyMassIndex(weight,height, metric)

EMPTY=””
BMI:=0
Message:=EMPTY
INPUT Name
BMI:=weight/(height*height)
IF metric=False THEN BMI=BMI*703
IF BMI>=40 THEN
Message:=”Morbidly obese”
ELSE IF BMI>=30 THEN
Message:=”Obese”
ELSE IF BMI<=25 THEN
Message:=”Overweight”
ELSE IF BMI>=18.5 THEN
Message:=”Normal Weight”
ELSE
Message:=”Normal Weight”
END IF
OUTPUT “You are ” + Message
END PROCEDURE

Question 7
State the names of the parameters of the subroutine.

Question 8
This code contains an error. Identify it and provide a correction.

Question 9
What kind of an error is it?

Question 10
Give an example of how you would refer to this code from elsewhere in a program.

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Question 11
Programmers sometimes talk of ‘calling a procedure’. What is this referring to? Provide an example to
illustrate.

A mobile network operator allows customers to call the automated support number. Once a customer
connects, they are asked to listen to the … choices and enter a number on their phone corresponding to
the menu. At any time, a customer can press zero to hear the first/main menu again.

The following procedures and functions exist to control the process, in no particular order:
customerCallReceived()
terminateCall()
getCustomerPassword()
connectToSales()
getMenuChoice()
tellBalance()
retrieveCustomerDetails()
connectToTechSupport()

Question 12
Which of these are functions and which are procedures? Justify your answer.

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 Medium challenges!
A vending machine allows a customer to put the coins in, then use the button pad to choose their
product, which include chocolate bars, crisps, and bottled water. All chocolate bars are priced at £0.65,
crisps at £0.50, water at £1, if the money is insufficient, a message is displayed ‘Insufficient coins’.

Question 13
Design a top-down solution that would model the operation of this vending machine (pseudocode or
flowchart). Your solution will contain the following subprograms:

acceptCoins(), getProductChoice(), retrievePrice(Product), checkSufficientCoins(amountPaid,Price) ,

dispenceItem(), moveCoinsToSafeBox()

Question 14
Some of these subprograms feature variable names inside the brackets. What is the meaning of these?

Question 15
Take one of the subprograms and design it (pseudocode or flowchart)

Question 16
It is possible that the machine can be out of stock on certain items, in this case, when that item is chosen
by customer, the machine outputs “Out of stock” and offers user to get their money back or make
another selection. Design a top-down solution that would model the operation of this vending machine
(pseudocode or flowchart). Your solution will contain the following subprograms:

acceptCoins(), getProductChoice(), retrievePrice(Product), checkSufficientCoins(amountPaid,Price) ,

checkInStock(Product), dispenceItem(), moveCoinsToSafeBox(),getChoiceMoneyBack(), refundCoins()

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Question 17
Given this procedure that draws an equilateral Triangle with the size of each side at 100, rewrite it to be
more abstract and flexible through the use of parameter passing – with a procedure parameter for size.

SIZE=100 //global constant

PROCEDURE Triangle()
FOR i=1 TO 3 /counter-controlled iteration
FORWARD(SIZE)
LEFT(120)
NEXT i
END PROCEDURE
Triangle() //calling the procedure

Question 18
Make the procedure even more abstract by letting the number of sides to be another parameter, the
procedure will draw any Polygon. Hint: all angles in a closed polygon add up to 365 degrees.

Question 19
Using the information from Question E2A.5A, design a flowchart that represents the most logical
sequence of these subprograms.

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Selection
Question 1
What is selection and where do we use it?

Question 2
What happens when a programmer is using the IF/ELSE IF/ELSE structure and the IF condition and the
ELSE IF condition are both true? Illustrate with an example.

Question 3
Consider the following code:
A:=5
B:=4
AA:=11
A:=9
A:=12

What is the value of A?

Question 4
Consider the following code:
A:=5
B:=4
AA:=11
IF B<=A THEN
A:=9
ELSE
A:=12
END IF

What is the value of A?

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Question 5
A program reports how many persons signed up for an event. E.g. “1 persons signed up for Choir”, “23
persons signed up for the Naval Docks trip”.

BEGIN Report
INPUT num
INPUT event
OUTPUT STR(num)+ “ persons signed up for “ + event
HALT

This looks less than professional in the case of a single person signing up to an event – it should really
say “1 person signed up for Choir”. Modify the program accordingly.

