Cambridge IGCSE · Computer Science (0478)

Programming concepts: Practice Questions

5 multiple-choice questions marked as you go, and 5 written questions with worked solutions. All on Programming concepts.

10 questions29 marksFree, no account

Question 1

1 mark

Which of the following pseudocode DECLARE statements correctly defines a variable to store a single symbol such as '%' or '?' according to the syllabus standards?

Question 2

1 mark

Evaluate the result of the following pseudocode expression using the library routine ROUND:

Value ← ROUND(7.625 * 2, 1)

Question 3

1 mark

Determine the final value of Total after the following nested loops are executed:

Total ← 0
FOR Outer ← 1 TO 3
  FOR Inner ← Outer TO 3
    Total ← Total + 1
  NEXT Inner
NEXT Outer

Question 4

1 mark

Identify the most appropriate basic data type for a variable that stores whether a system alarm is currently 'ON' or 'OFF'.

Question 5

1 mark

Evaluate the result of the following pseudocode string handling operations:

Title ← "IGCSE2026"
Result ← SUBSTRING(UCASE(Title), 1, 5)

Question 6

2 marks

Identify the most appropriate basic data type for a variable that stores the number of items currently in a shopping basket (e.g., \( 12 \)).

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Question 7

4 marks

A variable X has an initial value of \( 10 \). State the final value of Y after the following pseudocode is executed:

IF X > 5 THEN
  IF X < 15 THEN
    Y ← 20
  ELSE
    Y ← 30
  ENDIF
ENDIF

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Question 8

5 marks

Identify the resulting value and the final data type of the variable LogicFlag in the following statement:
LogicFlag ← (25 DIV 4) < (15 MOD 6)

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Question 9

8 marks

A programmer is developing a software module to manage a sequence of temperatures. The system needs to process these values to identify trends and ensure data integrity.

(a) Write pseudocode for a function named FindThresholdCount. The function should:
- Accept two parameters: an ARRAY of 50 REAL numbers named TempData and a REAL value named Threshold.
- Iterate through the array and count how many temperatures are strictly greater than the threshold.
- Return the total count.

(b) The system needs to validate user input for a temperature reading. Write pseudocode for a procedure named GetValidTemp that:
- Repeatedly prompts the user to enter a temperature.
- Uses a post-condition loop to ensure the temperature is between \(-50.0\) and \(150.0\) inclusive.
- Stores the valid input in a global variable named CurrentTemp.

(c) Explain the difference between a function and a procedure in terms of how they provide results back to the calling part of the program.

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Question 10

5 marks

A software developer is creating a routine to validate user inputs during the registration process.

(a) Define a FUNCTION called CheckLength that receives a string InputString and an integer MinLength as parameters. The function should return TRUE if the string length is greater than or equal to the minimum length, and FALSE otherwise.

(b) Write pseudocode to call this function within a REPEAT ... UNTIL loop that keeps asking the user for a password until it meets a minimum requirement of \(8\) characters.

Write your answer out first, then check it against the worked solution.

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