Area of Study 2 - Applied Computing: Programming
Overview
In this area of study, the focus is on interpreting given solution requirements, representing a solution clearly, and developing a working program in an object-oriented programming language. The work applies the design and development stages of the problem-solving methodology.
The programming solution uses data types, data structures, control structures, validation, testing and internal documentation. It also draws on object-oriented programming ideas such as abstraction and encapsulation so that the final solution is clear, structured and maintainable.
Outcome 2 On completion of this unit the student should be able to interpret given solution requirements to design and develop a software solution using an object-oriented programming language.
Software Tool
- an appropriate object-oriented programming language
Section Map
The coursework in this area of study is organised into six connected sections:
| Section | Main Focus |
|---|---|
| 1. Responsible Programming and Code Quality | programming trends, AI-assisted coding, readability, maintainability, intellectual property and copyright |
| 2. Interpreting Requirements and Designing Solutions | functional and non-functional requirements, constraints, scope, and design tools |
| 3. Programming Foundations: Data, Variables and Operators | data types, variables, storing data, and arithmetic, logical and conditional operators |
| 4. Control Structures and Validation | sequence, selection, iteration, and validation techniques |
| 5. Modular Programming, OOP Principles and Data Structures | procedures, functions, methods, abstraction, encapsulation, arrays, lists and records |
| 6. Testing, Debugging and Maintainability | naming conventions, internal documentation, test data, testing tables, breakpoints and debugging output |