Question 6
Given the following code, rewrite this with IF/ELSE IF/ELSE instead of SWITCH.

INPUT Entry
SWITCH Entry
CASE >100
Entry:=Entry*0.75-10
CASE <10
Entry:=0
DEFAULT
Entry:=Entry-10
END SWITCH
Result:=Entry*2
IF Result> 35 THEN
OUTPUT STR(Result) + “Pass”
ELSE
OUTPUT STR(Result) + “Fail”
END IF

What is the output in each of these cases:

Question 7
Entry is 120

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Question 8
Entry is 90

Question 9
Entry 52

Question 10
A programmer is coding a menu interface which displays 3 options to the user. The use then presses 1
for the first option, 2 for the second option, 3 for the third option, each of these calls a procedure such as
option1(), option2(), option(3). Code a solution that will validate user input to be only 1, 2 or 3 and then
call the corresponding procedure.

You are writing a program for an airline that calculates the price for oversized baggage (if any) that air
travellers have to pay. The rules are given as follows:
Any baggage that is under 10 kg and is no larger than 40 by 30 cm, ignoring depth, can go free of
charge.
Any baggage that doesn’t satisfy the first criteria, up to 20 kg and 60 by 40 cm, costs £50.
Any baggage that doesn’t satisfy the first and second criteria, is charged £10 per kg.
Baggage over 100 kg and 150 by 150 cm is not allowed at all and should be sent separately by freight.
In this case, the cost variable gets assigned an rogue value of -99.

Question 11
What is the purpose of using a “rogue value”?

Question 12
Design an algorithm for this problem.

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Question 13
What will the cost be for the following pieces of baggage?:

Cost (£) Weight (kg) Length (cm) Width (cm)

1 120 90 60

2 90 100 60

3 13 60 40

4 22 60 40

5 9 30 20

6 50 150 100

Question 14
Add your own test data, trying to test every condition.

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 Medium challenges!
Question 15
FizzBuzz is a game of maths skill. Participants seat in a circle and say out the numbers, starting from 1.
If the number they are due to say is divisible by 3, they will say “Fizz” instead of 3, and if the number they
are due to say is divisible by 5, they say “Buzz”. The last rule, if the number is divisible both by 3 and 5, a
participant will say “FizzBuzz”. All the other numbers are said as they are. A typical start of FizzBuzz is:
“one”,”two”,”fizz”,”four”,”buzz”,”fizz”,”seven”,”eight”,”fizz”, “buzz”, etc. Design an algorithm that will accept
an input and decide where it is Fizz, Buzz, FizzBuzz or some other number.

Question 16
A drive-through roadside cafe is located on a vantage lookout point with picnic tables and a parking lot.
There is a 10% surcharge for stay-in customers, with take-away customers being charged less as they
tend to leave less of a mess that costs money to clean up. The café sells:

Coffee, in 3 sizes: small (£1), medium(£1.25) and large (£1.40). Additionally, coffee can be offered as
decaffeinated, with or without milk, with or without sugar.

Muffins, all £2

Water, in 2 sizes: 1L (£1.10) and 1.5L (£1.30).

There is a numeric pad positioned by the driveway next to the café, where customers see their service
options on the screen and then they use the pad to indicate their choices. Then they drive up to a
window to receive their purchase and pay. A computer connected to the numeric pad, collects this
information and works out the price, then sends this information to the terminal located in the café’s
kitchen, so that everything is ready by the time a customer drives up to the service window.

You are given the following code:

order:=""
price:=0
SM_COFFEE:=1
MD_COFFEE:=1.25
LG_COFFEE:=1.4
MUFFIN:=2
ONE_L_WATER:=1.1
ONE_HALF_L_WATER:=1.3
SURCHARGE=1.1

OUTPUT “Press 1 to buy coffee, 2 for no coffee"

