General Guidelines

1. A Cover page or title page – You should always attach a title page to your assignment. Use
previous page as your cover sheet and make sure all the details are accurately filled.
2. Attach this brief as the first section of your assignment.
3. All the assignments should be prepared using a word processing software.
4. All the assignments should be printed on A4 sized papers. Use single side printing.
5. Allow 1” for top, bottom, right margins and 1.25” for the left margin of each page.

Word Processing Rules

1. The font size should be 12 point, and should be in the style of Time New Roman.
2. Use 1.5 line spacing. Left justify all paragraphs.
3. Ensure that all the headings are consistent in terms of the font size and font style.
4. Use footer function in the word processor to insert Your Name, Subject, Assignment No,
and Page Number on each page. This is useful if individual sheets become detached for any
reason.
5. Use word processing application spell check and grammar check function to help editing
your assignment.

Important Points:

1. It is strictly prohibited to use textboxes to add texts in the assignments, except for the
compulsory information. eg: Figures, tables of comparison etc. Adding text boxes in the body
except for the before mentioned compulsory information will result in rejection of your
work.
2. Carefully check the hand in date and the instructions given in the assignment. Late
submissions will not be accepted.
3. Ensure that you give yourself enough time to complete the assignment by the due date.
4. Excuses of any nature will not be accepted for failure to hand in the work on time.
5. You must take responsibility for managing your own time effectively.
6. If you are unable to hand in your assignment on time and have valid reasons such as illness,
you may apply (in writing) for an extension.
7. Failure to achieve at least PASS criteria will result in a REFERRAL grade .
8. Non-submission of work without valid reasons will lead to an automatic RE FERRAL. You will
then be asked to complete an alternative assignment.
9. If you use other people’s work or ideas in your assignment, reference them properly using
HARVARD referencing system to avoid plagiarism. You have to provide both in-text citation
and a reference list.
10. If you are proven to be guilty of plagiarism or any academic misconduct, your grade could be
reduced to A REFERRAL or at worst you could be expelled from the course

Student Declaration
I hereby, declare that I know what plagiarism entails, namely to use another’s work and to present
it as my own without attributing the sources in the correct way. I further understand what it means
to copy another’s work.

1. I know that plagiarism is a punishable offence because it constitutes theft.

2. I understand the plagiarism and copying policy of the Edexcel UK.
3. I know what the consequences will be if I plagiaries or copy another’s work in any of the
assignments for this program.
4. I declare therefore that all work presented by me for every aspects of my program, will be
my own, and where I have made use of another’s work, I will attribute the source in the
correct way.
5. I acknowledge that the attachment of this document signed or not, constitutes a binding
agreement between myself and Edexcel UK.
6. I understand that my assignment will not be considered as submitted if this document is not
attached to the attached.

Student’s Signature: Date:

(Provide E-mail ID) (Provide Submission Date)
Higher National Diploma in Computing
Assignment Brief
Submission Format

This submission will have 3 components

1. Written Report
This submission is in the form of an individual written report. This should be written in a concise, formal
business style using single spacing and font size 12. You are required to make use of headings, paragraphs
and subsections as appropriate, and all work must be supported with research and referenced using the
Harvard referencing system. Please also provide a bibliography using the Harvard referencing system. (The
recommended word count is 1,500–2,000 words for the report excluding annexures)

2. Implemented System (Software)

The student should submit a GUI based system developed using an IDE. The system should connect with a
backend database and should have at least 5 different forms and suitable functionality including insert,
edit and delete of main entities and transaction processing.

3. Presentation
With the submitted system student should do a presentation to demonstrate the system that was
developed. Time allocated is 10 to 15 min. Student may use 5 to 10 PowerPoint slides while doing the
presentation, but live demonstration of the system is required. Evaluator will also check the ability to
modify and debug the system using the IDE.

Unit Learning Outcomes:

LO1. Define basic algorithms to carry out an operation and outline the process of
programming an application.

LO2. Explain the characteristics of procedural, object-orientated and event-driven

programming, conduct an analysis of a suitable Integrated Development
Environment (IDE).

LO3. Implement basic algorithms in code using an IDE.

LO4. Determine the debugging process and explain the importance of a coding
standard
Assignment Brief and Guidance:

Activity 1

A. The Fibonacci numbers are the numbers in the following integer sequence.
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, ……..
In mathematical terms, the sequence Fn of Fibonacci numbers is defined by the recurrence
relation. 
Fn = F n-1 + F n-2

B. Factorial of a non-negative integer, is multiplication of all integers smaller than or equal

to n. For example, factorial of 6 is 6*5*4*3*2*1 which is 720.
n! = n * (n - 1) * …….. 1

Define what an algorithm is and outline the characteristics of a good algorithm. Write the
algorithms to display the Fibonacci series and the factorial value for a given number using
Pseudo code. Determine the steps involved in the process of writing and executing a
program.
Take a sample number and dry run the above two algorithms. Show the outputs at the end
of each iteration and the final output. Examine what Big-O notation is and explain its role in
evaluating efficiencies of algorithms. Write the Python program code for the above two
algorithms and critically evaluate their efficiencies using Big-O notation.

