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0% found this document useful (0 votes)

27 views540 pages

Computer Science Unit 2 Jan19 - Oct 23

Uploaded by

KRISHAY Sanghani

We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.

Available Formats

Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

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Cambridge Assessment International Education

Cambridge International Advanced Subsidiary and Advanced Level

* 3 0 2 5 5 8 8 3 4 7 *

COMPUTER SCIENCE 9608/21

Paper 2 Fundamental Problem-solving and Programming Skills May/June 2019
2 hours
Candidates answer on the Question Paper.
No Additional Materials are required.
No calculators allowed.

READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST

Write your centre number, candidate number and name in the spaces at the top of this page.
Write in dark blue or black pen.
You may use an HB pencil for any diagrams, graphs or rough working.
Do not use staples, paper clips, glue or correction fluid.
DO NOT WRITE IN ANY BARCODES.

Answer all questions.

No marks will be awarded for using brand names of software packages or hardware.

At the end of the examination, fasten all your work securely together.
The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question.

The maximum number of marks is 75.

This document consists of 16 printed pages.

DC (ST) 163545/2
© UCLES 2019 [Turn over
2

1 (a) (i) Algorithms may be expressed using four basic constructs. One construct is sequence.

Complete the following table for two other constructs.

Construct Pseudocode example

..................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................
.........................
..................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................

[4]

(ii) Simple algorithms usually consist of input, process and output.

Complete the table by placing ticks (‘3’) in the relevant boxes.

Pseudocode statement Input Process Output

Temp SensorValue * Factor
WRITEFILE "LogFile.txt", TextLine
WRITEFILE "LogFile.txt", MyName & MyIDNumber
READFILE "AddressBook.txt", NextLine

[4]

© UCLES 2019 9608/21/M/J/19

(b) Program variables have values as follows:

Variable Value
Title "101 tricks with spaghetti"
Version 'C'
Author "Eric Peapod"
PackSize 4
WeightEach 6.2
Paperback TRUE

(i) Evaluate each expression in the following table.

If an expression is invalid, write ERROR.

For the built-in functions list, refer to the Appendix on page 16.

Expression Evaluates to
MID(Title, 5, 3) & RIGHT(Author, 3)
INT(WeightEach * PackSize)
PackSize >= 4 AND WeightEach < 6.2
LEFT(Author, ASC(Version) - 65)
RIGHT(Title, (LENGTH(Author) – 6))
[5]

(ii) Programming languages support different data types.

Give an appropriate data type for the following variables from part (b).

Variable Data type

Title
Version
PackSize
WeightEach
Paperback
[5]

(c) White-box and black-box are two types of testing. In white-box testing, data are chosen to
test every possible path through the program.

Explain how data are chosen in black-box testing.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

© UCLES 2019 9608/21/M/J/19 [Turn over

2 (a) One type of loop that may be found in an algorithm is a count-controlled loop.

State one other type and explain when it should be used.

Type ..........................................................................................................................................

Explanation ...............................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[2]

(b) Chris is asked to work on a program that has been coded in a language he is not familiar
with.

He has identified that the program contains the constructs: sequence, iteration and selection.

Identify three other features of the program that he should expect to recognise.

Feature 1 ..................................................................................................................................

Feature 2 ..................................................................................................................................

Feature 3 ..................................................................................................................................
[3]

ON x {
15: Call ProcA
20: y := 0
25: y := 99
NONE: Call ProcError
}

Identify the type of control structure and describe the function of the code.

Control structure .......................................................................................................................

Description ................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[3]

© UCLES 2019 9608/21/M/J/19

3 (a) A student is developing an algorithm to search through a 1D array of 100 elements. Each
element of the array, Result, contains a REAL value.

The algorithm will output:

• the average value of all the elements

• the number of elements with a value of zero.

The structured English description of the algorithm is:

1. SET Total value to 0

2. SET Zero count to 0
3. SELECT the first element
4. ADD value of element to Total value
5. IF element value is 0 then INCREMENT Zero count
6. REPEAT from step 4 for next element, until element is last element
7. SET Average to Total / 100
8. OUTPUT a suitable message and Average
9. OUTPUT a suitable message and Zero count

Write pseudocode for this algorithm.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [7]

© UCLES 2019 9608/21/M/J/19 [Turn over

(b) The student decides to change the algorithm and implement it as a procedure, ScanArray(),
which will be called with three parameters.

ScanArray(AverageValue, ZeroCount, ArrayName)

ScanArray() will modify the first two parameters so that the new values are available to the
calling program or module.

Write the pseudocode procedure header for ScanArray().

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [4]

© UCLES 2019 9608/21/M/J/19

4 The following pseudocode is a string handling function.

For the built-in functions list, refer to the Appendix on page 16.

FUNCTION Clean(InString : STRING) RETURNS STRING

DECLARE NewString : STRING

DECLARE Index : INTEGER
DECLARE AfterSpace : BOOLEAN
DECLARE NextChar : CHAR
CONSTANT Space = ' '

AfterSpace FALSE
NewString ""

FOR Index 1 TO LENGTH(InString)

NextChar MID(InString, Index, 1)
IF AfterSpace = TRUE
THEN
IF NextChar <> Space
THEN
NewString NewString & NextChar
AfterSpace FALSE
ENDIF
ELSE
NewString NewString & NextChar
IF NextChar = Space
THEN
AfterSpace TRUE
ENDIF
ENDIF
ENDFOR

RETURN NewString

ENDFUNCTION

© UCLES 2019 9608/21/M/J/19

(a) (i) Complete the trace table by performing a dry run of the function when it is called as
follows:

Result Clean("X∇∇∇Y∇and∇∇Z")

The symbol '∇' represents a space character. Use this symbol to represent a space
character in the trace table.

Index AfterSpace NextChar NewString

[6]

(ii) State the effect of the function Clean().

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

© UCLES 2019 9608/21/M/J/19 [Turn over

(iii) The pseudocode is changed so that the variable AfterSpace is initialised to TRUE.

Explain what will happen if the function is called as follows:

Result Clean("∇∇X∇∇∇Y∇and∇∇Z")

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [2]

(b) The following pseudocode declares and initialises an array.

DECLARE Code : ARRAY[1:100] OF STRING

DECLARE Index : INTEGER

FOR Index 1 TO 100

Code[Index] ""
ENDFOR

The design of the program is changed as follows:

• the array needs to be two dimensional, with 500 rows and 4 columns
• the elements of the array need to be initialised to the string "Empty"

Re-write the pseudocode to implement the new design.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [4]

............................................................................................................................................. [1]

© UCLES 2019 9608/21/M/J/19

5 (a) Programming languages usually contain a range of built-in functions, such as a random
number generator.

State three advantages of using built-in functions.

1 ................................................................................................................................................

2 ................................................................................................................................................

3 ................................................................................................................................................
[3]

(b) A student is learning about random number generation.

She is investigating how many times the random function needs to be called before every
number in a given series is generated.

She is using pseudocode to develop a procedure, TestRand(), which will:

• use the random number function to generate an integer value in the range 1 to 50
inclusive
• count how many times the random function needs to be called before all 50 values have
been generated
• output a message giving the number of times the random function was called.

© UCLES 2019 9608/21/M/J/19

Write pseudocode for the procedure TestRand().

For the built-in functions list, refer to the Appendix on page 16.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [8]

© UCLES 2019 9608/21/M/J/19 [Turn over

6 A text file, MyCDs.txt, stores information relating to a Compact Disc (CD) collection. Information
about each CD is stored on three separate lines in the file as follows:

Line 1: <Artist Name>

Line 2: <CD Title>
Line 3: <Storage Location>

Information is stored as data strings.

A section of the file is shown:

File line Data

100 "Green Floyd"
101 "Bowlful of Cereal"
102 "Shelf 4"
103 "Strolling Bones"
104 "Exile on Station Road"
105 "Box 12"

(a) A program, CDOrganiser, will be written to manage the stored information. The program will
consist of three modules: AddCD, FindCD and RemoveCD.

Give three reasons why it is good practice to construct the program using modules.

1 ................................................................................................................................................

2 ................................................................................................................................................

3 ................................................................................................................................................
[3]

(b) The module, FindCD(), will check whether a given CD exists in the collection. The module
will be implemented as a function.

The function will:

• be called with two strings as parameters, representing the artist name and CD title
• return a string that gives the storage location, or an empty string if the given CD has not
been found.

Permission to reproduce items where third-party owned material protected by copyright is included has been sought and cleared where possible. Every
reasonable effort has been made by the publisher (UCLES) to trace copyright holders, but if any items requiring clearance have unwittingly been included, the
publisher will be pleased to make amends at the earliest possible opportunity.

To avoid the issue of disclosure of answer-related information to candidates, all copyright acknowledgements are reproduced online in the Cambridge
Assessment International Education Copyright Acknowledgements Booklet. This is produced for each series of examinations and is freely available to download
at www.cambridgeinternational.org after the live examination series.

Cambridge Assessment International Education is part of the Cambridge Assessment Group. Cambridge Assessment is the brand name of the University of
Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), which itself is a department of the University of Cambridge.

© UCLES 2019 9608/21/M/J/19

Write program code for the function FindCD().

Visual Basic and Pascal: You should include the declaration statements for variables.
Python: You should show a comment statement for each variable used with its data type.

Programming language ............................................................................................................

Program code

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [8]
© UCLES 2019 9608/21/M/J/19 [Turn over
16

Appendix

Built-in functions (pseudocode)

Each function returns an error if the function call is not properly formed.

MID(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER, y : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns a string of length y starting at position x from ThisString

Example: MID("ABCDEFGH", 2, 3) returns "BCD"

LENGTH(ThisString : STRING) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer value representing the length of ThisString

Example: LENGTH("Happy Days") returns 10

LEFT(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns leftmost x characters from ThisString

Example: LEFT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns "ABC"

RIGHT(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns rightmost x characters from ThisString

Example: RIGHT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns "FGH"

INT(x : REAL) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer part of x

Example: INT(27.5415) returns 27

ASC(ThisChar : CHAR) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the ASCII value of character ThisChar

Example: ASC('A') returns 65

RAND(x : INTEGER) RETURNS REAL

returns a real number in the range 0 to x (x not inclusive).

Example: RAND(87) could return 35.43

Operators (pseudocode)

© UCLES 2019 9608/21/M/J/19

Cambridge Assessment International Education
Cambridge International Advanced Subsidiary and Advanced Level
* 2 5 4 3 3 5 7 7 0 8 *

COMPUTER SCIENCE 9608/22

Paper 2 Fundamental Problem-solving and Programming Skills May/June 2019
2 hours
Candidates answer on the Question Paper.
No Additional Materials are required.
No calculators allowed.

READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST

Answer all questions.

No marks will be awarded for using brand names of software packages or hardware.

At the end of the examination, fasten all your work securely together.
The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question.

The maximum number of marks is 75.

This document consists of 16 printed pages.

DC (ST/CT) 163546/4
© UCLES 2019 [Turn over
2

1 (a) Algorithms are used in computer programming.

(i) Explain the term algorithm.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [2]

(ii) Algorithms usually consist of three different types of activity.

Complete the table below.

The third activity type is given.

Activity type Pseudocode example

..................................................................................................................
Output
..................................................................................................................

[5]

© UCLES 2019 9608/22/M/J/19

(b) Program variables have values as follows:

Variable Value
Married 03/04/1982
ID "M1234"
MiddleInitial 'J'
Height 5.6
IsMarried TRUE
Children 2

(i) Evaluate each expression in the following table.

If an expression is invalid, write ERROR.

For the built-in functions list, refer to the Appendix on page 16.

Expression Evaluates to
STRING_TO_NUM(RIGHT(ID, 3))
INT(Height * Children)
IsMarried AND Married < 31/12/1999
LENGTH(ID & NUM_TO_STRING(Height))
MID(ID, INT(Height) – Children, 2)
[5]

(ii) Programming languages support different data types.

Give an appropriate data type for the following variables from part (b).

Variable Data type

Married
ID
MiddleInitial
Height
IsMarried
[5]

© UCLES 2019 9608/22/M/J/19 [Turn over

2 (a) (i) Procedures and functions are examples of subroutines.

State a reason for using subroutines in the construction of an algorithm.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

(ii) Give three advantages of using subroutines in a program.

1 ........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

2 ........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

3 ........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[3]

(iii) The following pseudocode uses the subroutine DoSomething().

Answer 23 + DoSomething("Yellow")

State whether the subroutine is a function or a procedure. Justify your answer.

Type of subroutine .............................................................................................................

Justification .......................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[2]

(b) The program development cycle involves writing, translating and testing a high-level language
program.

Describe these activities with reference to each of the following:

• editor
• translator
• debugger

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [3]
© UCLES 2019 9608/22/M/J/19
5

WHEN Result < 20

{
Call ResetSensor(3)
Result := GetSensor(3)
}

Identify the type of control structure and describe the function of the code.

Control structure .......................................................................................................................

Function of code .......................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[3]

© UCLES 2019 9608/22/M/J/19 [Turn over

3 The following structure chart shows the relationship between three modules.

TopLevel

B
D

A C
E

SubA SubB

Parameters A to E have the following data types:

A, D : STRING
C : CHAR
B, E : INTEGER

(a) (i) Write the pseudocode header for module SubA().

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [3]

(ii) Write the pseudocode header for module SubB().

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [3]

(b) Module hierarchy and parameters are two features that may be represented on a structure
chart.

State two other features than can be represented.

Feature 1 ..................................................................................................................................

Feature 2 ..................................................................................................................................
[2]

© UCLES 2019 9608/22/M/J/19

4 The following is pseudocode for a string handling function.

For the built-in functions list, refer to the Appendix on page 16.

FUNCTION Search(InString : STRING) RETURNS INTEGER

DECLARE NewString : STRING

DECLARE Index : INTEGER
DECLARE NextChar : CHAR
DECLARE Selected : INTEGER
DECLARE NewValue : INTEGER

NewString '0'
Selected 0

FOR Index 1 TO LENGTH(InString)

NextChar MID(InString, Index, 1)

IF NextChar < '0' OR NextChar > '9'
THEN
NewValue STRING_TO_NUM(NewString)
IF NewValue > Selected
THEN
Selected NewValue
ENDIF
NewString '0'
ELSE
NewString NewString & NextChar
ENDIF

ENDFOR

RETURN Selected

ENDFUNCTION

© UCLES 2019 9608/22/M/J/19

(a) (i) The following assignment calls the Search() function:

Result Search("12∇34∇5∇∇39")

Complete the following trace table by performing a dry run of this function call.

The symbol '∇' represents a space character. Use this symbol to represent a space
character in the trace table.

Index NextChar Selected NewValue NewString

[5]

(ii) State the value returned by the function when it is called as shown in part (a)(i).

....................................... [1]

© UCLES 2019 9608/22/M/J/19 [Turn over

(b) There is an error in the algorithm. When called as shown in part (a)(i), the function did not
return the largest value as expected.

(i) Explain why this error occurred when the program called the function.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [2]

(ii) Describe how the algorithm could be amended to correct the error.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [2]

5 A student is learning about text files. She wants to write a program to count the number of lines in
a file.

(a) Use structured English to describe an algorithm she could use.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [3]

© UCLES 2019 9608/22/M/J/19

(b) A procedure, CountLines(), is being written to count the number of lines in a text file. The
procedure will:

• take a filename as a string parameter

• count the number of lines in the file
• output a single suitable message that includes the total number of lines.

Write pseudocode for the procedure CountLines().

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [6]

© UCLES 2019 9608/22/M/J/19 [Turn over

6 Nadine is developing a program to store the ID and preferred name for each student in a school.
For example, student Pradeep uses the preferred name “Prad”.

The program will:

1. prompt and input a valid user ID and a preferred name

2. write the user ID and preferred name to one of two files
3. allow the user to end the program or repeat from step 1.

The program will consist of three separate modules. Each module will be implemented using
either a procedure or a function.

Nadine has defined the modules as follows:

Module Description
TopLevel() • Call GetInfo() to obtain a string containing a valid user ID and a
preferred name
• Call WriteInfo() to write the string to either File1.txt or
File2.txt depending on the first character of the user ID as follows:
○ ‘A’ to ‘M’: writes to File1.txt
○ ‘N’ to ‘Z’: writes to File2.txt
For example, a string with a user ID of "G1234" writes to File1.txt
• End the program if the file write was unsuccessful
• Input (Y/N) to either repeat for the next user ID or to end the program
GetInfo() • Input a user ID and repeat until the user ID is valid
• Input a preferred name. This will be an empty string if no preferred
name is input.
• Concatenate the user ID and preferred name using a '*' character as
a separator and return this string
WriteInfo() • Open the file
• Append the concatenated string to the file
• Close the file
• Return a Boolean value:
○ TRUE if the file write was successful
○ FALSE if the file write failed, for example, if the disk was full

A valid user ID:

• is five characters in length

• has a single upper case alphabetic character followed by four numeric characters, for
example “G1234”.

Nadine has decided that global variables and nested modules must not be used.

Nadine wants all inputs to have suitable prompts.

© UCLES 2019 9608/22/M/J/19

(a) Write program code for the module GetInfo().

Visual Basic and Pascal: You should include the declaration statements for variables.
Python: You should show a comment statement for each variable used with its data type.

Programming language ............................................................................................................

Program code

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [8]
© UCLES 2019 9608/22/M/J/19 [Turn over
14

(b) Write program code for the module TopLevel().

Visual Basic and Pascal: You should include the declaration statements for variables.
Python: You should show a comment statement for each variable used with its data type.

Programming language ............................................................................................................

Program code

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [8]
© UCLES 2019 9608/22/M/J/19
15

(c) Write pseudocode for the module declaration of WriteInfo().

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [3]

© UCLES 2019 9608/22/M/J/19

Appendix

Built-in functions (pseudocode)

Each function returns an error if the function call is not properly formed.

MID(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER, y : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns a string of length y starting at position x from ThisString

Example: MID("ABCDEFGH", 2, 3) returns "BCD"

LENGTH(ThisString : STRING) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer value representing the length of ThisString

Example: LENGTH("Happy Days") returns 10

LEFT(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns leftmost x characters from ThisString

Example: LEFT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns "ABC"

RIGHT(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns rightmost x characters from ThisString

Example: RIGHT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns "FGH"

INT(x : REAL) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer part of x

Example: INT(27.5415) returns 27

NUM_TO_STRING(x : REAL) RETURNS STRING

returns a string representation of a numeric value.