INPUT choice //no validation
IF choice=1 THEN
OUTPUT “Press 1 for small, 2 for medium, 3 for large" //cof. size
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 INPUT choice //no validation
//quantity
OUTPUT “How many coffees of this type?"
INPUT quantity //no validation
IF choice=1 THEN
order:=order+" small coffee"
price=price+SM_COFFEE*quantity
ELSE IF choice=2 THEN
order:=order+" medium coffee"
price=price+MD_COFFEE*quantity
ELSE IF choice=3 THEN
order:=order+" large coffee"
price=price+LG_COFFEE*quantity
END IF
//milk
OUTPUT “Press 1 for black coffee, 2 for white"
INPUT choice //no validation
IF choice=1 THEN
order:=order+" black"
ELSE IF choice=2 THEN
order:=order+" white"
//sugar
OUTPUT “Press 1 for no sugar, 2 for sugar"
INPUT choice //no validation
IF choice=1 THEN
order:=order+" no sugar"
ELSE IF choice=2 THEN
order:=order+" with sugar"
END IF

Question 17
Complete the program that will present the customer with the choice of products that the café sells,
quantities of each item purchases and their choice for staying in or taking their purchase with them.

For testing of your program, the café supplied the following sample orders:

1 Small black coffee, 1 Muffin, take-away

1 Medium white and sugar coffees, 2 Large White No Sugar coffee and 1.5L water bottle, stay-in.

1 Medium Decaf black with sugar coffee, 1 Small White With Sugar coffee, 2 Muffins, 1L water, take-
away.

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Iteration
A computer program contains the following instructions
j:=0
FOR i=1 TO 5
j:=j+i
NEXT i
OUTPUT j

Question 1
Name the two constructs used in the program:

Asssassignment and iteration

Question 2
State the value that will be output:

1515

Question 3
The value of j depends on the value of i. Complete the table below:
When i =… j is… How many lines of code have been executed?
NULL 0 1
1 0 2
1 1 3
2 3 4
3 6 5
4 10 6
5 15 7

Question 4
For each of the variables i and j, complete the table below:
Iteration i j
0 1 0
1 1 1
1 1 3
2 3 4
3 6 5
4 10 6
5 15 7

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Question 5
Explain what this algorithm does.

sum of integers from 1 to 5

Question 6
Write a program that counts from 0 to 1o and then back down.

FOR i=0 TO 10
OUTPUT i
NEXT i
FOR i=10 TO 0 STEP -1
OUTPUT i
NEXT i

Question 7
Modify the previous solution, so that instead of displaying numbers one by one to the screen, the
program joins them into a string that will look like this: "012345678910"

string:=""
FOR i=0 TO 10
string:=string+str(i)
NEXT i
FOR i=10 TO 0 STEP -1
string:=string+str(i)
NEXT i
OUTPUT string

Question 8
Modify the solution now to count down skipping every other number

Question 9
The ASCII code for "A" is 65. Use a condition-controlled loop and then the counter-controlled loop to
display the alphabet.

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 a:=""
FOR i=65 TO 91
a:=a+CHAR(i)
NEXT i
OUTPUT a

Question 10
This was all capital letters. Research where lowercase "a" is in the ASCII table and repeat the exercise
with lowercase letters.

a:=""
FOR i=97 TO 122
a:=a+CHAR(i)
NEXT i
OUTPUT a

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Question 11
Write a program that can take a phrase and replace all characters with the ones following them in the
alphabet, e.g. ABBA becomes BCCB. "z" becomes "a". Hint: you can use CHAR() to convert a number
into an ASCII character that is stored under that number in the ASCII table; and you can use ASCII() to
get the ASCII code of a character.

Question 12
Modify your solution not to change punctuation or whitespace characters.

Question 13
Generate a sequence where every item in a sequence is 2.5 larger than the previous one.

You are given the code for a program that loops adding numbers.

a:=12
b:=2
total:=0
FOR i=1 TO 7
total:=total+a+b-i
a:=a+1
b:=b+2
NEXT FOR

Question 14
What is the sum after 5 iterations?

Question 15
After 6 iterations?

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Question 16
Create a trace table for all variables.

Question 17
Write a program that needs to compute averages of 3 sets of floats

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 Medium challenges!
Question 18
Extend the FizzBuzz program from Question M2B.1 to include iteration, so that a computer “plays” the
game, starting at 1 and all the way to 100:

We are given a phrase “The UK has announced that the amphibious landing ship RFA Mounts Bay will
join naval vessels from Germany, Canada, Turkey and Greece in the area.”

Question 19
Write a program that will make every other letter uppercase, lowercase e.g. ThE Uk HaS, etc.