Activity 2

2.1 Explain what is meant by a Programming Paradigm and the main characteristics of
Procedural, Object oriented and Event-driven paradigms and the relationships among
them. Write small snippets of code as example for the above three programming
paradigms using a suitable programming language(s). you also need to critically
evaluate the code samples that you have given above in relation to their structure and
the unique characteristics.

Activity 3 and Activity 4 are based on the following Scenario.

Ayubo Drive is the transport arm of Ayubo Leisure (Pvt) Ltd, an emerging travel & tour
company in Sri Lanka. It owns a fleet of vehicles ranging from cars, SUVs to vans.
The vehicles that it owns are hired or rented with or without a driver. The tariffs are based on
the vehicle type. Some of the vehicle types that it operates are, small car, sedan car, SVUs, Jeep
(WD), 7-seater van and Commuter van. New vehicle types are to be added in the future.

Vehicle rent and hire options are described below.

1. Rent (With or without driver) – For each type of vehicle rates are given per day, per week
and per month. Rate for a driver also given per day. Depending on the rent period the total
rent amount needs to be calculated. For example: if a vehicle is rented for 10 days with a
driver, total amount to be calculated as follows:

Total rent = weeklyRent x 1 + dailyRent x 3 + dailyDriverCost x 10

2. Hire (with driver only) – These are based on packages such as airport drop, airport pickup,
100km per day package, 200km per day package etc. Standard rates are defined for a
package type of a vehicle typeif that is applicable for that type of vehicle.For each package
maximum km limit and maximum number of hours arealso defined. Extra km rate is also
defined which is applicable if they run beyond the allocated km limit for the tour. For day
tours if they exceed max hour limit,a waiting charge is applicable for extra hours. Driver
overnight rate and vehicle night park rate also defined which is applicable for each night
when the vehicle is hired for 2 or more days.

Activity 3

Function 1: Rent calculation.

Return the total rent_value when vehicle_no, rented_date, return_date, with_driver
parameters are sent in. with_driver parameter is set to true or false depending whether the
vehicle is rented with or without driver.

Function 2: Day tour - hire calculation.

Calculate total hire_value when vehicle_no, package_type, start_time, end_time,
start_km_reading, end_km_reading parameters are sent in. Should return base_hire_charge,
waiting_charge and extra_km_charge as output parameters.

Function 3: Long tour - hire calculation.

Calculate total hire_value when vehicle_no, package_type, start_date, end_date,
start_km_reading, end_km_reading parameters are sent in. Should return base_hire_charge,
overnight_stay_charge and extra_km_charge as output parameters.

Write suable algorithms for vehicle tariff calculation for rents and hires. Ideally 3
functions should be developed for this purpose as above. Use the visual studio IDE
(using C#.net) to Implement the above algorithms and design the suitable database
structure for keeping the tariffs for vehicle types and different packages which must be
used for implementing the above functions.
Analyze the features of an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) and explain how
those features help in application development. Evaluate the use of the Visual
 StudioIDE for your application development contrasted with not using an IDE.

Activity 4

4.1 Design and build a small system to calculate vehicle hire amounts and record them in a
database for customer billing and management reporting forAyubo drive. This includes the
completing the database design started in 3.2 and implementing one or more GUIs for
vehicle, vehicle type, and package add/edit/delete functions. It essentially requires an
interface for hire calculation and recording function described above. Generating customer
reports and customer invoices are not required for this course work.

4.2 Explain debugging process and the features available in Visual studio IDE for debugging
your code more easily. Evaluate how you used the debugging process to develop more
secure, robust application with examples.

4.3 Outline the coding standards you have used in your application development. Critically
evaluate why a coding standard is necessary for the team as well as for the individual.
Grading Rubric

Grading Criteria Achieved Feedback

LO1 Define basic algorithms to carry out an operation

and outline the process of programming an
application.

P1Provide a definition of what an algorithm is and outline

the process in building an application.

M1Determine the steps taken from writing code to

execution.

D1 Evaluate the implementation of an algorithm in a suitable

language. Evaluate the relationship between the written
algorithm and the code variant

LO2 Explain the characteristics of procedural,

objectorientated and event-driven programming,
conduct an analysis of a suitable Integrated
Development Environment (IDE)

P2Give explanations of what procedural, objectorientated,

and eventdriven paradigms are; their characteristics and the
relationship between them.

M2 Compare and contrast the procedural, object

orientated and event driven paradigms used in given
source code of an application

D2Critically evaluate the source code of an application which

implements the programming paradigms, in terms of the
code structure and characteristics.

LO3Implement basic algorithms in code using an IDE.

P3Write a program that implements an algorithm using an
IDE.

M3Use the IDE to manage the development process of the

program.

D3Evaluate the use of an IDE for development of

applications contrasted with not using an IDE.

LO4 Determine the debugging process and explain

the importance of a coding standard

P4Explain the debugging process and explain the debugging

facilities available in the IDE.

P5Outline the coding standard you have used in your code.

M4Evaluate how the debugging process can be used to

help develop more secure, robust applications.

D4 Critically evaluate why a coding standard is necessary in

a team as well as for the individual.