Example: NUM_TO_STRING(87.5) returns "87.5"

Note: This function will also work if x is of type INTEGER

STRING_TO_NUM(x : STRING) RETURNS REAL

returns a numeric representation of a string.

Example: STRING_TO_NUM("23.45") returns 23.45

Note: This function will also work if x is of type CHAR

Operators (pseudocode)

Operator Description

Concatenates (joins) two strings

&
Example: "Summer" & " " & "Pudding" produces "Summer Pudding"

Performs a logical AND on two Boolean values

AND
Example: TRUE AND FALSE produces FALSE

Performs a logical OR on two Boolean values

OR
Example: TRUE OR FALSE produces TRUE

© UCLES 2019 9608/22/M/J/19

Cambridge Assessment International Education
Cambridge International Advanced Subsidiary and Advanced Level
* 9 9 8 3 8 0 6 9 2 4 *

COMPUTER SCIENCE 9608/23

Paper 2 Fundamental Problem-solving and Programming Skills May/June 2019
2 hours
Candidates answer on the Question Paper.
No Additional Materials are required.
No calculators allowed.

READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST

Answer all questions.

No marks will be awarded for using brand names of software packages or hardware.

At the end of the examination, fasten all your work securely together.
The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question.

The maximum number of marks is 75.

This document consists of 18 printed pages and 2 blank pages.

DC (ST) 163547/2
© UCLES 2019 [Turn over
2

1 The following pseudocode searches for the longest run of identical characters in the array
Message.

DECLARE Message : ARRAY[1:100] OF CHAR

PROCEDURE Search()

DECLARE Index : INTEGER

DECLARE ThisChar : CHAR
DECLARE ThisRun : INTEGER
DECLARE LongRun : INTEGER

ThisChar Message[1]
ThisRun 1
LongRun 1

FOR Index 2 TO 100

IF Message[Index] = ThisChar
THEN
ThisRun ThisRun + 1
ELSE
ThisChar Message[Index]
IF ThisRun > LongRun
THEN
LongRun ThisRun
ENDIF
ThisRun 1
ENDIF

ENDFOR

OUTPUT "The longest run was " , LongRun

ENDPROCEDURE

© UCLES 2019 9608/23/M/J/19

(a) Draw a program flowchart to represent the procedure Search().

Variable and array declarations are not required in program flowcharts.

[6]
© UCLES 2019 9608/23/M/J/19 [Turn over
4

(b) (i) Program variables have values as follows:

Variable Value
MeltingPoint 180.5
Soluble FALSE
Attempt 3
ProductName "Mushroom Compost"
Version 'A'
ProductID "BZ27-4"

Evaluate each expression in the following table.

If an expression is invalid, write ERROR.

For the built-in functions list, refer to the Appendix on page 18.

Expression Evaluates to
STRING_TO_NUM(MID(ProductID, 3, 2)) + 4
INT(MeltingPoint / 2)
Soluble AND Attempt > 3
LENGTH(ProductID & NUM_TO_STRING(MeltingPoint))
RIGHT(ProductName, 4) & MID(ProductName, 5, 4)
[5]

(ii) Programming languages support different data types.

Give an appropriate data type for the following variables from part (b)(i).

Variable Data type

MeltingPoint

Soluble

Attempt

Version

ProductID
[5]

© UCLES 2019 9608/23/M/J/19

2 (a) A student is learning about arrays. She wants to write a program to:

• search through a 1D array of 100 elements

• count the number of elements that contain the string “Empty”
• output the number of elements containing “Empty” together with a suitable message.

Use structured English to describe the algorithm she could use.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [5]

(b) She uses the process of stepwise refinement to develop her algorithm.

Explain this process.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [3]

© UCLES 2019 9608/23/M/J/19 [Turn over

(c) The student is learning about file handling.

She has been told that there are different file modes that can be used when opening a text
file. She wants to make sure that the existing contents are not deleted when the file is opened.

Identify two file modes she could use and describe their use.

Mode .........................................

Description ................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Mode .........................................

Description ................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[4]

(d) The student has completed the design of her program and is ready to use an Integrated
Development Environment (IDE).

Describe the features of an IDE that she can use to write, translate and test her program.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [3]

© UCLES 2019 9608/23/M/J/19

3 The following pseudocode represents three separate modules from an algorithm design. The
module contents are not shown.

FUNCTION Search(AA : INTEGER, BB : STRING) RETURNS INTEGER

ENDFUNCTION

FUNCTION Allocate() RETURNS BOOLEAN

ENDFUNCTION

PROCEDURE Enable(CC : INTEGER, BYREF DD : INTEGER)

ENDPROCEDURE

A fourth module, Setup(), refers to the previous three modules as follows:

PROCEDURE Setup()

WHILE Authorised = TRUE

ThisValue Search(27, "Thursday")

Authorised Allocate()

CALL Enable(ThisValue, 4)

ENDWHILE

ENDPROCEDURE

© UCLES 2019 9608/23/M/J/19

(a) Draw a structure chart to show the four modules and the parameters that these pass between
them.

[6]

(b) The algorithm is implemented in a high-level language. Changes are required and the
program is given to Albert, who is an experienced programmer. He is not familiar with the
language that has been used.

Explain why Albert would be able to understand the program.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

© UCLES 2019 9608/23/M/J/19 [Turn over

4 A program is being written to process student information. One task involves inputting the names
of all students in a class.

A first attempt at the pseudocode for this task is as follows:

DECLARE Name1 : STRING

DECLARE Name2 : STRING
DECLARE Name3 : STRING

DECLARE Name40 : STRING

OUTPUT "Input the name for student 1"

INPUT Name1
OUTPUT "Input the name for student 2"
INPUT Name2
OUTPUT "Input the name for student 3"
INPUT Name3

OUTPUT "Input the name for student 40"

INPUT Name40

(a) Re-write the pseudocode to perform this task in a more efficient way, to allow for the class of
40 students.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [4]

(b) Give one advantage of your solution.

............................................................................................................................................. [1]

© UCLES 2019 9608/23/M/J/19

5 Nigel is learning about string handling. He wants to write code to count the number of words in a
given string. A word is defined as a sequence of alphabetic characters that is separated by one or
more space characters.

His first attempt at writing an algorithm in pseudocode is as follows:

PROCEDURE CountWords(Message : STRING)

DECLARE NumWords : INTEGER

DECLARE Index : INTEGER
CONSTANT Space = ' '

NumWords 0

FOR Index 1 TO LENGTH(Message)

IF MID(Message, Index, 1) = Space
THEN
NumWords NumWords + 1
ENDIF
ENDFOR

OUTPUT "Number of words : " , NumWords

ENDPROCEDURE

For the built-in functions list, refer to the Appendix on page 18.

His first attempt is incorrect. He will use white-box testing to help him to identify the problem.

(a) (i) State the purpose of white-box testing.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

(ii) Dry running the code is often used in white-box testing. In this method, the programmer
records the values of variables as they change.

Identify what the programmer would normally use to record the changes.

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

© UCLES 2019 9608/23/M/J/19

(b) (i) Write a test string containing two words that gives the output:

Number of words : 2

Use the symbol '∇' to represent each space character in your test string.

Explain why the algorithm gives the output shown above.

String .................................................................................................................................

Explanation .......................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[3]

(ii) Nigel tested the procedure with the strings:

String 1: "Red∇and∇Yellow"
String 2: "Green∇∇and∇∇Pink∇"

Give the output that is produced for each of the strings.

Describe the changes that would need to be made to the algorithm to give the correct
output in each case.

Do not write pseudocode or program code.

String 1 ..............................................................................................................................

Description ........................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

String 2 ..............................................................................................................................

Description ........................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[6]

© UCLES 2019 9608/23/M/J/19 [Turn over

6 A text file, StudentContact.txt, contains a list of names and telephone numbers of students
in a school. Not all students in the school have provided a contact telephone number. In this case,
their name will not be in the file.

Each line of the file is stored as a string that contains a name and telephone number, separated by
the asterisk character ('*') as follows:

<Name>'*'<TelNumber>, for example:

"Bill Smith*081234567"

A 1D array, ClassList, contains the names of students in a particular class. The array consists
of 40 elements of string data type. You can assume that student names are unique.
Unused elements contain the empty string "".

A program is to be written to produce a new text file, ClassContact.txt, containing student

names and numbers for all students in a particular class.

For each name contained in the ClassList array, the program will:

• search the StudentContact.txt file

• copy the matching string into ClassContact.txt if the name is found
• write the name together with “*No number” into ClassContact.txt if the name is not found.

The program will be implemented as three modules. The description of these is as follows:

Module Description
ProcessArray() • Check each element of the array:
○ Read the student name from the array
○ Ignore unused elements
○ Call SearchFile() with the student name
○ If the student name is found, call AddToFile() to
write the student details to the class file
○ If the student name is not found, call AddToFile()
to write a new string to the class file, formed as
follows:
<Name>“*No number”
• Return the number of students who have not provided a
telephone number
SearchFile() • Search for a given student name at the start of each line
in the file StudentContact.txt:
○ If the search string is found, return the text line from
StudentContact.txt
○ If the search string is not found, return an empty
string
AddToFile() • Append the given string to a specified file, for example,
AddToFile(StringName, FileName)

© UCLES 2019 9608/23/M/J/19

(a) Write program code for the module SearchFile().

Visual Basic and Pascal: You should include the declaration statements for variables.
Python: You should show a comment statement for each variable used with its data type.

Programming language ............................................................................................................

Program code

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [8]
© UCLES 2019 9608/23/M/J/19 [Turn over
16

(b) Write pseudocode for the module ProcessArray().

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [9]

© UCLES 2019 9608/23/M/J/19

• an array
• a string representing the name of a class contact file

It will still return the number of students who have not provided a contact telephone number.

Write program code for the header (declaration) of the modified ProcessArray().

Programming language ............................................................................................................

Program code

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [3]

© UCLES 2019 9608/23/M/J/19 [Turn over

Appendix

Built-in functions (pseudocode)

Each function returns an error if the function call is not properly formed.

MID(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER, y : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns a string of length y starting at position x from ThisString

Example: MID("ABCDEFGH", 2, 3) returns "BCD"

LENGTH(ThisString : STRING) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer value representing the length of ThisString

Example: LENGTH("Happy Days") returns 10

LEFT(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns leftmost x characters from ThisString

Example: LEFT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns "ABC"

RIGHT(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns rightmost x characters from ThisString

Example: RIGHT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns "FGH"

INT(x : REAL) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer part of x

Example: INT(27.5415) returns 27

NUM_TO_STRING(x : REAL) RETURNS STRING

returns a string representation of a numeric value.

Example: NUM_TO_STRING(x) returns "87.5" if x has the value 87.5

Note: This function will also work if x is of type INTEGER

STRING_TO_NUM(x : STRING) RETURNS REAL

returns a numeric representation of a string.

Example: STRING_TO_NUM(x) returns 23.45 if x has the value "23.45"

Note: This function will also work if x is of type CHAR

Operators (pseudocode)

Operator Description
Concatenates (joins) two strings
&
Example: "Summer" & " " & "Pudding" produces "Summer Pudding"
Performs a logical AND on two Boolean values
AND
Example: TRUE AND FALSE produces FALSE
Performs a logical OR on two Boolean values
OR
Example: TRUE OR FALSE produces TRUE
© UCLES 2019 9608/23/M/J/19
Cambridge Assessment International Education
Cambridge International Advanced Subsidiary and Advanced Level
* 9 7 4 4 6 8 1 1 6 1 *

COMPUTER SCIENCE 9608/21

Paper 2 Fundamental Problem-solving and Programming Skills October/November 2019
2 hours
Candidates answer on the Question Paper.
No Additional Materials are required.
No calculators allowed.

READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST

Answer all questions.

No marks will be awarded for using brand names of software packages or hardware.

At the end of the examination, fasten all your work securely together.
The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question.

The maximum number of marks is 75.

This document consists of 17 printed pages and 3 blank pages.

DC (ST) 171120/3
© UCLES 2019 [Turn over
2

1 Study the following pseudocode.

FUNCTION Search() RETURNS INTEGER

DECLARE N, C : INTEGER
DECLARE V, L : REAL
V GetLevel()
L V * 1.34
C 0
FOR N 1 TO 10
V GetLevel()
IF V > L
THEN
C C + 1
ENDIF
ENDFOR
OUTPUT "Process complete"
RETURN C
ENDFUNCTION

(a) (i) This pseudocode lacks features that would make it easier to read and understand.

State three such features.

Feature 1 ...........................................................................................................................

Feature 2 ...........................................................................................................................

Feature 3 ...........................................................................................................................
[3]

© UCLES 2019 9608/21/O/N/19

(ii) Draw a program flowchart to represent the algorithm implemented in the pseudocode.
Variable declarations are not required in program flowcharts.

[5]

© UCLES 2019 9608/21/O/N/19 [Turn over

(b) (i) Programming languages support different data types.

Complete the table by giving a suitable data type for each example value.

Example value Data type

"NOT TRUE"

− 4.5

NOT FALSE

132

[4]

(ii) Evaluate each expression in the following table.

If an expression is invalid then write ‘ERROR’.

Refer to the Appendix on page 16–17 for the list of built-in functions and operators.

Expression Evaluates to

LEFT("Start", 3) & RIGHT("Apple", 3)

MID("sample", 3, 5)

NUM_TO_STRING(12.3 * 2)

INT(STRING_TO_NUM("53.4")) + 7

[4]

© UCLES 2019 9608/21/O/N/19

2 (a) A structure chart is often used in modular program design. One feature shown is the sequence
of module execution.

State four other features that may be shown.

Feature 1 ..................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Feature 2 ..................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Feature 3 ..................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Feature 4 ..................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[4]

(b) Identify and describe one feature of an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that can
help with program presentation.

Feature .....................................................................................................................................

Description ................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[2]

(c) By value is one method of passing a parameter to a subroutine.

Identify and describe the other method.

Method ......................................................................................................................................

Description ................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[2]

(d) Explain the term adaptive maintenance.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]
© UCLES 2019 9608/21/O/N/19 [Turn over
6

3 The following is a function design in pseudocode.

Line numbers are given for reference only.

10 FUNCTION Check(InString : STRING) RETURNS BOOLEAN

11
12 DECLARE NumDots : INTEGER
13 DECLARE Index : INTEGER
14 DECLARE NumOthers : INTEGER
15
16 NumDots 0
17 NumOthers 0
18 Index 1
19
20 WHILE NumDots < 3 AND Index <= LENGTH(InString)
21
22 IF MID(InString, Index, 1) = '.'
23 THEN
24 NumDots NumDots + 1
25 ELSE
26 NumOthers NumOthers + 1
27 ENDIF
28 Index Index + 1
29
30 ENDWHILE
31
32 IF NumDots = NumOthers
33 THEN
34 RETURN TRUE
35 ELSE
36 RETURN FALSE
37 ENDIF
38
39 ENDFUNCTION

© UCLES 2019 9608/21/O/N/19

Study the pseudocode. Identify the relevant features in the following table.

Refer to the Appendix on pages 16–17 for the list of built-in functions and operators.

Feature Answer

The number of the line containing a variable being incremented

The range of line numbers containing a pre-condition loop

The number of initialisation statements

The number of the line containing a logical operator

The range of line numbers containing a selection statement

The name of a built-in function

The name of a parameter

[7]

© UCLES 2019 9608/21/O/N/19 [Turn over

4 A student is developing a program to count how many times each character of the alphabet (A to Z)
occurs in a given string. Upper case and lower case characters will be counted as the same. The
string may contain non-alphabetic characters, which should be ignored.

The program will:

• check each character in the string to count how many times each alphabetic character occurs
• store the count for each alphabetic character in a 1D array
• output each count together with the corresponding character.

(a) The student has written a structured English description of the algorithm:

1. START at the beginning of the string

2. SELECT a character from the string
3. CONVERT the character to upper case
4. CHECK whether the character is alphabetic and INCREMENT as required.
5. REPEAT from step 2 until last character has been checked
6. OUTPUT a suitable message giving the count of each alphabetic character

Step 4 above is not described in sufficient detail.

The student decides to apply a process to increase the level of detail given in step 4.

State the name of the process and use this process to write step 4 in more detail. Use
structured English for your answer.

Process .....................................................................................................................................

Structured English ....................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[4]

© UCLES 2019 9608/21/O/N/19

(b) Write pseudocode to implement the program.

You should note the following:

• InString contains the string to be checked. It has been assigned a value.

• The elements of the array Result have all been initialised to zero.
• The ASCII value of letter ‘A’ is 65.

You should assume the following lines of pseudocode have been written:

DECLARE InString : STRING

DECLARE Result : ARRAY [1:26] OF INTEGER

Declare any further variables you use. Do not implement the code as a subroutine.

Refer to the Appendix on pages 16–17 for the list of built-in functions and operators.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [7]

© UCLES 2019 9608/21/O/N/19 [Turn over

5 The following pseudocode checks whether a string is a valid password.

FUNCTION CheckPassword(InString : STRING) RETURNS BOOLEAN

DECLARE Index, Upper, Lower, Digit, Other : INTEGER

DECLARE NextChar : CHAR

Upper 0
Lower 0
Digit 0
Other 0

FOR Index 1 TO LENGTH(InString)

NextChar MID(InString, Index, 1)

IF NextChar >= 'A' AND NextChar <= 'Z'
THEN
Upper Upper + 1
ELSE
IF NextChar >= 'a' AND NextChar <= 'z'
THEN
Lower Lower + 1
ELSE
IF NextChar >= '0' AND NextChar <= '9'
THEN
Digit Digit + 1
ELSE
Other Other + 1
ENDIF
ENDIF
ENDIF

ENDFOR

IF Upper > 1 AND Lower >= 5 AND (Digit - Other) > 0

THEN
RETURN TRUE
ELSE
RETURN FALSE
ENDIF

ENDFUNCTION

(a) Describe the validation rules that are implemented by this pseudocode. Refer only to the
contents of the string and not to features of the pseudocode.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [3]
© UCLES 2019 9608/21/O/N/19
11

(b) (i) Complete the trace table by dry running the function when it is called as follows:

Result CheckPassword("Jim+Smith*99")

Index NextChar Upper Lower Digit Other

[5]

(ii) State the value returned when the function is called using the expression shown. Justify
your answer.

Value .................................................................................................................................