Question 20
Now let’s make all vowels upper case, all consonants - lower case, where vowels are: i,o,a,e,u

Question 21
Now reverse the condition and vowels are now lower case, consonants – upper

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Arrays
Question 1
Explain what is meant by an array.

We are given the following:

Array Numbers[78,1,45,23,98,57]

State the value of the following items:

Question 2
Numbers[0]

Question 3
Numbers[3]

Question 4
Numbers[5]

Question 5
Write an algorithm to output the value of the last array element of any array

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We are given two integer arrays.
Array Nums1[34,67,23]
Array Nums2[10,12,15]
Question 6
Write an algorithm to calculate the sum of items in both arrays.

Question 7
Write an algorithm to generate an array of sums of individual items from Nums1 and Nums2, e.g.
Nums3[44,79,18]

Question 8
Write an algorithm to generate an array that includes both of these arrays' items in one longer array, e.g.
Nums4[34,67,23,10,12,15]

Question 9
Write an algorithm to generate a 2D array from these two 1D arrays.

Question 10
Given a comma-separated list of numbers, write an algorithm to add them up and output the total.

Question 11
Modify your solution for Question M2D.3A to only add up even numbers

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Question 12
Modify your solution to only add up every other number

Question 13
Modify your solution so that rather than adding up the array elements, the program will find out the sum
of the changes from item to item, e.g. instead of adding up 24, 26, 45, .... just add 2 (26-24), 19 (45-
26),...

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 Medium challenges!
Question 14
Given a 1D array, find the middle index, write an algorithm to swap all elements with indices after the
middle index with those which have indices smaller than the middle index. E.g.

ARRAY Test[“Bob”,”Nora”,”Jack”,”Peter”,”Amir”] has 5 elements, so, assuming zero-based array, the

middle index is 2, which stores “Jack”. Leaving “Jack” in place, the swap will result in this array:

Test[”Peter”,”Amir”,”Jack”, “Bob”,”Nora”]. Your solution should work for an array of any odd size, not
just size 5.

Question 15
However, what about arrays of even size, e.g. 4, 6, 8, etc elements? Our Python code which is based on
the algorithm - crashed!

Modify your solution to only accommodate even sized arrays.

Question 16
Create a universal solution that works for both odd and even array sizes.

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Question 17
Write a program that converts raw test scores to letter grades

where grade boundaries are given a 2D array:

Array Boundaries[["A*","90"],["A","80"],["B","70"],["C","60"],["D","50"]]

Question 18
Extend the program to input a 1D array of scores to convert to grades.

Question 19
Modify the program to get the score information from a 2D array of data which contains pupils’ names
and scores.

0 1 2 3 4
Bob Nora Rezaq Peter Jon
56 78 92 85 67

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Data persistence files
Question 1
Create an algorithm to read a text file and count number of characters in it.

Question 2
Modify the algorithm to count all instances of “the”.

Question 3
Modify the algorithm to count all instances of all words starting with “a”

Question 4
Create an algorithm to read two text files, and then write their contents to the third file.

Question 5
Now modify your solution to read another input file and add its contents to the output file from the
previous task.

Question 6
Create an algorithm to load a text out of a file and write to another file backwards.

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 Medium challenges!
Question 7
A file contains the text of a letter to a person named “Bob”. Write a program that will read the contents of
the file and replace all instances of “Bob” with “Nora”, overwriting the original data.

Question 8
The mail merge. You are given two text files: one file is a letter template, which, instead of actual names,
contains a word “<name>”; the other file is a list of names. Create an algorithm to generate individually
addressed letters or wedding invites.

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Records and SQL
Easy challenges!
Question 1
This Record doesn't seem to be properly set up. Fix it!

RECORD= Machine(STRING Name, STRING CHAR=4 Type, FLOAT CHAR=8 Cost)

Question 2
Assuming that a machine’s cost can’t exceed 9,999, what is the maximum length of one record?
Estimate the maximum size of a file containing 200 records, assuming 10% overhead (additional data
stored in the file that is in addition to the record data itself).

Question 3
Create an array of 3 machines. Assume these machines have just been purchased and we need to know
how much we must pay. Code the solution to arrive at that amount.

