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Programming paradigms
Official AQA 7517 section 4.1.2.
0
Objectives
10
Flashcards
10
Questions
76 min
Study time
AqaA LevelComputer ScienceFundamentals of programming
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Programming paradigms1 objectives
- Programming paradigms: Understand the characteristics of the procedural- and object-oriented programming paradigms, and have experience of programming in each.
Procedural-oriented programming1 objectives
- Procedural-oriented programming: Understand the structured approach to program design and construction. Be able to construct and use hierarchy charts when designing programs. Be able to explain the advantages of the structured approach.
Object-oriented programming1 objectives
- Object-oriented programming: Be familiar with the concepts of: • class • object • instantiation • encapsulation • inheritance • aggregation • composition • polymorphism • overriding. Students should know that: • a class defines methods and property/ attribute fields that capture the common behaviours and characteristics of objects • objects based on a class are created using a constructor, implicit or explicit, and a reference to the object assigned to a reference variable of the class type • in the Unified Modelling Language (UML) composition is represented by a black diamond line and aggregation by a white diamond line. Know why the object-oriented paradigm is used. Be aware of the following object-oriented design principles: • encapsulate what varies • favour composition over inheritance • program to interfaces, not implementation. Students would benefit from practical experience of programming to an interface, but will not be explicitly tested on programming to interfaces or be required to program to interfaces in any practical exam. 46 Be able to write object-oriented programs. Practical experience of coding for user-defined classes involving: • abstract, virtual and static methods • inheritance • aggregation • polymorphism • public, private and protected specifiers. Be able to draw and interpret class diagrams. Class diagrams involving single inheritance, composition (black diamond line), aggregation (white diamond line), public (+), private (-) and protected (#) specifiers.
Key terms
Procedural programmingObject-oriented programmingStructured approachHierarchy chartPolymorphismAggregation
Exam tips
- Use a direct comparison: When asked to compare the paradigms, give a characteristic of procedural programming and a corresponding characteristic of object-oriented programming.
- Link each advantage to structure: When explaining an advantage, connect it directly to the use of modules, such as clearer understanding or easier maintenance.
Common mistakes
- Confusing a programming language with a programming paradigm: Describe how the program is organised: procedures or functions in the procedural paradigm, and objects containing data and related operations in the object-oriented paradigm.
- Confusing a hierarchy chart with program code: Explain that a hierarchy chart shows the structure of modules and the relationships between higher-level and lower-level tasks; it does not provide the detailed code or necessarily show exact execution order.
Practice preview
- Which description best matches the procedural programming paradigm?
- Which feature is most closely associated with object-oriented programming?
- A programmer writes a separate procedure to calculate the total cost of an order. Which paradigm is this organisation most directly illustrating?
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