Justification .......................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[2]

© UCLES 2019 9608/21/O/N/19 [Turn over

6 Account information for users of a library is held in one of two text files; UserListAtoM.txt and
UserListNtoZ.txt

The format of the data held in the two files is identical. Each line of the file is stored as a string that
contains an account number, name and telephone number separated by the asterisk character
('*') as follows:

<Account Number>''<Name>''<Telephone Number>

An example of one line from the file is:

"GB1234*Kevin Mapunga*07789123456"

The account number string may be six or nine characters in length and is unique for each
person. It is made up of alphabetic and numeric characters only.

An error has occurred and the same account number has been given to different users in the two
files. There is no duplication of account numbers within each individual file.

A program is to be written to search the two files and to identify duplicate entries. The account
number of any duplicate found is to be written to an array, Duplicates, which is a 1D array of
100 elements of data type STRING.

The program is to be implemented as several modules. The outline description of three of these is
as follows:

Module Outline description

ClearArray()
• Initialise the global array Duplicates. Set all elements to the
empty string.
• Read each line from the file UserListAtoM.txt
• Check whether the account number appears in file
UserListNtoZ.txt using SearchFileNtoZ()
FindDuplicates() • If the account number does appear then add the account
number to the array.
• Output an error message and exit the module if there are more
duplicates than can be written to the array.
• Search for a given account number in file UserListNtoZ.txt
SearchFileNtoZ()
• If found, return TRUE, otherwise return FALSE

(a) State one reason for storing data in a file rather than in an array.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [1]

© UCLES 2019 9608/21/O/N/19

(b) Write program code for the module SearchFileNtoZ().

Visual Basic and Pascal: You should include the declaration statements for variables.
Python: You should show a comment statement for each variable used with its data type.

Programming language ............................................................................................................

Program code

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [7]
© UCLES 2019 9608/21/O/N/19 [Turn over
14

(c) Write pseudocode for the module FindDuplicates().

The module description is given in the table on page 12.

...................................................................................................................................................

© UCLES 2019 9608/21/O/N/19

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [8]

(d) ClearArray() is to be modified to make it general purpose. It will be used to initialise any
1D array of data type STRING to any value.

It will now be called with three parameters as follows:

1. The array
2. The number of elements
3. The initialisation string

You should assume that the lower bound is 1.

(i) Write pseudocode for the modified ClearArray() procedure.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [3]

(ii) Write program code for a statement that calls the modified ClearArray() procedure
to clear the array Duplicates to "Empty".

Programming language .....................................................................................................

Program code

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[2]

© UCLES 2019 9608/21/O/N/19 [Turn over

Appendix
Built-in functions (pseudocode)
Each function returns an error if the function call is not properly formed.

MID(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER, y : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns a string of length y starting at position x from ThisString

Example: MID("ABCDEFGH", 2, 3) returns "BCD"

LENGTH(ThisString : STRING) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer value representing the length of ThisString

Example: LENGTH("Happy Days") returns 10

LEFT(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns leftmost x characters from ThisString

Example: LEFT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns "ABC"

RIGHT(ThisString: STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns rightmost x characters from ThisString

Example: RIGHT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns "FGH"

INT(x : REAL) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer part of x

Example: INT(27.5415) returns 27

NUM_TO_STRING(x : REAL) RETURNS STRING

returns a string representation of a numeric value.
Note: This function will also work if x is of type INTEGER

Example: NUM_TO_STRING(87.5) returns "87.5"

STRING_TO_NUM(x : STRING) RETURNS REAL

returns a numeric representation of a string.
Note: This function will also work if x is of type CHAR

Example: STRING_TO_NUM("23.45") returns 23.45

ASC(ThisChar : CHAR) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the ASCII value of ThisChar

Example: ASC('A') returns 65

CHR(x : INTEGER) RETURNS CHAR

returns the character whose ASCII value is x

Example: CHR(87) returns 'W'

© UCLES 2019 9608/21/O/N/19

UCASE(ThisChar : CHAR) RETURNS CHAR

returns the character value representing the upper case equivalent of ThisChar
If ThisChar is not a lower case alphabetic character, it is returned unchanged.

Example: UCASE('a') returns 'A'

Operators (pseudocode)

© UCLES 2019 9608/21/O/N/19

Cambridge Assessment International Education
Cambridge International Advanced Subsidiary and Advanced Level
* 1 2 0 9 8 6 7 3 0 8 *

COMPUTER SCIENCE 9608/22

Paper 2 Fundamental Problem-solving and Programming Skills October/November 2019
2 hours
Candidates answer on the Question Paper.
No Additional Materials are required.
No calculators allowed.

READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST

Answer all questions.

No marks will be awarded for using brand names of software packages or hardware.

At the end of the examination, fasten all your work securely together.
The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question.

The maximum number of marks is 75.

This document consists of 18 printed pages and 2 blank pages.

DC (ST) 171121/3
© UCLES 2019 [Turn over
2

1 Study the following pseudocode.

PROCEDURE FillTank()

DECLARE Tries : INTEGER

DECLARE Full : BOOLEAN

Tries 1

Full ReadSensor("F1")

IF NOT Full
THEN
WHILE NOT Full AND Tries < 4
CALL TopUp()
Full ReadSensor("F1")
Tries Tries + 1
ENDWHILE
IF Tries > 3
THEN
OUTPUT "Too many attempts"
ELSE
OUTPUT "Tank now full"
ENDIF
ELSE
OUTPUT "Already full"
ENDIF

ENDPROCEDURE

(a) (i) The pseudocode includes features that make it easier to read and understand.

State three such features.

Feature 1 ...........................................................................................................................

Feature 2 ...........................................................................................................................

Feature 3 ...........................................................................................................................
[3]

© UCLES 2019 9608/22/O/N/19

(ii) Draw a program flowchart to represent the algorithm implemented in the pseudocode.
Variable declarations are not required in program flowcharts.

[5]

© UCLES 2019 9608/22/O/N/19 [Turn over

(b) (i) Programming languages support different data types.

Complete the table by giving a suitable data type for each example value.

Example value Data type

TRUE

− 273.16

"− 273.16"

[4]

(ii) Evaluate each expression in the following table.

If an expression is invalid then write ‘ERROR’.

Refer to the Appendix on page 18 for the list of built-in functions and operators.

Expression Evaluates to

RIGHT("Stop", 3) & LEFT("ich", 2)

MID(NUM_TO_STRING(2019), 3, 1)

INT(NUM_TO_STRING(-273.16))

INT(13/2)

[4]

© UCLES 2019 9608/22/O/N/19

2 (a) Describe the program development cycle with reference to the following:

• source code
• object code
• corrective maintenance.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [3]

(b) Give three features of an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that can help with
initial error detection while writing the program.

1 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

2 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

3 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[3]

© UCLES 2019 9608/22/O/N/19 [Turn over

3 A student is developing a program to search through a string of numeric digits to count how many
times each digit occurs. The variable InString will store the string and the 1D array Result will
store the count values.

The program will:

• check each character in the string to count how many times each digit occurs
• record the count for each digit using the array
• output the count for each element of the array together with the corresponding digit.

(a) The array Result is a 1D array of type INTEGER.

Write pseudocode to declare the array and to initialise all elements to zero.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [3]

© UCLES 2019 9608/22/O/N/19

(b) Write the pseudocode for the program.

Declare any variables you use. Do not implement the code as a subroutine.

Refer to the Appendix on page 18 for the list of built-in functions and operators.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [8]

© UCLES 2019 9608/22/O/N/19 [Turn over

4 A program is being written to control the operation of a portable music player. One part of the
program controls the output volume.

The player has two buttons, one to increase the volume and one to decrease it. Whenever a
button is pressed, a procedure Button() is called with a parameter value representing the button
as follows:

Button Parameter value

Volume increase 10

Volume decrease 20

For example, pressing the volume increase button three times followed by pressing the volume
decrease button once would result in the calls:

CALL Button(10) // VolLevel increased by 1

CALL Button(10) // VolLevel increased by 1
CALL Button(10) // VolLevel increased by 1
CALL Button(20) // VolLevel decreased by 1

The program makes use of two global variables of type INTEGER as follows:

Variable Description
VolLevel The current volume setting. This must be in the range 0 to 49.
A value that can be set to limit the maximum value of VolLevel,
in order to protect the user’s hearing.
MaxVol
A value in the range 1 to 49 indicates the volume limit.
A value of zero indicates that no volume limit has been set.

The procedure Button() will modify the value of VolLevel depending on which button has
been pressed and whether a maximum value has been set.

© UCLES 2019 9608/22/O/N/19

(a) Write pseudocode for the procedure Button(). Declare any additional variables you use.

The value of MaxVol should not be changed within the procedure.

Parameter validation is not necessary.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [6]
© UCLES 2019 9608/22/O/N/19 [Turn over
10

(b) The procedure Button() is to be tested using black-box testing.

Fill in the gaps below to define three tests that could be carried out.

TEST 1 – VolLevel is changed

Parameter value: 10

MaxVol: ..................

VolLevel value before call to Button(): 48

VolLevel expected value after call to Button(): ..................

TEST 2 – VolLevel is not changed

Parameter value: 10

MaxVol: 34

VolLevel value before call to Button(): ..................

VolLevel expected value after call to Button(): ..................

TEST 3 – VolLevel is not changed

Parameter value: ..................

MaxVol: 40

VolLevel value before call to Button(): 0

VolLevel expected value after call to Button(): ..................

[6]

© UCLES 2019 9608/22/O/N/19

(c) The testing stage is part of the program development cycle.

(i) The program for the music player has been completed. The program does not contain
any syntax errors, but testing could reveal further errors.

Identify and describe one different type of error that testing could reveal.

Type ..................................................................................................................................

Description ........................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[2]

(ii) Stub testing is a technique often used in the development of modular programs.

Describe the technique.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [3]

© UCLES 2019 9608/22/O/N/19 [Turn over

5 The module headers for three modules in a program are defined in pseudocode as follows:

Pseudocode module header

PROCEDURE Lookup(P4 : INTEGER, BYREF M4 : STRING)
FUNCTION Update(T4 : INTEGER) RETURNS INTEGER
FUNCTION Validate(S2 : INTEGER, P3 : STRING) RETURNS BOOLEAN

A fourth module, Renew(), calls the three modules in the following sequence.

Validate()
Lookup()
Update()

Draw a structure chart to show the relationship between the four modules and the parameters
passed between them.

[7]

© UCLES 2019 9608/22/O/N/19

6 A text file, StudentList.txt, contains a list of information about students in a school.

Each line of the file contains a reference, name and date of birth for one student. All the information
is held as strings and separated by the asterisk character ('*') as follows:

An example of one line from the file is:

"G1234*Aleza Hilton*05062001"

The reference string may be five or eight characters in length and is unique for each student. It is
made up of alphabetic and numeric characters only.

A global 1D array, Leavers, contains the references of all students who have recently left the
school. The array consists of 500 elements of data type STRING. Unused elements contain the
empty string "".

A program is to be written to produce a new text file, UpdatedList.txt, containing information

only for students who are still attending the school.

The program is to be implemented as several modules. The outline description of three of these is
as follows:

Module Outline description

• Read each line from the file StudentList.txt
• Check whether the Reference appears in the
array using SearchLeavers()
ProcessStudentList()
• If the Reference does not appear then write the
line to the file UpdatedList.txt
• Return the number of lines not copied.
• Search for a given Reference in the array Leavers
SearchLeavers() • If the Reference is found, return TRUE, otherwise
return FALSE
• Take two parameters: the name of an array and a
string.
CountTimes()
• Count the number of elements that are the same as
the string. Return the count value.

© UCLES 2019 9608/22/O/N/19

(a) Write program code for the module SearchLeavers(). Declare any additional variables
you use.

Visual Basic and Pascal: You should include the declaration statements for variables.
Python: You should show a comment statement for each variable used with its data type.

Programming language ............................................................................................................

Program code

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [6]

© UCLES 2019 9608/22/O/N/19 [Turn over

(b) Write pseudocode for the module ProcessStudentList().

The module description is repeated here for reference.

Module Outline description

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
© UCLES 2019 9608/22/O/N/19
17

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [9]

(c) CountTimes() is to be used to count how many unused elements there are in the Leavers
array. An unused element is one that contains an empty string.

The module description is repeated here for reference.

Module Outline description

• Take two parameters: the name of an array and a
string.
CountTimes()
• Count the number of elements that are the same as
the string. Return the count value.

Write a statement in program code that uses CountTimes() to assign the count of unused
elements to the variable Result.

Programming language ............................................................................................................

Program code

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [3]

© UCLES 2019 9608/22/O/N/19 [Turn over

Appendix
Built-in functions (pseudocode)

Each function returns an error if the function call is not properly formed.

MID(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER, y : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns a string of length y starting at position x from ThisString

Example: MID("ABCDEFGH", 2, 3) returns "BCD"

LENGTH(ThisString : STRING) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer value representing the length of ThisString

Example: LENGTH("Happy Days") returns 10

LEFT(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns leftmost x characters from ThisString

Example: LEFT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns "ABC"

RIGHT(ThisString: STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns rightmost x characters from ThisString

Example: RIGHT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns "FGH"

INT(x : REAL) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer part of x

Example: INT(27.5415) returns 27

NUM_TO_STRING(x : REAL) RETURNS STRING

returns a string representation of a numeric value.
Note: This function will also work if x is of type INTEGER

Example: NUM_TO_STRING(87.5) returns "87.5"

STRING_TO_NUM(x : STRING) RETURNS REAL

returns a numeric representation of a string.
Note: This function will also work if x is of type CHAR

Example: STRING_TO_NUM("23.45") returns 23.45

Operators (pseudocode)

© UCLES 2019 9608/22/O/N/19

Cambridge Assessment International Education
Cambridge International Advanced Subsidiary and Advanced Level
* 9 5 3 4 4 8 1 8 7 2 *

COMPUTER SCIENCE 9608/23

Paper 2 Fundamental Problem-solving and Programming Skills October/November 2019
2 hours
Candidates answer on the Question Paper.
No Additional Materials are required.
No calculators allowed.

READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST

Answer all questions.

No marks will be awarded for using brand names of software packages or hardware.

At the end of the examination, fasten all your work securely together.
The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question.

The maximum number of marks is 75.

This document consists of 16 printed pages.

DC (ST/SG) 171122/4
© UCLES 2019 [Turn over
3

1 (a) (i) Programming languages can support different data types.

Complete the table by naming three different data types together with an example data
value for each.

Data type Example data value

[6]

(ii) Identify the type of programming statement that assigns a data type to a variable.

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

(b) As part of the development of an algorithm, a programmer may construct an identifier table.

Describe what an identifier table contains.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

(c) (i) Simple algorithms usually consist of three different stages.

Complete the table below. Write each example statement in program code.

The second stage has already been given.

Stage Example statement

Process

[5]

(ii) Write a single statement in program code that contains two of the stages. Do not
repeat any of the statements from part (c)(i).

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

© UCLES 2019 9608/23/O/N/19 [Turn over

(d) A software developer is writing a program and includes several features to make it easier to
read and understand. One of these features is the use of indentation.

State three other features.

Feature 1 ..................................................................................................................................

Feature 2 ..................................................................................................................................

Feature 3 ..................................................................................................................................
[3]

(e) A trace table is often used during program testing.

Identify the type of testing that includes the use of a trace table.

............................................................................................................................................. [1]

© UCLES 2019 9608/23/O/N/19

2 (a) (i) Two types of loop that may be found in an algorithm are the ‘pre-condition’ and ‘post-
condition’ loop.

Identify one other type of loop. Explain when it should be used.

Type ..................................................................................................................................

Explanation .......................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[2]

(ii) Part of a program flowchart is shown.

LOOP

AlarmReset()

Set Status1 to
GetStatus(Sys_A)

Set Status2 to
GetStatus(Sys_B)

Are Status1
NO
and Status2
both TRUE?

YES

Implement the flowchart in pseudocode using a post-condition loop.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [4]

© UCLES 2019 9608/23/O/N/19 [Turn over

(b) The following lines of code are taken from a high-level language program.

100 setvar(Count, Integer)

110 setvar(Gross[0-20], Real)
120 setvar(Posn, Real)
130 setvar(Length, Integer)
140 setvar(Rate, Real)
150 Length := 7
160 Rate := 1.175
170
180 For (Count, 0, 20, 2)
190 {
200 Echo "Input next cost"
210 Posn := Read()
220 Gross[Count] := Mult(Posn, Rate) %Apply current tax rate
230 }

Study the code. Identify the relevant features in the following table.

Feature Answer

The symbol used to indicate an assignment

The line numbers for the start and end of a count-controlled loop

The step value of the count-controlled loop

The character that indicates a comment

The name of a function

[5]

(c) A program written in a high-level language cannot be run directly.

Identify one type of translator that can be used to translate the program.

............................................................................................................................................. [1]

© UCLES 2019 9608/23/O/N/19

3 Three program modules process updating of passwords in a file. A description of the relationship
between the modules is summarised as follows:

Module name Description

GetPassword()
• Takes two parameters: AccountID and OldPassword
• Returns a string containing the new password
• Takes two parameters: AccountID and NewPassword
UpdateFile() • Returns a Boolean value to indicate whether or not the
update was successful

ChangePassword()
• Calls GetPassword() to obtain the new password then
calls UpdateFile() to write the new password to the file

Draw a structure chart to show the relationship between the three modules and the parameters
passed between them.

[5]

© UCLES 2019 9608/23/O/N/19 [Turn over

4 The following pseudocode algorithm checks whether a string is a valid email address.

FUNCTION Check(InString : STRING) RETURNS BOOLEAN

DECLARE Index : INTEGER

DECLARE NumDots : INTEGER
DECLARE NumAts : INTEGER
DECLARE NextChar : CHAR
DECLARE NumOthers : INTEGER

NumDots 0
NumAts 0
NumOthers 0

FOR Index 1 TO LENGTH(InString)

NextChar MID(InString, Index, 1)

CASE OF NextChar
'.': NumDots NumDots + 1
'@': NumAts NumAts + 1
OTHERWISE NumOthers NumOthers + 1
ENDCASE

ENDFOR

IF (NumDots >= 1 AND NumAts = 1 AND NumOthers > 5)

THEN
RETURN TRUE
ELSE
RETURN FALSE
ENDIF

ENDFUNCTION

(a) Describe the validation rules that are implemented by this pseudocode. Refer only to the
contents of the string and not to features of the pseudocode.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [3]

© UCLES 2019 9608/23/O/N/19

(b) (i) Complete the trace table by dry running the function when it is called as follows:

Result Check("[email protected]")

Index NextChar NumDots NumAts NumOthers

[5]

(ii) State the value returned when function Check is called as shown in part (b)(i).