TYPE RECORD Machine(STRING VARCHAR=10 Name, STRING CHAR=4 Type, FLOAT Cost)

SQL

A school has sent a few teams to an Athletics competition. You are given a table of athletes who won
Gold, Silver, Bronze. Multiple age categories were involved, so it is possible to have more than one
medal in the same category, as the multiple medals were awarded to different age groups.

The Athletes table

Name Medal100m Medal300m Medal1km Injured

Emma Bronze No medal Gold True
Bob No medal Bronze No medal False
Cecil Silver No medal Silver False
Nora No medal Gold Bronze False
Amir No medal No medal No medal True
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 Dosha No medal Bronze Bronze False

Each record follows this structure:

Athlete(Name, Medal100m, Medal300m, Medal1km, Injured)

Question 4
Write an SQL SELECT query to return all complete records.

Question 5
Write an SQL SELECT query to return all complete records in alphabetic order.

Question 6
Write an SQL SELECT query to return all complete records in reverse alphabetic order.

Question 7
Write an SQL SELECT query to return complete records of all those who won Silver medals in 100m.

Question 8
Write an SQL SELECT query to return complete records of all those who won medals in 100m.

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Question 9
Write an SQL SELECT query to return complete records of all those who won Bronze medals.

Question 10
Write an SQL SELECT query to return complete records of all those who won Gold medals and are not
injured.

Question 11
Write an SQL SELECT query to count how many athletes got Bronze in 100m

Question 12
Write an SQL SELECT query to return complete records of all those who won any medals.

Question 13
Write an SQL SELECT query to list the names of all those who won medals.

Question 14
Write an SQL SELECT query to list all those with medals not injured.

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Question 15
Write an SQL SELECT query to list all those who won 2 of the same medals, e.g. two Bronze or 2 Silver

Question 16
Write an SQL SELECT query to return Name and the Injured status, with those Injured
(Injured=”FALSE”) listed first.

Question 17
Write an SQL SELECT query to find all those who got no medals.

Question 18
Write an SQL SELECT query to find all athletes who have letter “o” in their name.

Question 19
Write an SQL SELECT query to find all athletes who have names shorter than 5 characters.

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 Medium challenges!
Consider this two-table database.

The Customers table where each record follows this structure:

Customers(CustomerID CHAR=3, Name VARCHAR=10, Industrial BOOLEAN)

CustomerID Name Industrial

"101" "Bob" "FALSE"

"102" "Nora" "TRUE"

"105" "Cecil" "TRUE"

"112" "Amir" "FALSE"

"114" "Helga" "TRUE"

The Jobs table where each record follows this structure:

Jobs(JobID CHAR=4, CustomerID CHAR=3, Estimate FLOAT, Completed BOOLEAN, Paid BOOLEAN)

JobID CustomerID Estimate Completed Paid

"1051" "101" 2456 "FALSE" "TRUE"

"1052" "102" 900 "TRUE" "TRUE"

"1053" "102" 12890 "FALSE" "FALSE"

"1054" "112" 870 "TRUE" "FALSE"

"1061" "105" 1100 "FALSE" "FALSE"

Using the Jobs and Customers tables given above…

Question 20
Write an SQL SELECT query to return complete records from jobs for all unfinished jobs.

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Question 21
Write an SQL SELECT query to get complete records from customers whose jobs haven’t been
completed.

Question 22
Write an SQL SELECT query to get names of customers whose jobs haven’t been completed.

Question 23
Write an SQL SELECT query to get names of customers who have unpaid jobs.

Question 24
Write an SQL SELECT query to get the names of industrial customers

Question 25
Write an SQL SELECT query to get all jobs ordered by non-industrial customers.

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Question 26
Write an SQL SELECT query to get all jobs ordered by industrial customers.

Question 27
Write an SQL SELECT query to get all jobs ordered by industrial customers, except Nora.

Question 28
Write an SQL SELECT query to get all jobs with estimate less than 900.

Question 29
Write an SQL SELECT query to get all customers that made orders under 900.

Question 30
Write an SQL SELECT query to get all customers that ordered more than 1000 worth of roofing.

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Question 31
Write an SQL SELECT query to get the names of customers who have unpaid orders under 1000.

Question 32
Write an SQL SELECT query to count the number of jobs that are for industrial customers

Question 33
Write an SQL SELECT query to count the number of unfinished jobs that are for industrial customers

A school’s VLE system uses record structure to store account information. It has a field for a subject
name taken by a pupil which is set up to be CHAR(5). Unfortunately, many subjects have names longer
than that. The solution is to store them in abbreviated form, with a first few characters of the subject
name followed by a number of characters that didn’t “fit”.

