National 5 Computing Science

Explore the software life cycle from analysis to design, implementation, testing, and evaluation. Understand how these stages drive software design and development.

Analyze the problem to define functional requirements and the software's purpose. Validate user input, such as age, to ensure it is numerical and nonnegative, outlining inputs, processes, and outputs.

Explore three National 5 design techniques: structure diagrams, flowcharts, and pseudocode, and learn how shapes, data flows, and English-like steps translate problems into program solutions.

Explore five data types in software design: string, character, integer, real, boolean. See how arrays store multiple values of the same type, like names as strings.

Explore variables in Python by assigning a name variable to the string 'John' and an age variable to the integer 30, noting strings use speech marks and integers do not.

Demonstrate arithmetic operators with prints: five at seven, ten take away three, four multiplied by six, 32 divided by eight; include integer and decimal division and remainder with percent sign.

Learn concatenation by combining variables with strings to form phrases. Then prompt for a name, store it in a username variable, and print hello plus the username and an exclamation mark.

Demonstrate simple conditions with if statements to print multiples of two or not, using seven remainder two equals zero, and explain assignment versus comparison with one vs two equals signs.

Explore the three logical operators and, or, and not at National 5 level, demonstrated through a password check using not equal comparisons to print incorrect or correct password.

Explore how to build complex conditions in if statements by combining comparisons with and and or, requiring both sides true for and, or any one side for or.

Apply fixed loops by repeating code five times using a zero-based counter, and learn to print the counter by concatenating it as a string in Python.

Use conditional loops to repeat input until a valid integer between 1 and 5 is entered, show an error when out of range, then print 'number is valid'.

Explore predefined functions in Python, which are pre-written and tested, and learn to call them; the random function demonstrates generating a value between 0 and 5 inclusive after importing random.

Explore testing in the software development life cycle by classifying test data as normal, extreme (boundaries 1 and 5), and exceptional, and identify logic errors, syntax error, and execution error.

Evaluate software for fitness for purpose by verifying functional requirements from the analysis stage, and assess robustness, code efficiency (1D arrays, complex conditions, loops), and readability.

Explore database design and development by analyzing end user requirements and functional requirements, focusing on user interaction and the queries, operations, and calculations the database must perform.

Compare flat file databases with relational databases by showing how primary keys and foreign keys link a restaurant table to a dish table, reducing duplicate data.

Explore entity relationship diagrams to map relations between restaurant and dish tables, with attributes, primary keys, and foreign keys, using crow's foot notation to show a one-to-many relationship.

Explore four validation types for databases, including presence checks, range checks, length checks, and restricted choice via dropdowns to minimize user errors.

Explore how data dictionaries map restaurant and dish tables, detailing attributes, keys, validation, sample data, and query design to filter by course and sort by price.

Learn how select queries retrieve data from tables, using phpMyAdmin to run a select from the Dutch table where price greater than nine, illustrating the select, from, where format.

Insert queries add new data to tables by supplying values in the table's column order, demonstrated with a restaurant row (primary key, location, name).

Apply update queries to modify data within tables. Update the restaurant entry with primary key three, changing the name from pink shop to orange shop, ensuring only one row updates.

Learn to delete data using a delete statement with a where clause, identifying the target row by the primary key (restaurant id = 3) to remove the Orange Shop.

Apply logical operators to link comparisons in a database-like query, using a where clause to require course equals main and price greater than 14.

Sort database queries using the order by operation to arrange desk table price in ascending order, from lowest to highest, without a where clause.

Explore how joins in where clauses connect data from multiple tables using a primary key and a foreign key, demonstrated by linking restaurant and dish tables on restaurant id.

Learn to test databases by running queries, predicting outputs, and comparing them with actual results to identify errors and validate query performance.

Explore web design and development in national 5 computing science. Analyze website needs by identifying entry requirements (user interactions) and function requirements (the site's capabilities) that must be provided.

Explore navigation design in web design, mapping a three-level site from home to about us, projects, and contact, with history and staff pages; access through parent pages only.

Explore how InDesign wireframes depict a web page layout, including a title, cross-denoted logo, home page, page one, page two navigation links, a main text area, and an image.

Explore HTML, the hypertext markup language that creates web pages using tags like head, body, and h1 to place images and text, while styling and behavior come from other languages.

Explore the structure of an html page, including html, head, body, nav, ul, li, internal and external links, headings, paragraphs, images with src and alt, and classes and ids.

Learn how CSS styles web pages using inline, internal, and external methods, and how a CSS rule uses a selector, a property, and a value—illustrated by an h1 color red.

Explore inline, internal, and external CSS in a Visual Studio Code HTML snippet. See an h1 with dark green color, a light gray body, and Helvetica font via external styles.css.

Explore how JavaScript adds website functionality by enabling clicks and hover interactions, and learn to implement these in Visual Studio Code at the National 5 level.

See how JavaScript implements web page behavior with a button id test button and an onClick handler that reveals text by changing its display from none to block.

Move into the testing stage of website design and development with user testing on wireframes to assess interaction. Test media, links, and cross-browser compatibility across Chrome, Firefox, mobile, tablet, laptop.

Evaluate websites for fitness for purpose by checking functional requirements and interactions defined in the analysis stage, and revisit implementation if needed to meet the criteria.

Explore data representation through binary concepts, 8-bit values, and mantissa-exponent notation, learn ASCII encoding, and compare bitmapped and vector graphics with essential attributes.

Discover the processor’s key parts—the control unit, the ALU, and registers—and how translators turn code into machine code. Compare interpreters and compilers: line-by-line error reporting versus end-of-run errors.

Explore the environmental impact of computer systems and power-saving practices, including monitor settings and screen timeouts, alongside firewalls and encryption to protect passwords.

Review the four National 5 computing science units—software design and development, database design and development, website design and development, and computer systems—and access curated resources and tools.