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

© UCLES 2019 9608/23/O/N/19 [Turn over

(c) The function Check() is to be tested.

State two different invalid string values that could be used to test the algorithm. Each string
should test a different rule.

Justify your choices.

Value .........................................................................................................................................

Justification ...............................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Value .........................................................................................................................................

Justification ...............................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[4]

5 Abbreviations are often used in place of a full name. Concatenating the first letter of each word in
the name makes an abbreviation.

For example:

Name Abbreviation

United Nations UN

World Wide Web WWW

British Computer Society BCS

A function, Abbreviate(), will take a string representing the full name and return a string
containing the abbreviated form.

You should assume that:

• names only contain alphabetic characters and space characters

• names always start with an alphabetic character
• each word in the name always starts with an uppercase character
• only a single space separates words in the name.

© UCLES 2019 9608/23/O/N/19

Write pseudocode to implement the function Abbreviate().

Refer to the Appendix on page 16 for the list of built-in functions and operators.

..........................................................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................................... [8]

© UCLES 2019 9608/23/O/N/19 [Turn over

6 A text file, Library.txt, stores information relating to a book collection. The file stores four
pieces of information about each book on separate lines of the file, as follows:

Line n: <Book Title>

Line n + 1: <Author Name>
Line n + 2: <ISBN>
Line n + 3: <Location>

Information is stored as data strings.

Information relating to two books is shown:

File line Data

100 "Learning Python"

101 "Brian Smith"

102 "978-14-56543-21-8"

103 "BD345"

104 "Surviving in the mountains"

105 "C T Snow"

106 "978-35-17635-43-9"

107 "ZX001"

(a) (i) A function, FindBooksBy(), will search Library.txt for all books by a given author.

The function will store the Book Title and Location in the array Result, and will
return a count of the number of books found.

Array Result is a global 2D array of type STRING. It has 100 rows and 2 columns.

Write pseudocode to declare the array Result.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [3]

(ii) Function FindBooksBy() will:

• receive the Author Name as a parameter

• search Library.txt for matching entries
• store the Book Title and Location of matching entries in the Result array
• return an integer value giving the number of books by the author that were found.

© UCLES 2019 9608/23/O/N/19

Write program code for the function FindBooksBy().

Visual Basic and Pascal: You should include the declaration statements for variables.
Python: You should show a comment statement for each variable used with its data type.

Programming language .....................................................................................................

Program code

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
© UCLES 2019 9608/23/O/N/19 [Turn over
14

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [8]

(b) The function FindBooksBy() has already been called and has stored values in the array
Result.

The procedure, DisplayResults(), will output the information from the array.

The procedure receives the following two parameters:

• a string containing the author name

• an integer value representing the number of books found

The output should be formatted as in the following example:

Books written by: Brian Smith

Title Location
Learning Python BD345
Arrays are not lists CZ562
Learning Java CZ589

Number of titles found: 3

If no books by the author are found, the following should be output:

Search found no books by: Brian Smith

© UCLES 2019 9608/23/O/N/19

Write pseudocode for the procedure DisplayResults().

Refer to the Appendix on page 16 for the list of built-in functions and operators.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [7]

© UCLES 2019 9608/23/O/N/19 [Turn over

Appendix
Built-in functions (pseudocode)
Each function returns an error if the function call is not properly formed.

MID(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER, y : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns a string of length y starting at position x from ThisString
Example: MID("ABCDEFGH", 2, 3) returns "BCD"

LENGTH(ThisString : STRING) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer value representing the length of ThisString
Example: LENGTH("Happy Days") returns 10

LEFT(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns leftmost x characters from ThisString
Example: LEFT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns "ABC"

RIGHT(ThisString: STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns rightmost x characters from ThisString
Example: RIGHT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns "FGH"

INT(x : REAL) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer part of x
Example: INT(27.5415) returns 27

ASC(ThisChar : CHAR) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the ASCII value of ThisChar
Example: ASC('A') returns 65

MOD(ThisNum : INTEGER, ThisDiv : INTEGER) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer value representing the remainder when ThisNum is divided by ThisDiv
Example: MOD(10,3) returns 1

Operators (pseudocode)

Operator Description
Concatenates (joins) two strings
&
Example: "Summer" & " " & "Pudding" produces "Summer Pudding"
Performs a logical AND on two Boolean values
AND
Example: TRUE AND FALSE produces FALSE
Performs a logical OR on two Boolean values
OR
Example: TRUE OR FALSE produces TRUE
© UCLES 2019 9608/23/O/N/19
Cambridge International AS & A Level
* 0 6 3 8 5 6 1 5 3 5 *

COMPUTER SCIENCE 9608/21

Paper 2 Fundamental Problem-solving and Programming Skills May/June 2020

2 hours

You must answer on the question paper.

No additional materials are needed.

INSTRUCTIONS
● Answer all questions.
● Use a black or dark blue pen.
● Write your name, centre number and candidate number in the boxes at the top of the page.
● Write your answer to each question in the space provided.
● Do not use an erasable pen or correction fluid.
● Do not write on any bar codes.
● You may use an HB pencil for any diagrams, graphs or rough working.
● Calculators must not be used in this paper.

INFORMATION
● The total mark for this paper is 75.
● The number of marks for each question or part question is shown in brackets [ ].
● No marks will be awarded for using brand names of software packages or hardware.

This document has 24 pages. Blank pages are indicated.

DC (CE/CB) 180782/4
© UCLES 2020 [Turn over
2

1 (a) Complete this definition of the term algorithm.

An algorithm is a solution to a problem expressed as ..............................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

(b) A program design includes the use of subroutines (functions and procedures).

Give three advantages of using subroutines in a program.

1 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

2 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

3 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[3]

Term Description

Checking that a program

Selection performs as expected

A method for increasing the

Black-box testing level of detail of an algorithm

To test a condition to determine

Stepwise refinement the path of program execution

A method of executing certain

Iteration lines of code more than once

[3]

© UCLES 2020 9608/21/M/J/20

2 (a) Three modules form part of a program for a car rental company. A description of the
relationship between the modules is summarised as follows:

Module name Description

A customer will pay for each car rental either by bank card or by using their
RentCar()
account with the rental company.
Called with parameter HireCost, representing the cost of the rental.
PayByCard() Returns a BOOLEAN value to indicate whether or not the card payment was
successful.
Called with parameters HireCost, AccountNumber, CurrentBalance
and AccountLimit.
• Checks whether HireCost plus the CurrentBalance would exceed
PayByAccount() the AccountLimit. If so, then the rental is not authorised.
• If the rental is authorised, then the CurrentBalance is updated.
• Returns a BOOLEAN value to indicate whether or not the rental was
authorised.

Draw a structure chart to show the relationship between the three modules and the
parameters passed between them.

[5]
© UCLES 2020 9608/21/M/J/20 [Turn over
4

(b) The following pseudocode algorithm has been developed to check whether a string contains
a valid password.

To be a valid password, a string must:

• be longer than 6 characters

• contain at least one lower case letter
• contain at least one upper case letter
• contain at least one non-alphabetic character.

10 FUNCTION Check(InString : STRING) RETURNS BOOLEAN

11
12 DECLARE Index : INTEGER
13 DECLARE StrLen : INTEGER
14 DECLARE NumUpper, NumLower : INTEGER
15 DECLARE NumNonAlpha : INTEGER
16 DECLARE NextChar : CHAR
17
18 NumUpper 0
19 NumLower 0
20 NumNonAlpha 0
21
22 StrLen LENGTH(InString)
23 IF StrLen < 7
24 THEN
25 RETURN FALSE
26 ELSE
27 FOR Index 1 TO StrLen
28 NextChar MID(InString, Index, 1)
29 IF NextChar >= 'a' AND NextChar <= 'z'
30 THEN
31 NumLower NumLower + 1
32 ELSE
33 IF NextChar > 'A' AND NextChar <= 'Z'
34 THEN
35 NumUpper NumUpper + 1
36 ELSE
37 NumNonAlpha NumNonAlpha + 1
38 ENDIF
39 ENDIF
40 ENDFOR
41 ENDIF
42
43 IF (NumUpper >= 1) AND (NumLower >= 1) AND (NumNonAlpha >= 1)
44 THEN
45 RETURN TRUE
46 ELSE
47 RETURN FALSE
48 ENDIF
49
50 ENDFUNCTION

Refer to the Appendix on page 21 for a list of built-in pseudocode functions and operators.

© UCLES 2020 9608/21/M/J/20

The pseudocode does not work under all circumstances.

A dry run performed on the function Check(), with the string "crAsh99", produced the
following trace table.

The string is a valid password, but the pseudocode would return the value FALSE.

Trace
StrLen Index NextChar NumUpper NumLower NumNonAlpha
table row
1 7 0 0 0
2 1 'c'
3 1
4 2 'r'
5 2
6 3 'A'
7 1
8 4 's'
9 3
10 5 'h'
11 4
12 6 '9'
13 2
14 7 '9'
15 3

(i) Describe how the completed trace table may be used to identify the error in the
pseudocode. In your answer, refer to the trace table row number(s).

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [2]

(ii) State the pseudocode line number that has to be changed to correct the error and write
the correct pseudocode for the complete line.

Line number ......................................................................................................................

Correct pseudocode ..........................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[2]

© UCLES 2020 9608/21/M/J/20 [Turn over

(iii) Rewrite lines 29 to 39 of the original pseudocode using a CASE structure.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [4]

© UCLES 2020 9608/21/M/J/20

3 (a) A mobile phone provider has developed an account management program. The program
includes a procedure, AddCredit(). The procedure is called with two parameters, TopUp
and PhoneNum.

The relevant part of the identifier table and the program flowchart for the procedure are as
shown:

Identifier Type Description

TopUp REAL The amount of credit to be added
PhoneNum STRING The unique customer phone number
Balance REAL The current amount of credit
Multiple REAL The amount of credit bonus
Takes the phone number as a parameter and returns the current
GetBalance() FUNCTION
balance
Takes the phone number and the new balance as parameters and
SetBalance() PROCEDURE
updates the account with the new balance

START

Set Multiple
to 1

Set Balance to
GetBalance(PhoneNum)

Is YES Set Multiple to

Balance > 10 ? 1.25

Is YES Set Multiple to

Balance > 5 ? 1.1

Set TopUp to
TopUp * Multiple

SetBalance(PhoneNum, Balance + TopUp)

END

© UCLES 2020 9608/21/M/J/20

Write pseudocode to implement the procedure AddCredit(). The pseudocode must follow
the algorithm represented by the flowchart. Declare any local variables used.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [7]

© UCLES 2020 9608/21/M/J/20 [Turn over

(b) The following pseudocode searches for a string "Chris" in a 1D array and outputs the index
positions where the string is found.

DECLARE NameList : ARRAY [1:100] OF STRING

DECLARE n : INTEGER

FOR n 1 TO 100
IF NameList[n] = "Chris"
THEN
OUTPUT "Found at: " & NUM_TO_STRING(n)
ENDIF
ENDFOR

The pseudocode needs to be modified as follows:

• Write the search as a procedure, Search(), that takes the search string as a parameter.
• Change the array to a 2D array. The first dimension contains names and the second
dimension contains the corresponding status.

For example:
NameList[23, 1] "Chris" // name
NameList[23, 2] "On Holiday" // status
• Detect a match only when the name contains the search string and the status contains
"Active".
• If a match has been detected, the procedure will output a single message giving all of
the index positions where a match occurred. For example, "Found at: 3 6 22".
• If no match has been detected, the procedure will output a suitable message.

Refer to the Appendix on page 21 for a list of built-in pseudocode functions and operators.

© UCLES 2020 9608/21/M/J/20

Write the pseudocode for the procedure Search(). Assume the array has been declared
globally.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [8]

© UCLES 2020 9608/21/M/J/20 [Turn over

4 (a) An inexperienced user buys a games program. A program fault occurs while the user is
playing the game.

Explain what is meant by a program fault.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

(b) Give three ways to minimise the risk of faults when writing programs.

1 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

2 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

3 ................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [3]

Define these three types.

Syntax error ..............................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Logic error ................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Run-time error ..........................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[3]

© UCLES 2020 9608/21/M/J/20

5 (a) A 1D array, Directory, of type STRING is used to store a list of school internal telephone
numbers. There are 1000 elements in the array. Each element stores a single data item. The
format of each data item is as follows:

Number is a four-digit numeric string.

Name is a variable-length string.

For example:

"1024Collins Robbie"

The following pseudocode is an initial attempt at defining a procedure SortContacts()

that will perform a bubble sort on Directory. The array is to be sorted in ascending order of
Name.

Fill in the gaps to complete the pseudocode.

Refer to the Appendix on page 21 for a list of built-in pseudocode functions and operators.

PROCEDURE SortContacts ()
DECLARE Temp : STRING
DECLARE FirstName, SecondName : STRING
DECLARE NoSwaps : ……………………………………
DECLARE Boundary, J : INTEGER
Boundary ……………………
REPEAT
NoSwaps TRUE
FOR J 1 TO Boundary
FirstName …………………………(Directory[J], LENGTH(Directory[J]) – …………… )
SecondName RIGHT(Directory[J + 1], LENGTH(Directory[J + 1]) – 4)
IF FirstName ………………………………
THEN
Temp Directory[J]
Directory[J] Directory ……………………………
Directory[J + 1] Temp
NoSwaps ……………………………
ENDIF
ENDFOR
Boundary ……………………………
UNTIL NoSwaps = TRUE
ENDPROCEDURE
[8]

© UCLES 2020 9608/21/M/J/20

(b) The pseudocode contains a mechanism designed to make this an efficient bubble sort.

Describe the mechanism and explain why it may be considered to be efficient.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [4]

© UCLES 2020 9608/21/M/J/20 [Turn over

6 A company hires out rowing boats on a lake. The company has ten boats, numbered from 1 to 10.

The company is developing a program to help manage and record the hiring out process.

Hire information is stored in three global 1D arrays when a boat is hired out. Each array contains
10 elements representing each of the ten boats.

The three 1D arrays are summarised as follows:

Array Data type Description Example data value

HireTime STRING The time the boat was hired out "10:15"

Duration INTEGER The number of minutes of the hire 30

Cost REAL The cost of the hire 5.75

If an individual boat is not currently on hire, the corresponding element of the HireTime array will
be set to "Available".

The programmer has started to define program modules as follows:

Module Description
• Called with two parameters:
o a STRING value representing a time
AddTime() o an INTEGER value representing a duration in minutes
• Adds the duration to the time to give a new time
• Returns the new time as a STRING
• Called with a STRING value representing the time the
hire will start
• Outputs the boat numbers that will be available for hire at
the given start time. A boat will be available for hire if it is
either:
ListAvailable()
o currently not on hire, or
o due back before the given hire start time
• Outputs the number of each boat available
• Outputs the total number of boats available or a suitable
message if there are none
• Called with four parameters:
o an INTEGER value representing the boat number
o a STRING value representing the hire start time
o an INTEGER value representing the hire duration in
minutes
o a REAL value representing the cost of hire
RecordHire()
• Updates the appropriate element in each array
• Adds the cost of hire to the global variable DailyTakings
• Converts the four input parameters to strings,
concatenated using commas as separators, and writes
the resulting string to the end of the existing text file
HireLog.txt

© UCLES 2020 9608/21/M/J/20

(a) Write pseudocode for the module ListAvailable().

...................................................................................................................................................

© UCLES 2020 9608/21/M/J/20 [Turn over

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [8]

© UCLES 2020 9608/21/M/J/20

(b) Write program code for the module RecordHire().

Visual Basic and Pascal: You should include the declaration statements for variables.
Python: You should show a comment statement for each variable used with its data type.

Programming language ............................................................................................................

Program code

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [7]
© UCLES 2020 9608/21/M/J/20 [Turn over
20

(c) The module description of AddTime()is repeated here for reference.

(i) Write program code for a statement that uses the AddTime() function to add a duration
of 60 minutes to a start time contained in variable BeginTime and to assign the new
time to variable EndTime.

Programming language .....................................................................................................

Program code

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [2]

(ii) The function AddTime() is to be tested using black-box testing.

Complete the following two tests that can be performed to check the operation of the
function. Note that test 1 and test 2 are different.

Test 1 – Boat is returned during the same hour as rental starts

Start time value ....................................... Duration value .......................................

Expected new time value .......................................

Test 2 – Boat is returned during the hour after the rental starts

Start time value ....................................... Duration value .......................................

Expected new time value .......................................

[2]

© UCLES 2020 9608/21/M/J/20

Appendix

Built-in functions (pseudocode)

MID(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER, y : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns a string of length y starting at position x from ThisString

Example: MID("ABCDEFGH", 2, 3) returns "BCD"

LENGTH(ThisString : STRING) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer value representing the length of ThisString

Example: LENGTH("Happy Days") returns 10

LEFT(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns leftmost x characters from ThisString

Example: LEFT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns "ABC"

RIGHT(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns rightmost x characters from ThisString

Example: RIGHT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns "FGH"

INT(x : REAL) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer part of x

Example: INT(27.5415) returns 27

NUM_TO_STRING(x : REAL) RETURNS STRING

returns a string representation of a numeric value
Note: This function will also work if x is of type INTEGER

Example: NUM_TO_STRING(87.5) returns "87.5"

Operators (pseudocode)

© UCLES 2020 9608/21/M/J/20

Cambridge International AS & A Level
* 4 8 6 0 2 0 4 7 9 7 *

COMPUTER SCIENCE 9608/22

Paper 2 Fundamental Problem-solving and Programming Skills May/June 2020

2 hours

You must answer on the question paper.

No additional materials are needed.

This document has 20 pages. Blank pages are indicated.

DC (RW/TP) 180777/4
© UCLES 2020 [Turn over
3

1 (a) Selection and repetition are basic constructs of an algorithm.

Name and describe one other construct.

Name ........................................................................................................................................

Description ................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[3]

(b) Program coding is a transferable skill.

Explain the term transferable skill.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

(c) Count-controlled and post-condition are two types of loop.

Describe the characteristics of each of these types of loop.

Count-controlled .......................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Post-condition ...........................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[2]

(d) Name three features provided by an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that assist
in the coding and initial error detection stages of the program development cycle.

1 ................................................................................................................................................

2 ................................................................................................................................................

3 ................................................................................................................................................
[3]

© UCLES 2020 9608/22/M/J/20 [Turn over

2 (a) A structure chart is often produced as part of a modular program design. The chart shows the
hierarchy of modules and the sequence of execution.