E.g. “Algebra” has 7 characters, so it will be shortened to “ALGE3”, and “Critical Thinking” (17
characters) to “CRI12”.

Question 34
Explain how “Critical Thinking” is shortened to “CRI12”.

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Question 35
Develop an algorithm to shorten any subject name input by a user, e.g. “Physical Education”.

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 Stretch/Extension Challenges!
(Range is the difference between max and min.)

Question 36
Task A: Find the range of values given 2 numbers.

Question 37
Task B: Find the range of values given a 1D array

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Question 38
Task C: Find the range of values given a 2D array.

Question 39
Task D: Find the range of values given a record array.

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Question 40
Task E: Find the range of values given using SQL

Question 41
Design a solution that takes 4 numbers from a user and outputs their sum, max and min.

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Question 42
Repeat this task but only for the three largest items out of this array.

Question 43
A teacher wants to set up random pairs out of pupils to participate in a task, where Group A pupils are
advanced and Group B pupils need assistance. Design the solution that will do that.

Group A Bob John Nora

Group B Cecil Rezaq Ralph Troy

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Question 44
Taking register is a repetitive task.

A teacher repeats the same operation: if a supply teacher needs to register a form, he/she would ask
which form, assuming we have at least two files with form names where files names are in the format
<form_name.txt>.

A teacher would find the first name in the student list, read it out, mark as either present or not present,
then find the second name in the list, read it out, mark as either present or not present, etc.

We can easily express this operation with this pseudocode.

Write a program that reads a list of students from a file, then displays them on a screen one at a time,
with the prompt for the user to either mark them as “p” for present or “n” for not present.

Once every name has been processed, the program will display the list, with the names in one column
and the “p” or “n” in another. This gets saved to a new file which name is a concatenation of the form
name and today's date + ‘CSV’ extension.

Question 45
How would you code a solution to displaying all the names of files in a folder?

USE OS //Initialise Operating System API

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Question 46
Now only output the files with extension “TXT”

Question 47
Modify the solution to also show the count of how many files have the ‘TXT’ extension.

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Question 48
Modify the solution, so that the contents of all the files with names starting with ‘LOG’ are merged into
one file called ‘all_logs.txt’.

Question 49
Revisit our earlier question on converting binary number in string format to decimal values. Modify the
solution to use iteration.

//Method 1
B:=”1110”
Decimal:=0
FOR i=0 TO 4
Decimal:=Decimal+INT(B[4-i-1])*2**i
NEXT i
OUTPUT Decimal

Python:
b="1110"
result=0
print("start iteration method 2")
for i in range(0,4):
print(int(b[4-i-1])*2**(i+1))
result=result+int(b[4-i-1])*2**i
print(result)

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Question 50
Extend your solution to accommodate 8 bit binary numbers (or any length binary).

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Iteration to many dimensions.

A 2D array got corrupted when it was saved to a text file. Its contents are given in a variable raw_data...

“Bob,123,Serge,Jenny,34,67

0,Peter,Nora,90,120,Noah

56.4,False,Chuck,Don,78,98”

Question 51
Write an algorithm that would convert this into a string array (1D) and search it for the name ‘Chuck’. If
successful, it will return the index of ‘Chuck’ in the array.

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Question 52
Modify your solution to search not just for one name but for any of the names given below: Chuck, Josh,
Bill, Serge.

Question 53
Given a 2D array, swap its columns around.

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Question 54
Break-even analysis is a useful business tool that serves to establish the minimum quantity of goods
sold before all costs are recouped. The formula for it is:

BE=FixedCost/(Price-VariableCost) where Variable Cost is in this case the Cost of Materials.

Given the following data file, create a program that calculates Break Even quantity for each product.
Fixed Cost is £2000. For extensions, make it write the result to another file, and as an additional
extension, style this file in HTML, including the use of table tags and images.
(http://www.w3schools.com/tags/tag_table.asp)

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Question 55
Write a part of an RPG game, e.g. starting out in the haunted house, facing 3 choices, etc. – take the
program written in Python and express it in pseudocode. Modify the code given to make for a better
game.

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