Give two other features the structure chart can show.

Feature 1 ..................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Feature 2 ..................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[2]

(b) Six program modules implement part of an online shopping program. The following table
gives the modules and a brief description of each module:

Module Description
Allows the user to choose a delivery slot, select items to be added to
Shop()
the basket and finally check out

ChooseSlot() Allows the user to select a delivery time. Returns a delivery slot number

FillBasket() Allows the user to select items and add them to the basket

Completes the order by allowing the user to pay for the items. Returns
Checkout()
a Boolean value to indicate whether or not payment was successful

Search() Allows the user to search for a specific item. Returns an item reference

Adds an item to the basket. Takes an item reference and a quantity as

Add()
parameters

(i) The online shopping program has been split into sub-tasks as part of the design process.

Explain the advantages of decomposing the program into modules. Your explanation
should refer to the scenario and modules described in part (b).

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [3]

© UCLES 2020 9608/22/M/J/20

(ii) Complete the structure chart for the six modules described in part (b).

Shop()

[6]

© UCLES 2020 9608/22/M/J/20 [Turn over

3 A navigation program includes a function, CheckCourse(). This function is called with a real
value, Course, and returns an integer value.

The identifier table and the program flowchart for the function are shown as follows:

Identifier Type Description

Course REAL The value passed to CheckCourse()
Adjust INTEGER The value returned by CheckCourse()
Check INTEGER A local variable
A function that is passed a REAL value representing the
Deviate() FUNCTION course and returns a REAL value representing the current
deviation
Alert() PROCEDURE A procedure that generates a warning

START

Set Check to integer

value of
Deviate(Course)

Set Adjust to 255

CASE OF
Check
–20 to –1
OTHERWISE Set Adjust to 10

0
Set Adjust to 0

Alert()

1 to 20
Set Adjust to –10

RETURN Adjust

END

© UCLES 2020 9608/22/M/J/20

Write pseudocode to implement the function CheckCourse(). The pseudocode must follow the
algorithm represented by the flowchart. Declare any local variables used.

Refer to the Appendix on page 19 for a list of built-in pseudocode functions and operators.

..........................................................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................................... [7]
© UCLES 2020 9608/22/M/J/20 [Turn over
8

4 (a) Mustafa has developed the following pseudocode to generate ten random integers in the
range 1 to 100.

DECLARE Random : ARRAY [1:10] OF INTEGER

DECLARE Count, RNum : INTEGER

FOR Count 1 TO 10
Rnum INT(RAND(100)) + 1
Random[Count] RNum
ENDFOR

Refer to the Appendix on page 19 for a list of built-in pseudocode functions and operators.

Rewrite the pseudocode so that there are no duplicated numbers in the list of random
numbers.

...................................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [6]
© UCLES 2020 9608/22/M/J/20
9

(b) The changes made to the pseudocode in part (a) were as a result of changes to the program
requirement.

Give the term used to describe changes made for this reason.

............................................................................................................................................. [1]

© UCLES 2020 9608/22/M/J/20 [Turn over

5 A global 1D array, Contact, of type STRING is used to store a list of names and email addresses.

There are 1000 elements in the array. Each element stores one data item. The format of each
data item is as follows:

Name and EmailAddress are both variable-length strings.

For example:

"Sharma Himal:[email protected]"

A function, GetName(), is part of the program that processes the array. A data item string will be
passed to the function as a parameter. The function will return the Name part. Validation is not
necessary.

(a) Use structured English to describe the algorithm for the function GetName().

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [7]

© UCLES 2020 9608/22/M/J/20

(b) (i) The array is to be sorted using an efficient bubble sort algorithm. An efficient bubble sort
reduces the number of unnecessary comparisons between elements.

Describe how this could be achieved.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [4]

© UCLES 2020 9608/22/M/J/20 [Turn over

(ii) A procedure, BubbleSort(), is needed to sort the 1D array Contact into ascending
order of Name using an efficient bubble sort algorithm.

Write program code for the procedure BubbleSort().

Visual Basic and Pascal: You should include the declaration statements for variables.
Python: You should show a comment statement for each variable used with its data type.

Programming language .....................................................................................................

Program code ....................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [8]

© UCLES 2020 9608/22/M/J/20

6 A company hires out rowing boats on a lake. The company has 17 boats numbered from 1 to 17.

Boats may be hired between 9:00 and 18:00, with a maximum hire duration of 90 minutes.

The company is developing a program to help manage and record the boat hire process.

The programmer has decided to store all values relating to hire time as strings. The program will
use a 24-hour clock format. For example:

Time (in words) String value

Nine o’clock in the morning "09:00"
Five minutes past ten o’clock in the morning "10:05"
Ten minutes before three o’clock in the afternoon "14:50"

The programmer has defined the first module as follows:

Module Description
• Takes two parameters:
StartTime: a STRING value representing a time as described
AddTime() Duration: an INTEGER value representing a duration in minutes
• Adds the duration to the time to give a new time
• Returns the new time as a STRING

(a) (i) Write pseudocode for the module AddTime(). Assume both input parameters are valid.

Refer to the Appendix on page 19 for a built-in list of pseudocode functions and
operators.

...........................................................................................................................................

© UCLES 2020 9608/22/M/J/20

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [8]

(ii) AddTime() will be tested using white-box testing.

State the reason for using white-box testing.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

(iii) A run-time error is one type of error that black-box testing can reveal.

Describe one other type of error that black-box testing can reveal.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [2]

© UCLES 2020 9608/22/M/J/20 [Turn over

(b) The user will input the desired start time of a hire. A new module will be written to validate the
input string as a valid time in 24-hour clock format.

The string is already confirmed as being in the format "NN:NN", where N is a numeric
character.

Give an example of suitable test data that is in this format but which is invalid. Explain your
answer.

Test data ...................................................................................................................................

Explanation ...............................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[2]

(c) Each time a boat is hired out, details of the hire are added to a text file, Hirelog.txt. Each
line of the text file corresponds to information about one hire session.

The format of each line is as follows:

• BoatNumber is a two-digit numeric string

• Date is a six-digit numeric string in the format DDMMYY
• AmountPaid is a variable-length string representing a numeric value, for example
"12.75"

The total hire amount from each boat is to be stored in a global array, Total. This array is
declared in pseudocode as follows:

DECLARE Total : ARRAY [1:17] OF REAL

The programmer has defined module GetTotals() as follows:

Module Description
• Search through the file Hirelog.txt
GetTotals() • Extract the AmountPaid each time a boat is hired
• Store the total of AmountPaid for each boat in the array

© UCLES 2020 9608/22/M/J/20

Write program code for the module GetTotals().

Visual Basic and Pascal: You should include the declaration statements for variables.
Python: You should show a comment statement for each variable used with its data type.

Programming language ............................................................................................................

Program code

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [8]

© UCLES 2020 9608/22/M/J/20

Appendix
Built-in functions (pseudocode)
Each function returns an error if the function call is not properly formed.
LENGTH(ThisString : STRING) RETURNS INTEGER
returns the integer value representing the length of ThisString
Example: LENGTH("Happy Days") returns 10

LEFT(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns leftmost x characters from ThisString
Example: LEFT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns "ABC"

RIGHT(ThisString: STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns rightmost x characters from ThisString
Example: RIGHT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns "FGH"

INT(x : REAL) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer part of x
Example: INT(27.5415) returns 27

RAND(x : INTEGER) RETURNS REAL

returns a real number in the range 0 to x (not inclusive of x)
Example: RAND(87) could return 35.43

MOD(ThisNum : INTEGER, ThisDiv : INTEGER) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer value representing the remainder when ThisNum is divided by ThisDiv
Example: MOD(10,3) returns 1

DIV(ThisNum : INTEGER, ThisDiv : INTEGER) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer value representing the whole number part of the result when ThisNum is divided
by ThisDiv
Example: DIV(10,3) returns 3

NUM_TO_STRING(x : REAL) RETURNS STRING

returns a string representation of a numeric value.
Example: If x has the value 87.5 then NUM_TO_STRING(x) returns "87.5"
Note: This function will also work if x is of type INTEGER

STRING_TO_NUM(x : STRING) RETURNS REAL

returns a numeric representation of a string.
Example: If x has the value "23.45" then STRING_TO_NUM(x) returns 23.45
Note: This function will also work if x is of type CHAR

Operators (pseudocode)
Operator Description

& Concatenates (joins) two strings

Example: "Summer" & " " & "Pudding" produces "Summer Pudding"

AND Performs a logical AND on two Boolean values

Example: TRUE AND FALSE produces FALSE

OR Performs a logical OR on two Boolean values

Example: TRUE OR FALSE produces TRUE

© UCLES 2020 9608/22/M/J/20

Cambridge International AS & A Level
* 1 7 5 3 4 1 4 9 7 5 *

COMPUTER SCIENCE 9608/23

Paper 2 Fundamental Problem-solving and Programming Skills May/June 2020

2 hours

You must answer on the question paper.

No additional materials are needed.

This document has 20 pages. Blank pages are indicated.

DC (RW/TP) 180778/4
© UCLES 2020 [Turn over
3

1 (a) Algorithms are produced during program development.

State when you would produce an algorithm during program development and state its
purpose.

When ........................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Purpose ....................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[2]

(b) Selection is one of the basic constructs used in algorithms.

Explain the term selection.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

Explanation ...............................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Reason .....................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[2]

(d) Name two features provided by a typical Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that
assist in the debugging stage of the program development cycle.

1 ................................................................................................................................................

2 ................................................................................................................................................
[2]

© UCLES 2020 9608/23/M/J/20 [Turn over

2 (a) A structure chart is often produced as part of a modular program design. The chart shows the
relationship between modules and the parameters that are passed between them.

Give two other features the structure chart can show.

Feature 1 ..................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Feature 2 ..................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[2]

(b) The following structure chart shows the relationship between three modules.

ModuleA()

ParW
ParX

ParZ

ModuleB() ModuleC()

Parameter data types are:

ParW : REAL
ParX : INTEGER
ParZ : STRING

(i) Write the pseudocode header for module ModuleB().

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [3]

(ii) Write the pseudocode header for module ModuleC().

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [3]

© UCLES 2020 9608/23/M/J/20

(c) A student is developing an algorithm to count the number of times a given string,
SearchString, appears in a 2D array. The array, Item, consists of 100 elements organised
as 50 rows of 2 columns. SearchString could appear in any row or column.

The array is declared in pseudocode as follows:

DECLARE Item : ARRAY [1:50, 1:2] OF STRING

The structured English description of the algorithm is:

1. SET Count to 0.
2. Examine the first row of the array.
3. IF column 1 element value is equal to SearchString, ADD 1 to Count.
4. IF column 2 element value is equal to SearchString, ADD 1 to Count.
5. REPEAT from step 3 for next row, UNTIL row is last row.
6. OUTPUT a suitable message and Count.

Write pseudocode for the algorithm.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [5]

© UCLES 2020 9608/23/M/J/20 [Turn over

3 (a) Study the following pseudocode.

Error Delta(Plan, Actual)

CASE OF Error
> 10 : Steer Steer − 10
0 : ZCount ZCount + 1
< -10 : Steer Steer + 10
OTHERWISE OUTPUT "Unexpected Error"
ENDCASE

Draw a program flowchart to represent the pseudocode. Variable declarations are not
required in program flowcharts.

[5]
© UCLES 2020 9608/23/M/J/20 [Turn over
8

(b) The following pseudocode algorithm has been developed to check whether a string contains
a valid password.

To be a valid password, a string must:

• be longer than five characters

• contain at least one numeric digit
• contain at least one upper case letter
• contain at least one other character (not a numeric digit or an upper case letter).

10 FUNCTION Check(InString : STRING) RETURNS BOOLEAN

11
12 DECLARE Index : INTEGER
13 DECLARE StrLen : INTEGER
14 DECLARE NumUpper, NumDigit : INTEGER
15 DECLARE NextChar : CHAR
16 DECLARE NumOther : INTEGER
17
18 NumUpper 0
19 NumDigit 0
20
21 StrLen LENGTH(InString)
22 IF StrLen < 6
23 THEN
24 RETURN FALSE
25 ELSE
26 FOR Index 1 TO StrLen - 1
27 // loop for each character
28 NextChar MID(InString, Index, 1)
29 IF NextChar >= '0' AND NextChar <= '9'
30 THEN
31 NumDigit NumDigit + 1 // count digits
32 ELSE
33 IF NextChar >= 'A' AND NextChar <= 'Z'
34 THEN
35 NumUpper NumUpper + 1 // count upper case
36 ENDIF
37 ENDIF
38 ENDFOR
39 ENDIF
40
41 NumOther StrLen – (NumDigit – NumUpper)
42 IF NumDigit >= 1 AND NumUpper >= 1 AND NumOther >= 1
43 THEN
44 RETURN TRUE
45 ELSE
46 RETURN FALSE
47 ENDIF
48
49 ENDFUNCTION

© UCLES 2020 9608/23/M/J/20

The pseudocode does not work under all circumstances.

The function was dry run with the string "1234AP" and the following trace table was
produced. The string is an invalid password, but the pseudocode returned the value
TRUE.

Trace
StrLen Index NextChar NumUpper NumDigit NumOther
table row
1 6 0 0
2 1 '1'
3 1
4 2 '2'
5 2
6 3 '3'
7 3
8 4 '4'
9 4
10 5 'A'
11 1
12 3

(i) The pseudocode algorithm contains two errors.

State how the given trace table indicates the existence of each error.

Error 1 ...............................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

Error 2 ...............................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[2]

© UCLES 2020 9608/23/M/J/20 [Turn over

(ii) Give the line number of each error in the pseudocode algorithm and write the modified
pseudocode to correct each error.

Line number for error 1 .....................................................................................................

Correct pseudocode ..........................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

Line number for error 2 .....................................................................................................

Correct pseudocode ..........................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[2]

(c) The term adaptive maintenance refers to amendments that are made in response to
changes to the program specification. These changes usually affect the program algorithm.

Name one other part of the design that can change as a result of adaptive maintenance.

............................................................................................................................................. [1]

4 A global 1D array, Contact, of type STRING is used to store a list of names and email addresses.
There are 1000 elements in the array. Each element stores one data item. The format of each
data item is as follows:

Name and EmailAddress are both variable-length strings.

For example:

"Wan Zhu:[email protected]"

A function, Extract(), is part of the program that processes the array. A string data item is
passed to the function as a parameter. The function will return the Name part. Validation is not
necessary.

© UCLES 2020 9608/23/M/J/20

(a) Write program code for the function Extract().

Visual Basic and Pascal: You should include the declaration statements for variables.
Python: You should show a comment statement for each variable used with its data type.

Programming language ............................................................................................................

Program code

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [5]

© UCLES 2020 9608/23/M/J/20 [Turn over

(b) The original function, Extract(), needs to be modified to separate the name from the email
address. The calling program can then use both of these values.

Write, in pseudocode, the header for the modified subroutine. Explain the changes you have
made.

Subroutine header ....................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Explanation ...............................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[3]

5 A company hires out rowing boats on a lake. The company has 20 boats, numbered from 1 to 20.

For safety reasons, the boats have to be serviced (checked and any damage repaired) regularly.

The company is developing a program to help manage the servicing of the boats.

Every time a boat is serviced, details are added at the end of the text file, ServiceLog.txt, as a
single line of information. Each boat is serviced before it is hired out for the first time.

The format of each line is as follows:

BoatNumber and Date are as follows:

• BoatNumber is a two-digit numeric string in the range "01" to "20"

• Date is an 8-digit numeric string in the format YYYYMMDD

The programmer has defined the first module as follows:

Module Description
• Called with a string parameter representing the BoatNumber
GetLastService() • Searches through the file ServiceLog.txt
• Returns the date of the last service in the form "YYYYMMDD"

© UCLES 2020 9608/23/M/J/20

(a) Write pseudocode for the module GetLastService().

Refer to the Appendix on page 19 for a list of built-in pseudocode functions and operators.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [8]

© UCLES 2020 9608/23/M/J/20 [Turn over

(b) (i) Every time a boat is hired out, details of the hire are added at the end of a text file,
Hirelog.txt. Each line of the text file corresponds to information about the hire of one
boat.

The format of each line of information is as follows:

• Date is an 8-digit numeric string in the format YYYYMMDD

• BoatNumber is a two-digit numeric string in the range "01" to "20"
• HireDuration is a variable-length string representing a numeric value in hours.
For example, the string "1.5" would represent a hire duration of 1½ hours.

A module GetHours() is defined as follows:

Module Description
• Takes two parameters:
the BoatNumber as a string
the date of the last service for that boat ("YYYYMMDD")
as a string
GetHours()
• Searches through file Hirelog.txt and calculates the sum of
the hire durations for the given boat after the given date (hire
durations on or before the given date are ignored)

• Returns the total of the hire durations as a real

Note:

Standard comparison operators may be used with dates in this format.

For example:

"20200813" > "20200812" would evaluate to TRUE

Parameter validation is not required.

© UCLES 2020 9608/23/M/J/20

Write pseudocode for the module GetHours().

Refer to the Appendix on page 19 for a list of built-in pseudocode functions and
operators.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [8]

© UCLES 2020 9608/23/M/J/20 [Turn over

(ii) An additional module, Validate(), has been written to check that a given string
corresponds to a valid BoatNumber. A valid BoatNumber is a two-digit numeric string in
the range "01" to "20".

Give three test strings that are invalid for different reasons. Explain your choice in each
case.

String 1 ..............................................................................................................................

Reason ..............................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

String 2 ..............................................................................................................................

Reason ..............................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

String 3 ..............................................................................................................................

Reason ..............................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[6]

(c) A new module is described as follows:

Module Description
• Takes an integer as a parameter that represents the maximum
number of hours before a boat must be serviced

• Uses GetLastService() and GetHours()

• Outputs:
a suitable heading
the BoatNumber of each boat hired for more than the
maximum number of hours since its last service
ServiceList() the total hire duration for each of these boats

An example output list is:

Boat Service List
4: 123
17: 117

If no boats are due to be serviced, the output is:

Boat Service List
No boats are due to be serviced

© UCLES 2020 9608/23/M/J/20

Write program code for the module ServiceList().

Python: You should show a comment statement for each variable used with its data type.
Visual Basic and Pascal: You should include the declaration statements for variables.

Programming language ............................................................................................................

Program code

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [8]
© UCLES 2020 9608/23/M/J/20 [Turn over
18

(d) (i) A team of programmers will work on the program. Before they begin, the team meet to
discuss ways in which the risk of program faults may be reduced during the design and
coding stages.

State two ways to minimise program faults during the design and coding stages.

1 ........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

2 ........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[2]

(ii) During development, the team test the program using a process known as stub testing.

Explain this process.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [2]

(iii) Explain how single stepping may be used to help find a logic error in a program.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [2]

© UCLES 2020 9608/23/M/J/20

Appendix
Built-in functions (pseudocode)
Each function returns an error if the function call is not properly formed.

LENGTH(ThisString : STRING) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer value representing the length of ThisString

Example: LENGTH("Happy Days") returns 10

LEFT(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns leftmost x characters from ThisString

Example: LEFT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns "ABC"

RIGHT(ThisString: STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns rightmost x characters from ThisString

Example: RIGHT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns "FGH"

MID(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER, y : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns a string of length y starting at position x from ThisString

Example: MID("ABCDEFGH", 2, 3) returns "BCD"

INT(x : REAL) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer part of x

Example: INT(27.5415) returns 27

NUM_TO_STRING(x : REAL) RETURNS STRING

returns a string representation of a numeric value.
Note: This function will also work if x is of type INTEGER

Example: NUM_TO_STRING(87.5) returns "87.5"

STRING_TO_NUM(x : STRING) RETURNS REAL

returns a numeric representation of a string.
Note: This function will also work if x is of type CHAR

Example: STRING_TO_NUM("23.45") returns 23.45

Operators (pseudocode)

© UCLES 2020 9608/23/M/J/20

Cambridge International AS & A Level
* 6 3 4 1 3 6 2 7 4 2 *

COMPUTER SCIENCE 9608/21

Paper 2 Fundamental Problem-solving and Programming Skills October/November 2020

2 hours

You must answer on the question paper.

No additional materials are needed.

This document has 20 pages. Blank pages are indicated.

DC (LK) 188573/3
© UCLES 2020 [Turn over
2

1 (a) Translation is one stage of the program development cycle.

State three other stages.

1 ................................................................................................................................................

2 ................................................................................................................................................

3 ................................................................................................................................................
[3]

(b) Define the following types of maintenance.

Corrective maintenance ............................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Adaptive maintenance ..............................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[2]

(c) Experienced programmers have a transferable skill.

Explain how this skill might be useful for a programmer.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

(d) Jackie has written a program and has used the identifier names I1, I2, and I3.

Explain why this is not good practice.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

© UCLES 2020 9608/21/O/N/20

(e) A pseudocode algorithm assigns values to three variables as follows:

GateOpen FALSE
Alarm TRUE
PowerFail TRUE

Evaluate the expressions given in the following table:

Expression Evaluates to

Alarm OR NOT PowerFail

NOT (Alarm AND PowerFail)

(GateOpen OR Alarm) AND PowerFail

(GateOpen AND Alarm) OR NOT PowerFail

[2]

© UCLES 2020 9608/21/O/N/20 [Turn over

2 (a) User names are stored in a text file. Each line of the file represents one name. Before a new
user name can be issued, a check has to be made to ensure that the new name is unique.

Use structured English to describe an algorithm that would prompt and input a new user
name and output a message to indicate whether or not it is unique.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [6]

(b) Complete the pseudocode expressions in the following table.

Use only the functions and operators described in the Appendix on pages 18–19.

Expression Evaluates to

........................ ("Stepwise" , ........................) & "art" "Start"

........................ ("Concatenate" , ........................ , ........................) "ten"

2 * .......................... ("Kipper") 12

TRUE .......................... FALSE TRUE

.......................... (9, 2) 1

[5]
© UCLES 2020 9608/21/O/N/20
5

(c) Study the following pseudocode.

Line numbers are given for reference only.

01 PROCEDURE StringClean(InString : STRING)

02
03 DECLARE NextChar : CHAR
04 DECLARE OutString : STRING
05 DECLARE Index : INTEGER
06
07 OutString ""
08
09 FOR Index 1 TO LENGTH(InString)
10
11 NextChar MID(InString, Index, 1)
12 NextChar LCASE(NextChar)
13
14 IF NextChar >= 'a' AND NextChar <= 'z'
15 THEN
16 OutString OutString & NextChar
17 ENDIF
18
19 ENDFOR
20
21 OUTPUT OutString
22
23 ENDPROCEDURE

Complete the following table by entering an appropriate answer.

Answer

The name for the type of loop used

A line number of a selection statement

The scope of OutString

The name of a function that is called

A line number containing a logical operator

[5]

© UCLES 2020 9608/21/O/N/20 [Turn over

3 The procedure OutputLines() outputs a number of lines from a text file.

An example of the use of the procedure is given by the following pseudocode:

CALL OutputLines(FileName, StartLine, NumberLines)

Parameter Data type Description

FileName STRING The name of the text file

StartLine INTEGER The number of the first line to be output

NumberLines INTEGER The number of lines to be output

The procedure is tested using the file MyFile.txt that contains 100 lines of text.

The procedure gives the expected result when called as follows:

CALL OutputLines("MyFile.txt", 1, 10)

(a) The procedure is correctly called with three parameters of the appropriate data types, but the
procedure does not give the expected result.

Give three different reasons why this might happen.

1 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

2 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

3 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[3]

© UCLES 2020 9608/21/O/N/20

(b) Write program code for the procedure OutputLines().

Note: Parameter validation is not necessary.

Visual Basic and Pascal: You should include the declaration statements for variables.
Python: You should show a comment statement for each variable used with its data type.

Programming language .............................................................................................................

Program code

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [7]
© UCLES 2020 9608/21/O/N/20 [Turn over
8

(c) A program is compiled without producing any errors.

(i) Describe one type of error that the program could still contain.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [2]

(ii) Give two techniques that may be used to identify an error of the type given in part (c)(i).

Technique 1 .......................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

Technique 2 .......................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[2]

(d) State two reasons why the use of library subroutines can be a benefit in program development.

1 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

2 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[2]

© UCLES 2020 9608/21/O/N/20

4 A function, FormOut(), takes an integer parameter in the range 0 to 999 999 and returns a
formatted string depending on two other parameter values.

Formatting may incorporate the use of:

• A prefix string to be added before the integer value (e.g. '$' or "Total: ")
• A comma as a thousand-separator (e.g. "1,000")

The function will be called as follows:

MyString FormOut(Number, Prefix, AddComma)

Parameter Data type Description

Number INTEGER The positive integer value to be formatted.

A string that will appear in front of the numeric value. Set to an
Prefix STRING
empty string if no prefix is required.
TRUE if a comma is required in the formatted string.
AddComma BOOLEAN
FALSE if a comma is not required in the formatted string.

(a) Fill in the tables to show two tests that could be carried out to test different aspects of the
function.

Give the expected result for each test.

TEST 1
Parameter Value
Expected return string:
Number

Prefix ...............................................................

AddComma

TEST 2
Parameter Value
Expected return string:
Number
Prefix ...............................................................
AddComma
[4]

© UCLES 2020 9608/21/O/N/20

(b) Write pseudocode for the function FormOut().

Refer to the Appendix on pages 18–19 for the list of built-in functions and operators.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [8]

© UCLES 2020 9608/21/O/N/20 [Turn over

5 A message may contain several hashtags.

A hashtag is a string consisting of a hash character ‘#’, followed by one or more alphanumeric
characters.

A hashtag may be terminated by a space character, the start of the next hashtag, any other
non-alphanumeric character, or by the end of the message.

For example, the following message contains three hashtags:

"#Error27 is the result of #PoorPlanning by the #Designer"

The hashtags in the message are "#Error27", "#PoorPlanning" and "#Designer".

A program is being developed to process a message and extract each hashtag.

A global 1D array of strings, TagString, will store each hashtag in a single element.
Unused array elements will contain an empty string. The array will contain 10 000 elements.

A developer has started to define the modules as follows:

Module Description
• Called with two parameters:
• a message string
• an integer giving the number of the required hashtag.
GetStart() For example, GetStart(Message, 3) would search
for the third hashtag in the string Message
• Returns an integer value representing the start position
of the hashtag in the message string, or value −1 if that
hashtag does not exist
• Called with two parameters:
• a message string
GetTag() • an integer giving the hashtag start position within the
message
• Returns the hashtag or an empty string if the character in
the message at the hashtag start position is not '#'
• Called with a hashtag as a parameter
• Returns the index position of the hashtag in array
GetIndex() TagString
• Returns the value −1 if the hashtag is not present in the
array

© UCLES 2020 9608/21/O/N/20

(a) Write pseudocode for the module GetIndex().

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [6]

© UCLES 2020 9608/21/O/N/20 [Turn over

(b) Write pseudocode for the module GetStart().

The module description is repeated here for reference.

Module Description
• Called with two parameters:
• a message string
• an integer giving the number of the required hashtag. For
example, GetStart(Message, 3) would search for the
GetStart()
third hashtag in the string Message
• Returns an integer value representing the start position of the
hashtag in the message string, or value −1 if that hashtag does
not exist

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [6]
© UCLES 2020 9608/21/O/N/20
16

(c) Write program code for the module GetTag().

The module description is repeated here for reference.

Module Description
• Called with two parameters:
• a message string
• an integer giving the hashtag start position within the
GetTag()
message
• Returns the hashtag or an empty string if the character in the
message at the hashtag start position is not '#'

Visual Basic and Pascal: You should include the declaration statements for variables.
Python: You should show a comment statement for each variable used with its data type.

Programming language ............................................................................................................

Program code

...................................................................................................................................................

© UCLES 2020 9608/21/O/N/20

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [8]

© UCLES 2020 9608/21/O/N/20 [Turn over

Appendix
Built-in functions (pseudocode)
Each function returns an error if the function call is not properly formed.

LENGTH(ThisString : STRING) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer value representing the length of string ThisString

Example: LENGTH("Happy Days") returns 10

LEFT(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns leftmost x characters from ThisString

Example: LEFT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns string "ABC"

RIGHT(ThisString: STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns rightmost x characters from ThisString

Example: RIGHT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns string "FGH"

INT(x : REAL) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer part of x

Example: INT(27.5415) returns 27

MOD(ThisNum : INTEGER, ThisDiv : INTEGER) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer value representing the remainder when ThisNum is divided by ThisDiv

Example: MOD(10,3) returns 1

MID(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER, y : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns a string of length y starting at position x from ThisString

Example: MID("ABCDEFGH", 2, 3) returns string "BCD"

LCASE(ThisChar : CHAR) RETURNS CHAR

returns the character value representing the lower case equivalent of ThisChar
If ThisChar is not an upper-case alphabetic character, it is returned unchanged.

Example: LCASE('W') returns 'w'

DIV(ThisNum : INTEGER, ThisDiv : INTEGER) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer value representing the whole number part of the result when ThisNum is divided
by ThisDiv

Example: DIV(10,3) returns 3

NUM_TO_STRING(x : REAL) RETURNS STRING

returns a string representation of a numeric value.
Note: This function will also work if x is of type INTEGER

Example: NUM_TO_STRING(87.5) returns "87.5"

© UCLES 2020 9608/21/O/N/20

Operators (pseudocode)

Operator Description

Concatenates (joins) two strings

&
Example: "Summer" & " " & "Pudding" produces "Summer Pudding"

Performs a logical AND on two Boolean values

AND
Example: TRUE AND FALSE produces FALSE

Performs a logical OR on two Boolean values

OR
Example: TRUE OR FALSE produces TRUE

© UCLES 2020 9608/21/O/N/20

Cambridge International AS & A Level
* 7 1 8 7 0 7 4 0 4 6 *

COMPUTER SCIENCE 9608/22

Paper 2 Fundamental Problem-solving and Programming Skills October/November 2020

2 hours

You must answer on the question paper.

No additional materials are needed.

This document has 20 pages. Blank pages are indicated.

DC (CJ) 188580/2
© UCLES 2020 [Turn over
2

1 (a) Algorithms usually consist of three different stages.

One stage is INPUT.

Name the other stages.

1 ................................................................................................................................................

2 ................................................................................................................................................
[1]

(b) An algorithm may be documented using different methods. These include structured English,
a program flowchart, and pseudocode.

State what a program designer represents using one or more of these methods.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

(c) Programming languages support different data types.

Complete the table by giving four different data types together with an example data value
for each.

Data type Example data value

[4]

© UCLES 2020 9608/22/O/N/20

(d) Draw lines to connect each of the following computing terms with the appropriate description.

Term Description

A structure for the

Black-box testing
temporary storage of data

A method used when the

File structure of the program is
unknown

A method of setting the

Assignment
value of a variable

A structure for the

Array
permanent storage of data

[3]

(e) A pseudocode algorithm assigns values to three variables as follows:

FlagA TRUE
FlagB FALSE
FlagC TRUE

Evaluate the expressions given in the following table:

Expression Evaluates to

NOT FlagB AND FlagC

NOT (FlagB OR FlagC)

(FlagA AND FlagB) OR FlagC

NOT (FlagA AND FlagB) OR NOT FlagC

[2]

© UCLES 2020 9608/22/O/N/20 [Turn over

2 (a) The following pseudocode is an attempt to define an algorithm that takes two numbers as
input and outputs the larger of the two numbers.

DECLARE A, B : INTEGER
INPUT A
INPUT B
IF A > B
THEN
OUTPUT A
ELSE
OUTPUT B
ENDIF

The algorithm needs to be amended to include the following changes:

1. Input three values, ensuring that each value input is unique.

2. Output the average.
3. Output the largest value.

Write the pseudocode for the amended algorithm.

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
© UCLES 2020 9608/22/O/N/20
5

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [6]

(b) Complete the pseudocode expressions in the following table.

Use only functions and operators described in the Appendix on pages 18–19.

Expression Evaluates to

"ALARM: " & ...................... ("Time: 1202" , ......................) "ALARM: 1202"

...................... ("Stepwise." , ...................... , ......................) "wise"

1.5 * .......................... ("OnePointFive") 18

...................................... (27.5) "27.5"

.......................... (9, 4) 2
[5]

(c) A problem may be decomposed into sub-tasks when designing an algorithm.

Give three benefits of using sub-tasks.

1 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

2 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

3 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[3]

© UCLES 2020 9608/22/O/N/20 [Turn over

3 A car has the ability to detect a skid by monitoring the rate of rotation (the rotational speed) of
each wheel. If the rate of rotation of any wheel is not within 10% of the average of all four wheels,
the car skids.

A function, CheckSkid(), is being developed.

The function will:

• simulate real-time data acquisition, by prompting for the input of four integer values in the
range 0 to 1000 inclusive, representing the rate of rotation of each wheel
• calculate the average value
• check whether any individual value is more than 10% greater than the average or more than
10% less than the average
• return TRUE if any individual value is more than 10% greater than the average or more than
10% less than the average and FALSE otherwise
• output a suitable warning message.

(a) Write program code for the function CheckSkid().

Visual Basic and Pascal: You should include the declaration statements for variables.
Python: You should show a comment statement for each variable used with its data type.

Programming language ............................................................................................................

Program code

...................................................................................................................................................

© UCLES 2020 9608/22/O/N/20

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [8]

(b) Give two sets of test data that could be used to test the function.

Test 1 – No skid detected

Value1 Value2 Value3 Value4

Test 2 – Skid detected

Value1 Value2 Value3 Value4

[2]

© UCLES 2020 9608/22/O/N/20 [Turn over

4 (a) The following structured English describes an algorithm used to count the number of odd and
even digits in an input sequence.

1. Initialise variables OddCount and EvenCount to zero.

2. Prompt and input an integer.
3. If the integer is not in the range 0 to 9 then go to step 7.
4. If the integer is an even number then add 1 to EvenCount.
5. Otherwise add 1 to OddCount.
6. Repeat from step 2.
7. Output "Same" if there are the same number of odd and even integers.
8. Output "Odd" if there are more odd than even integers.
9. Output "Even" if there are more even than odd integers.

Draw a flowchart on the following page to represent the algorithm.

© UCLES 2020 9608/22/O/N/20

(b) The following pseudocode is an attempt to check whether two equal-length strings consist of
identical characters.

Refer to the Appendix on pages 18–19 for the list of built-in functions and operators.

FUNCTION Compare(String1, String2 : STRING) RETURNS BOOLEAN

DECLARE x, y, Len1, Len2 : INTEGER
DECLARE RetFlag : BOOLEAN
DECLARE NextChar : CHAR
DECLARE New : STRING

Len1 LENGTH(String1)
RetFlag TRUE

FOR x 1 TO Len1 // for each char in String1

Len2 LENGTH(String2)
NextChar MID(String1, x, 1) // get NextChar from String1
New ""
FOR y 1 TO Len2 // for each char in String2
IF NextChar <> MID(String2, y, 1) // no match
THEN
New New & MID(String2, y, 1) // save this char from String2
ENDIF
ENDFOR
String2 New // replace String2 with New
ENDFOR

IF LENGTH(String2) <> 0 // anything left in String2 ?

THEN
RetFlag FALSE
ENDIF

RETURN RetFlag

ENDFUNCTION

© UCLES 2020 9608/22/O/N/20

(i) Complete the trace table below by performing a dry run of the function when it is called
as follows:

Result Compare("SUB", "BUS")

The first row has been completed for you.

String1 String2 Len1 RetFlag x Len2 NextChar New y

"SUB" "BUS" 3 TRUE 1

[5]

(ii) State the value returned.

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

© UCLES 2020 9608/22/O/N/20 [Turn over

(iii) There is an error in the algorithm, which means that under certain circumstances, the
function will return an incorrect value.

Describe the problem. Give two test strings that would demonstrate it.

Problem .............................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

Test String1 .......................................................................................................................

Test String2 .......................................................................................................................

[2]

(iv) Describe the modification that needs to be made to the algorithm to correct the error.

Do not use pseudocode or program code in your answer.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

(v) State the name given to the type of testing that makes use of a trace table.

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

(vi) State two features found in a typical Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that
may be used for debugging a program.

1 ........................................................................................................................................

2 ........................................................................................................................................
[2]

© UCLES 2020 9608/22/O/N/20

5 A hashtag is used on a social media network. A hashtag is a string consisting of a hash character
‘#’ followed by one or more alphanumeric characters.

A program is being developed to monitor the use of hashtags.

The program will include two global arrays each containing 10 000 elements:

• A 1D array, TagString, of type STRING stores each hashtag in a single element. All unused
array elements contain an empty string ("").

• A 1D array, TagCount, of type INTEGER stores a count of the number of times each hashtag
is used. The count value at a given index relates to the element stored at the corresponding
index in the TagString array.

The contents of the two arrays will be stored in a text file Backup.txt. The format of each line of
the file is:

For example:

"#ComputerScienceClass,978"

A developer has started to define the modules as follows:

Module Description
InitArrays() • Initialise the arrays
• The contents of the two arrays are stored in the text file Backup.txt
Existing file contents will be overwritten
SaveArrays() • Each hashtag and count are stored in one line of the file, as in the example
above
• Unused TagString elements are not added to the file
• Returns the total number of unused TagString elements

LoadArrays()
• Values from the text file Backup.txt are stored in the two arrays
• The number of elements stored is returned

(a) Write pseudocode for the module InitArrays().

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [4]
© UCLES 2020 9608/22/O/N/20
15

(b) Write pseudocode for the module SaveArrays().

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [8]
© UCLES 2020 9608/22/O/N/20 [Turn over
16

(c) Write program code for the module LoadArrays().

The module description is repeated here for reference.

Module Description
• Values from the text file Backup.txt are stored in the
LoadArrays() two arrays
• The number of elements stored is returned

You should assume:

• each line of the file contains a string of the correct format and no validation checks are
required
• there are no more than 10 000 lines in the file.

Visual Basic and Pascal: You should include the declaration statements for variables.
Python: You should show a comment statement for each variable used with its data type.

Programming language ............................................................................................................

Program code

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
© UCLES 2020 9608/22/O/N/20
17

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [8]

© UCLES 2020 9608/22/O/N/20 [Turn over

Appendix
Built-in functions (pseudocode)

Each function returns an error if the function call is not properly formed.

LENGTH(ThisString : STRING) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer value representing the length of string ThisString

Example: LENGTH("Happy Days") returns 10

LEFT(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns leftmost x characters from ThisString

Example: LEFT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns string "ABC"

RIGHT(ThisString: STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns rightmost x characters from ThisString

Example: RIGHT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns string "FGH"

MOD(ThisNum : INTEGER, ThisDiv : INTEGER) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer value representing the remainder when ThisNum is divided by ThisDiv

Example: MOD(10,3) returns 1

MID(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER, y : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns a string of length y starting at position x from ThisString

Example: MID("ABCDEFGH", 2, 3) returns string "BCD"

DIV(ThisNum : INTEGER, ThisDiv : INTEGER) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer value representing the whole number part of the result when ThisNum is
divided by ThisDiv

Example: DIV(10,3) returns 3

NUM_TO_STRING(x : REAL) RETURNS STRING

returns a string representation of a numeric value.
Note: This function will also work if x is of type INTEGER

Example: NUM_TO_STRING(87.5) returns "87.5"

STRING_TO_NUM(x : STRING) RETURNS REAL

returns a numeric representation of a string.
Note: This function will also work if x is of type CHAR

Example: STRING_TO_NUM("23.45") returns 23.45

© UCLES 2020 9608/22/O/N/20

Operators (pseudocode)

© UCLES 2020 9608/22/O/N/20

Cambridge International AS & A Level
* 5 4 7 9 1 0 0 9 4 4 *

COMPUTER SCIENCE 9608/23

Paper 2 Fundamental Problem-solving and Programming Skills October/November 2020

2 hours

You must answer on the question paper.

No additional materials are needed.

This document has 16 pages. Blank pages are indicated.

DC (JC/CT) 188579/4
© UCLES 2020 [Turn over
2

1 (a) A programmer uses the process of stepwise refinement to break down a problem.

Explain the purpose of stepwise refinement.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

(b) Programming languages support different data types. These usually include STRING and
REAL.

Complete the table by giving four other data types and an example data value for each.

Data type Example data value

[4]

(i) State one feature of the program that she should be able to recognise.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

(ii) State the type of skill that would allow her to recognise this feature.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

(d) Give three methods that may be used to identify and locate errors in a program after it has
been written.

You may include one feature found in a typical Integrated Development Environment (IDE).

1 ................................................................................................................................................

2 ................................................................................................................................................

3 ................................................................................................................................................
[3]
© UCLES 2020 9608/23/O/N/20
3

2 (a) An algorithm is needed to input a list of numbers representing test marks for a class of
30 students.
The algorithm will output the number of students who have a mark greater than 75. It will also
output the average mark for the class.

Document the algorithm using structured English.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [8]

(b) Each pseudocode statement in the following table contains an error.

State the error in each case.

Refer to the Appendix on page 16 for the list of built-in functions and operators.

Statement Error

Code LEFT(3, "Europe")

Hour MID("ALARM:12:02", 7, 6)

Size LENGTH(27.5)

Num INT(27 / (Count + 3)

Result "Conditional" AND "Loop"

[5]
© UCLES 2020 9608/23/O/N/20 [Turn over
4

(c) Part of a program flowchart is shown.

Set Index to 0

Set Status to FALSE

LOOP

Is YES
Status = TRUE
?

NO
NO Is Index > 100
?
Set Status to TopUp()
YES

SetLevel("Super")
Set Index to Index + 1

Write program code to implement the flowchart shown. Variable declarations are not
required.

Programming language ............................................................................................................

Program code

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [6]
© UCLES 2020 9608/23/O/N/20
5

3 A global 1D array, ProdNum, of type INTEGER contains 5 000 elements and is used to store
product numbers.

A procedure is needed to sort ProdNum into ascending order using a bubble sort algorithm.

Write program code for the procedure BubbleSort().

Visual Basic and Pascal: You should include the declaration statements for variables.
Python: You should show a comment statement for each variable used with its data type.

Programming language ....................................................................................................................

Program code

..........................................................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................................................
© UCLES 2020 9608/23/O/N/20 [Turn over
6

..........................................................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................................... [7]

4 (a) The following pseudocode includes a procedure that searches for a value in a 1D array and
outputs each position in the array where the value is found.

Refer to the Appendix on page 16 for the list of built-in functions and operators.

DECLARE NameList : ARRAY [1:100] OF STRING

DECLARE SearchString : STRING

PROCEDURE Search()
DECLARE Index : INTEGER

FOR Index 1 TO 100

IF NameList[Index] = SearchString
THEN
OUTPUT "Found at " & NUM_TO_STRING(Index)
ENDIF
ENDFOR
ENDPROCEDURE

The specification of module Search() changes. The pseudocode needs to be amended to

meet a new requirement.

The procedure needs to be implemented as a function, Search(), which will:

• take the search value as a parameter

• return an integer which is:

• either the index value where the search value is first found
• or –1 if the search value is not found.

© UCLES 2020 9608/23/O/N/20

Write the pseudocode for the function Search().

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [6]

(b) A change to the specification in part (a) required a modification of the algorithm.

Give the term used for this type of modification.

............................................................................................................................................. [1]

(c) A change to the specification is only one reason to modify an algorithm.

Give another reason for the modification of an algorithm.

............................................................................................................................................. [1]

© UCLES 2020 9608/23/O/N/20 [Turn over

(d) Consider the following pseudocode:

10 DECLARE VarA : INTEGER

11 VarA 20
12
13 CALL ProcA(VarA)
14 OUTPUT VarA // first value output
15
16 CALL ProcB(VarA)
17 OUTPUT VarA // second value output
18
19
20 PROCEDURE ProcA(BYVALUE ThisValue : INTEGER)
21 ThisValue ThisValue + 5
22 ENDPROCEDURE
23
24 PROCEDURE ProcB(BYREF ThisValue : INTEGER)
25 ThisValue ThisValue + 5
26 ENDPROCEDURE

Procedures ProcA() and ProcB() use two methods of passing parameters.

Complete the following table.

Output Explanation

.........................................................................................................
First
value
..................... .........................................................................................................
(line 14)
.........................................................................................................

.........................................................................................................
Second
value
..................... .........................................................................................................
(line 17)
.........................................................................................................
[4]

© UCLES 2020 9608/23/O/N/20

(e) The procedures ProcA and ProcB in part (d) are examples of program modules.

Give two advantages of using program modules in program design.

1 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

2 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[2]

© UCLES 2020 9608/23/O/N/20 [Turn over

5 A hashtag is used on a social media network to make it easier to find messages with a specific
theme or content. A hashtag is a string consisting of a hash character ‘#’ followed by a number of
alphanumeric characters.

A message may contain several hashtag strings. A hashtag may be terminated by a space
character, the start of the next hashtag, or by the end of the message.

For example, the following message contains three hashtags:

"#Alarm34 is the result of #BatteryFailure in the #PowerModule"

The hashtags in this message are "#Alarm34", "#BatteryFailure" and "#PowerModule".

A program is being developed to monitor their use.

The program will include two global arrays each containing 10 000 elements:

• A 1D array, TagString, of type STRING storing each hashtag in a single element of the
array. All unused array elements contain an empty string ("").

• A 1D array, TagCount, of type INTEGER storing a count of the number of times each hashtag
is used. The count value in a given element relates to the hashtag value stored in the element
in the TagString array with the corresponding index value.

A developer has started to define the modules. Module GetStart() has already been written.

Module Description

• Called with two parameters:

• a message of type STRING
• an integer giving the number of the required hashtag;
for example, GetStart(Message, 3) would search
GetStart()
for the third hashtag in the string Message
• Returns an integer value representing the start position of
the hashtag in the message, or value −1 if that hashtag
does not exist
• Called with a hashtag of type STRING
• Copies the hashtag to the next free element of the
TagString array, and sets the corresponding element of
AddHashtag()
the TagCount array to 1
• Returns FALSE if there are no unused elements in the
TagString array, otherwise returns TRUE
• Called with a message of type STRING
CountHashtag()
• Searches the message for hashtags using GetStart()
• Returns a value representing the number of hashtags in the
message
• Called with a hashtag of type STRING
• Increments the value of the appropriate element in the
IncrementHashtag() TagCount array if the hashtag is found
• Returns TRUE if the hashtag is found, or FALSE if the
hashtag is not found

© UCLES 2020 9608/23/O/N/20

(a) Write pseudocode for the module AddHashtag().

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [6]

© UCLES 2020 9608/23/O/N/20 [Turn over

(b) Write program code for the module CountHashtag().

The module description is repeated here for reference.

Module Description

• Called with a message of type STRING

CountHashtag()
• Searches the message for hashtags using GetStart()
• Returns a value representing the number of hashtags in the
message

Visual Basic and Pascal: You should include the declaration statements for variables.
Python: You should show a comment statement for each variable used with its data type.

Programming language .............................................................................................................

Program code

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [6]
© UCLES 2020 9608/23/O/N/20
13

(c) Write program code for the module IncrementHashtag().

The module description is repeated here for reference.

Module Description

• Called with a hashtag of type STRING

• Increments the value of the appropriate element in the
IncrementHashtag() TagCount array if the hashtag is found
• Returns TRUE if the hashtag is found, or FALSE if the
hashtag is not found

Visual Basic and Pascal: You should include the declaration statements for variables.
Python: You should show a comment statement for each variable used with its data type.

Programming language .............................................................................................................

Program code

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [4]
© UCLES 2020 9608/23/O/N/20 [Turn over
14

(d) A procedure, OutputMostPop(), is needed to output the most popular hashtag. The most
popular hashtag is the one with the highest count value stored in the TagCount array.

As a reminder, the program includes two global arrays each containing 10 000 elements:

• A 1D array, TagString, of type STRING storing each hashtag in a single element of the
array. All unused array elements contain an empty string ("").

• A 1D array, TagCount, of type INTEGER storing a count of the number of times each
hashtag is used. The count value in a given element relates to the hashtag value stored
in the element in the TagString array with the corresponding index value.

If the maximum count value occurs once, the procedure will output the corresponding hashtag
and the count value.

It is possible for more than one hashtag to have the same highest count value. In this case,
the procedure will output the maximum count value together with the number of hashtags
with this maximum count value.

In both cases, the procedure must also output a suitable message.

You can assume that the arrays contain data for at least one hashtag.

Write pseudocode for the OutputMostPop() procedure.

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
© UCLES 2020 9608/23/O/N/20
15

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................ . [8]

© UCLES 2020 9608/23/O/N/20 [Turn over

Appendix
Built-in functions (pseudocode)
Each function returns an error if the function call is not properly formed.

LENGTH(ThisString : STRING) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer value representing the length of string ThisString
Example: LENGTH("Happy Days") returns 10

LEFT(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns leftmost x characters from ThisString
Example: LEFT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns string "ABC"

RIGHT(ThisString: STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns rightmost x characters from ThisString
Example: RIGHT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns string "FGH"

MID(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER, y : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns a string of length y starting at position x from ThisString
Example: MID("ABCDEFGH", 2, 3) returns string "BCD"

INT(x : REAL) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer part of x
Example: INT(27.5415) returns 27

NUM_TO_STRING(x : REAL) RETURNS STRING

returns a string representation of a numeric value.
Note: This function will also work if x is of type INTEGER
Example: NUM_TO_STRING(87.5) returns "87.5"

Operators (pseudocode)
Operator Description
Concatenates (joins) two strings
&
Example: "Summer" & " " & "Pudding" produces "Summer Pudding"
Performs a logical AND on two Boolean values
AND
Example: TRUE AND FALSE produces FALSE
Performs a logical OR on two Boolean values
OR
Example: TRUE OR FALSE produces TRUE

© UCLES 2020 9608/23/O/N/20

Specimen Paper Answers
Paper 2
Cambridge International AS & A Level
Computer Science 9618
For examination from 2021

Version 1
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Copyright © UCLES July 2019

Cambridge Assessment International Education is part of the Cambridge Assessment Group. Cambridge
Assessment is the brand name of the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES),
which itself is a department of the University of Cambridge.

UCLES retains the copyright on all its publications. Registered Centres are permitted to copy material from
this booklet for their own internal use. However, we cannot give permission to Centres to photocopy any
material that is acknowledged to a third party, even for internal use within a Centre.
Contents
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 4
Assessment overview ........................................................................................................................................ 5
Question 1 ......................................................................................................................................................... 6
Question 2 ....................................................................................................................................................... 11
Question 3 ....................................................................................................................................................... 13
Question 4 ....................................................................................................................................................... 15
Question 5 ....................................................................................................................................................... 17
Question 6 ....................................................................................................................................................... 20
Question 7 ....................................................................................................................................................... 25
Specimen Paper Answers

Introduction
The main aim of this booklet is to exemplify standards for those teaching Cambridge International AS & A
Level Computer Science 9618, Paper 2: Fundamental Problem-solving and Programming Skills, and to show
examples of very good answers. The questions are from the published Specimen Paper, which contains
seven questions, each consisting of several parts. There are no optional questions. The format of the
Specimen Paper consists of questions and related sub-questions. This may be taken as a guide to actual
examination question papers, although the actual number of questions and sub-questions may alter from
series to series.

In this booklet, we have provided answers for all questions in the Specimen Paper.

Each question is followed by an example of a high-grade answer with an examiner comment on

performance. Comments are given to indicate where and why marks were awarded, and how additional
marks could have been obtained. In this way, it is possible to understand what candidates have done to gain
their marks and how they could improve.

The mark schemes for the Specimen Papers are available to download from the School Support Hub at
www.cambridgeinternational.org/support

2021 Specimen Paper 2 Mark Scheme

Past exam resources and other teacher support materials are available on the School Support Hub
www.cambridgeinternational.org/support

4 Cambridge International AS & A Level Computer Science 9618 Paper 2

Specimen Paper Answers

Assessment overview

Paper 2 – Fundamental Problem-solving and Programming Skills

Written paper, 2 hours, 75 marks

Externally assessed

Paper 2 will assess sections 9 to 12 of the syllabus content.

Candidates will need to write answers in pseudocode.

Candidates answer all questions.

50% of the AS Level

25% of the A Level

Many questions require a solution to a problem, which will require the application of problem-solving and
programming skills. Due to the nature of the subject it is likely that there will be several different solutions.
In these cases the mark schemes will reflect the essential components of the solution rather than reference
one specific method.

When writing pseudocode answers, candidates should limit themselves to the list of functions and operators
that are provided in the insert. Whilst it may be tempting to make use of functions or methods that are
available in a certain programming language to provide an easy solution to a given problem, this could
disadvantage those candidates who have not studied that particular language. By using only the defined set
of functions and operators all candidates are given an equal opportunity to provide a correct answer.

Centres are referred to the published pseudocode guide for further information.

Assessment objectives
The assessment objectives (AOs) are:

AO2: Apply knowledge and understanding of the principles and concepts of computer science, including to
analyse problems in computational terms.

AO3: Design, program and evaluate computer systems to solve problems, making reasoned judgements
about these.

Cambridge International AS & A Level Computer Science 9618 Paper 2 5

Specimen Paper Answers

Question 1

Question 1 (a) (i)

Specimen Paper Response

Variable Data type

Today STRING
WeekNumber INTEGER
Revision CHAR
MaxWeight REAL
LastBatch BOOLEAN

Examiner comment:
The given values in the table in part (a) are interpreted as follows:

• "Tuesday" is a literal string enclosed by quotation marks and so is of data type STRING

• 37 is a numeric value without decimal places so is of data type INTEGER

• 'C' is a single character enclosed by quotation marks so is of data type CHAR

• 60.5 is a numeric value with decimal places so is of data type REAL

• TRUE indicates a Boolean value so the data type is BOOLEAN

Total mark awarded = 5 out of 5

6 Cambridge International AS & A Level Computer Science 9618 Paper 2

Specimen Paper Answers

Question 1 (a) (ii)

Specimen Paper Response

Expression Evaluates to
MID(Today, 3, 2) & Revision & "ape" "esCape"
INT(MaxWeight + 4.2) 64
LENGTH(MaxWeight) ERROR
MOD(WeekNumber, 12) 1
(Revision <= 'D') AND (NOT LastBatch) FALSE

Examiner comment:
The expressions are evaluated as follows:

Row 1
Variable Today contains the string "Tuesday". The MID() function extracts 2 characters from this string
starting from position 3 (i.e. characters 3 and 4) which gives the string "es". Variable Revision contains
the character 'C', so the expression simplifies to:

"es" & 'C' & "ape"

The & represents the concatenation operator, so this expression evaluates to the string "esCape"
Quotation marks must be used to indicate that the value represents a literal string and not an identifier name.
A common mistake is for these to be omitted.

Row 2
Variable MaxWeight has the value 60.5. Adding this to 4.2 gives 64.7. The INT() function returns the
INTEGER value of the parameter (in this case 64.7) , which is 64.

Row 3
The LENGTH function expects a parameter of type STRING. In this expression a variable of type REAL has
been used, hence the expression is invalid and ERROR should be written, as directed in the question.

Row 4
Variable WeekNumber contains the value 37. The MOD() function returns an INTEGER value representing
the remainder when one number is divided by another using integer arithmetic. In this case 37 divided by 12
gives a remainder of 1.

Cambridge International AS & A Level Computer Science 9618 Paper 2 7

Specimen Paper Answers

Row 5
Variable Revision contains the character 'C' which is less than character 'D' so the contents of the first
bracket evaluates to TRUE. Variable LastBatch contains the value TRUE so the contents of the second
bracket evaluates to FALSE. This gives the simplified expression:

TRUE AND FALSE

This in turn evaluates to FALSE.

Total mark awarded = 5 out of 5

Question 1 (b)

Specimen Paper Response

Item Statement Input Process Output

1 SomeChars ← "Hello World" 

2 OUTPUT RIGHT(SomeChars,5)  
3 READFILE MyFile, MyChars  
4 WRITEFILE MyFile, "Data is " & MyChars  

Examiner comment:
The table has been completed correctly, as follows:

Row 1
The assignment of the literal string value to the identifier is an example of a Process

Row 2
The statement involves generating a sub-string by extracting 5 characters from the identifier SomeChars
(the Process) and outputting the resulting sub-string (the Output)

Row 3
The statement reads a line from the file MyFile (the Input) and assigns the value to the identifier Mychars
(the Process).

Row 4
The statement writes a line to the file MyFile (the Output) after first forming a string by concatenating (the
Process) the literal string "Data is " and the value of identifier MyChars.

Total mark awarded = 4 out of 4

8 Cambridge International AS & A Level Computer Science 9618 Paper 2

Specimen Paper Answers

Question 1 (c)

Specimen Paper Response

MyCount ← 101
REPEAT
OUTPUT MyCount
MyCount ← MyCount + 2
UNTIL MyCount = 199

Examiner comment:
The question specifies a post-condition loop, which implies a REPEAT ... UNTIL construct. The loop
termination condition should be based on the final value required (200). Prior to the loop, the start value
should be assigned to a variable and this variable will be increased by two each time around the loop. Note
that the start value given in the question is not an odd number and so should not be output.

The answer above could be considered to be an "optimised" solution in the sense that the learner has taken
into account the fact that the start value given in the question is not an odd number and modified the initial
value accordingly. They have also realised that adding 2 to an odd number will give the next odd number.

A mistake has been made with the terminating condition, meaning that the final value output would be 197
rather than 199, losing one mark.

An alternative solution could be as follows:

MyCount ← 100
REPEAT
IF MOD(MyCount, 2) = 1 // Check for a remainder of 1 when divided by 2 i.e. an
odd number
THEN
OUTPUT MyCount
ENDIF
MyCount ← MyCount + 1
UNTIL MyCount = 200

Cambridge International AS & A Level Computer Science 9618 Paper 2 9

Specimen Paper Answers

Note that this alternative solution includes a correct terminating condition and would gain full marks.

Total mark awarded = 3 out of 4

10 Cambridge International AS & A Level Computer Science 9618 Paper 2

Specimen Paper Answers

Question 2

Question 2 (a) (i)

Specimen Paper Response

1 The names of the modules

2 The relationship between the modules

3 The parameters passed between the modules

Examiner comment:
The labelled rectangles represent three program modules. The lines from module Checkout to the other two
modules at the lower level indicate that these two are sub-modules that are called from within Checkout.
The labelled arrows indicate the parameters that are passed between modules; the shaded circle of
parameter C indicates a Boolean value.

The answer correctly identifies three items of information.

In this case, an alternative mark could have been obtained by reference to the module sequence. For
example by answering:

"Module sequence – Checkout calls Card payment and then Account payment"

Cambridge International AS & A Level Computer Science 9618 Paper 2 11

Specimen Paper Answers

It is important that candidates read questions carefully to be clear about the scope of the question being
asked. In this case the question refers to the diagram given and not structure charts in general.
Consequently, only features that are present in the given diagram will be awarded a mark. For example,
"iteration" and "selection" are features that may be included in a structure chart but they would not be
acceptable answers as the symbols for these are not included in the given diagram.

Total mark awarded = 3 out of 3

Question 2 (b)

Specimen Paper Response

FUNCTION CardPayment (Amount : REAL, Name : STRING) RETURNS BOOLEAN

Examiner comment:
The example values given for the Data Items indicate the required data types for the parameters. The
single-headed arrows used in the diagram for parameters A and B indicate that these parameters are
passed by value and not by reference. This is the default mechanism and does not need to be explicitly
stated in the function declaration, but use of the BYVALUE keyword would obviously be correct.

The names given to parameters A and B are not important although they must be present and unique and
given the example data items it is expected that they would be given appropriate identifier names. The
parameter order for A and B in the function header is not important.

Total mark awarded = 3 out of 3

12 Cambridge International AS & A Level Computer Science 9618 Paper 2

Specimen Paper Answers

Question 3

Question 3 (a)

Specimen Paper Response

MyVar = POP

The value 'E' is removed from the stack

The TopofStack pointer is then incremented to point to location 102

PUSH('Z')

The TopOfStack pointer is decremented to point to location 101

Value 'Z' is loaded into location 101

Cambridge International AS & A Level Computer Science 9618 Paper 2 13

Specimen Paper Answers

Examiner comment:
There are several different possible ways in which stack operations can function. For clarity, this question
states that the TopOfStack pointer points to the last value added to the stack, in this case the value E in
location 101. Locations 102 to 105 are shown to contain values whereas locations 100 and 99 are shown
as 'empty'. This should be sufficient to indicate to learners that the stack in this case will grow 'upwards'
through decreasing address locations. In this case a 'Push' operation would be pre-decrement operation but
this terminology is not something learners would be expected to be familiar with.

The answer given fully describes the two operations.

It is intended that the two operations described in the question be applied in sequence to the stack as
shown. If the answer given to the first part is incorrect, then whatever value had been assigned to the
TopOfStack would be carried forward when marking the second part of the question.

Total mark awarded = 4 out of 4

Question 3 (b)

Specimen Paper Response

The strings are different because one is the reverse of the other. e.g. "CAT" becomes
"TAC"

This is because a stack operates as a First-In-Last-Out (FILO) mechanism

Examiner comment:
The answer describes the difference between the two strings - that is the strings are in reverse order. In this
case the answer also includes an example, which in itself would be sufficient to gain the first mark.

The answer explains that the reason for this is that a stack operates as a FILO (or LIFO) mechanism.

Total mark awarded = 2 out of 2

14 Cambridge International AS & A Level Computer Science 9618 Paper 2

Specimen Paper Answers

Question 4

Question 4 (a)

Specimen Paper Response

Name of parameter Value
Explanation
passing method Output
A pointer to the variable is passed.
Call by reference 5 Original variable is changed when parameter
changed in MyProc.
A copy of the variable is passed.
Call by value 4 Original variable not changed when parameter
changed in Myproc.

Cambridge International AS & A Level Computer Science 9618 Paper 2 15

Specimen Paper Answers

Examiner comment:
In the first two columns the answer correctly names the two possible methods and gives the corresponding
value output in each case. The explanation section requires a more in-depth answer and here the answer
describes the mechanism in each case and also the effect this has on the parameter that is passed.

For each method, a mark is awarded for the name plus the corresponding value output, and two marks for
the explanation.

It is important that the explanation is sufficiently detailed and unambiguous. For example, the statement
"the value is not changed" would not be given a mark as it is not clear which value is being referred to.

Total mark awarded = 6 out of 6

Question 4 (b)

Specimen Paper Response

Procedures
Local variables

Examiner comment:
The answer correctly identifies two features that are contained in the example. In this case the word
'subroutine' would have been an acceptable alternative to 'procedure'.

Total mark awarded = 2 out of 2

16 Cambridge International AS & A Level Computer Science 9618 Paper 2

Specimen Paper Answers

Question 5

Question 5 (a)

Specimen Paper Response

TYPE Stock
DECLARE ProductCode : STRING
DECLARE Price : REAL
DECLARE NumberInStock : INTEGER
END

Examiner comment:
The answer requires the definition of a user-defined record type named StockItem that includes the three
fields as required. In the answer above, the data type for each field have been correctly inferred from the
typical values given, but the record type has been named "Stock", rather than "StockItem"

Total mark awarded = 2 out of 3

Question 5 (b)

Specimen Paper Response

DECLARE StockItem : ARRAY [1:1000] OF StockItem

Cambridge International AS & A Level Computer Science 9618 Paper 2 17

Specimen Paper Answers

Examiner comment:
The array declaration includes the array size and the data type, but the name of the array has been given as
'StockItem" rather than "Stock".

Total mark awarded = 2 out of 3

Question 5 (c)

Specimen Paper Response

Stock[20].Price ← 105.99
Stock[20].NumberInStock ← Stock[20].NumberInStock + 12

Examiner comment:
The answer correctly demonstrates how individual data items are accessed using the dot notation.

Total mark awarded = 2 out of 2

Question 5 (d)

18 Cambridge International AS & A Level Computer Science 9618 Paper 2

Specimen Paper Answers

Specimen Paper Response

DECLARE n : INTEGER
FOR n ← 1 to 1000
IF Stock[n].Price >= 100
THEN
OUTPUT "ProductCode: " & Stock[n].ProductCode & Number in Stock: &
Stock[n].NumberInStock
ENDIF
NEXT

Examiner comment:
The answer contains one error, but otherwise correctly implements the simple algorithm, the essential
elements of which are as follows:

• A loop to process all the elements in the array

• A conditional statement to check the price, correctly translating the phrase 'at least' into the
comparison '>='. Note that the expression '> 99' would not be valid in this case as the numbers are
not integer values. For example, information would be output for a stock item with a price of 99.5,
which is not what is required.

• An output statement that includes the required field values and is formatted as required in the
question, but the necessary quotation marks around the literal string "Number in Stock: " have been
omitted.

The answer provides simple 'in-line' pseudocode as the question does not ask for the solution to be provided
as either a procedure or a function.

Total mark awarded = 3 out of 4

Cambridge International AS & A Level Computer Science 9618 Paper 2 19

Specimen Paper Answers

Question 6

Question 6 (a)

Specimen Paper Response

FUNCTION ValidatePassword(Pass : STRING) RETURNS BOOLEAN
DECLARE LCaseChar, UCaseChar, NumChar, n : INTEGER
DECLARE NextChar : CHAR
DECLARE ReturnFlag : BOOLEAN
ReturnFlag ← TRUE
LCaseChar ← 0
UCaseChar ← 0
NumChar ← 0
n ←1

20 Cambridge International AS & A Level Computer Science 9618 Paper 2

Specimen Paper Answers

WHILE n < LENGTH(Pass) AND ReturnFlag = TRUE

NextChar ← MID(Pass, n, 1)
IF NextChar >= 'a' AND NextChar <= 'z’
THEN
LCaseChar ← LCaseChar + 1
ELSE
IF NextChar >= 'A' AND NextChar <= 'Z’
THEN
UCaseChar ← UCaseChar + 1
ELSE
IF NextChar >= '0' AND NextChar <= '9’
THEN
NumChar ← NumChar + 1
ELSE
ReturnFlag ← False //illegal character
ENDIF
ENDIF
n←n +1
NEXT

IF NOT (LCaseChar > 1 AND UCaseChar > 1 AND NumChar > 2 AND ReturnFlag)
THEN
ReturnFlag ← FALSE
ENDIF
OUTPUT ReturnFlag
ENDFUNCTION

Examiner comment:
There are many ways of solving this problem – the answer given represents a typical 'straightforward'
solution. There are opportunities for simplification and a solution based on a CASE construct may provide a
more elegant solution but neither of these is a requirement. A functionally correct solution will gain full
marks.

Following the function header and local variable declarations and initialisation, the solution breaks down into
two parts:

A loop is used. Within this loop each character of the given password string is extracted in turn. The
character is compared with the three ranges described by each of the first three rules in the question, and a
separate count is made in the number of characters in each range. If the character is not one of the three
types specified then it is an illegal character and a flag is set. In the answer above, the loop is terminated as
soon as an illegal character is encountered. This is not essential to the solution but would be expected from
a top-grade answer.

Following the loop, the four rules given are tested via an IF statement. This assigns a Boolean value to the
variable, which is then returned.

The answer contains three errors as follows:

• The loop does not check the final character of the string. The condition should be:
n <= LENGTH(Pass)

Cambridge International AS & A Level Computer Science 9618 Paper 2 21

Specimen Paper Answers

• There is a missing ENDIF. (The first IF clause is unterminated.)

• The boolean value is output rather than returned

The available mark scheme points are shown below. For this answer, marks have been awarded for the
points that have not been crossed through. (Note that the question is for a maximum of 9 marks, but there
are 10 possible mark points)

1. Correct Function heading (including parameter) and ending

2. Declaration and initialisation of local counter integer variables
3. Correct loop
4. Loop terminates if illegal character found
5. Picking up NextChar from Pass
6. Correct check and increment for lower case
7. Correct check and increment for upper case
8. Correct check and increment for numeric
9. Correct check for invalid character
10. Correct final format check and returning correct Boolean value

Total mark awarded = 7 out of 9

Question 6 (b) (i)

Specimen Paper Response

PASSword123

Examiner comment:
The answer satisfies the three rules as it contains:
• 4 uppercase alphabetic characters
• 4 lowercase alphabetic characters
• 3 numeric characters
• no non-alphanumeric characters.

Note: The question asks simply for the password, rather than for a STRING value, so double quotation
marks are not required. These would be ignored if present.

Total mark awarded = 1 out of 1

22 Cambridge International AS & A Level Computer Science 9618 Paper 2

Specimen Paper Answers

Question 6 (b) (ii)

Specimen Paper Response

Password: PASSw123
Reason: only one lower-case alphabetic characters – should be at least two

Password: Pword123
Reason: only one upper-case alphabetic characters – should be at least two

Password: PASSword12
Reason: only two numeric characters – should be at least three

Password: PASSw-123
Reason: contains a non-alphanumeric character

Cambridge International AS & A Level Computer Science 9618 Paper 2 23

Specimen Paper Answers

Examiner comment:
Each password should break a different rule, and each password should break only one rule. A password
that breaks more than one rule would be of limited use for test purposes.

A mark is given for each password together with a suitable explanation.

The final password is incorrect. Although it contains an illegal character it also contains an incorrect number
of lowercase alphabetic characters.

Total mark awarded = 3 out of 4

Question 6 (b) (iii)

Specimen Paper Response

White-box

Examiner comment:
The correct term has been given.

Total mark awarded = 1 out of 1

Question 6 (b) (iv)

Specimen Paper Response

Stub testing is the process of testing a function before it has been fully written.

Examiner comment:
The answer addresses the first of the required two points, which are that the function can be tested before it
is fully written.

For the second mark, the answer would need to say how this could be achieved. For example:

The function contents are replaced with simple code to return a fixed value or to
output a message.

Total mark awarded = 1 out of 2

24 Cambridge International AS & A Level Computer Science 9618 Paper 2

Specimen Paper Answers

Question 7

Cambridge International AS & A Level Computer Science 9618 Paper 2 25

Specimen Paper Answers

Specimen Paper Response

PROCEDURE LogEvents()

DECLARE FileData : STRING

DECLARE ArrayIndex : INTEGER
OPENFILE "LoginFile.txt" FOR WRITE
FOR ArrayIndex ← 1 TO 500
IF LogArray[ArrayIndex] <> ""
THEN
FileData ← LogArray[ArrayIndex]
WRITEFILE "LoginFile.txt", FileData
ENDIF
NEXT

CLOSEFILE "LoginFile.txt"

ENDPROCEDURE

Examiner comment:
The scenario description is straightforward and although different solutions may include minor variations, all
will require the following features:
• The pseudocode will be contained within a procedure named LogEvents, which has a header and
an end statement
• A loop is required to search through the array. A loop variable (ArrayIndex above), of type
INTEGER is necessary as this will be used to index individual element values within the array
• The file must be opened in APPEND mode in order to add data to the end of the existing file
• Within the loop, each array element needs to be checked to check whether it contains the string
"Empty"
• If an array element does not contain the value "Empty" then the value is written to the file
• After the loop ends, loop the file is closed

The answer contains two errors as follows:

• The file is opened in the wrong mode

• The check for an unused elements uses an empty string rather than te value "Empty"

The available mark scheme points are shown below. For this answer, marks have been awarded for the
points that have not been crossed through.

1. Procedure heading and ending

2. Declare ArrayIndex as integer
3. Open file LoginFile for append

26 Cambridge International AS & A Level Computer Science 9618 Paper 2

Specimen Paper Answers

4. Correct loop
5. Extract data from array in a loop
6. Check for unused element in a loop
7. Write data to file in a loop
8. Close the file outside the loop

Total mark awarded = 6 out of 8

Cambridge International AS & A Level Computer Science 9618 Paper 2 27

Cambridge International AS & A Level
*0123456789*

COMPUTER SCIENCE 9618/02

Paper 2 Fundamental Problem-solving and Programming Skills For examination from 2021
SPECIMEN PAPER 2 hours

You must answer on the question paper.

You will need: Insert (enclosed)

This document has 14 pages. Blank pages are indicated.

© UCLES 2018 [Turn over

1 (a) Program variables have values as follows:

Variable Value
Today "Tuesday"
WeekNumber 37
Revision 'C'
MaxWeight 60.5
LastBatch TRUE

(i) Give an appropriate data type for each variable.

Variable Data type

Today
WeekNumber
Revision
MaxWeight
LastBatch
[5]

(ii) Evaluate each expression in the following table.

If an expression is invalid then write ERROR.

Refer to the Insert for the list of pseudocode functions and operators.

Expression Evaluates to
MID(Today, 3, 2) & Revision & "ape"
INT(MaxWeight + 4.2)
LENGTH(MaxWeight)
MOD(WeekNumber, 12)
(Revision <= 'D') AND (NOT LastBatch)
[5]

(b) Simple algorithms usually consist of input, process and output.

Complete the table to show if each statement is an example of input, process or output.
Place one or more ticks (9) for each statement.

Item Statement Input Process Output

1 SomeChars ← "Hello World"
2 OUTPUT RIGHT(SomeChars, 5)
3 READFILE MyFile, MyChars
4 WRITEFILE MyFile, "Data is " & MyChars

[4]
© UCLES 2018 9618/02/SP/21
3

...................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................. [4]

© UCLES 2018 9618/02/SP/21 [Turn over

2 Roberta downloads music from an online music store. The diagram shows part of a structure chart
for the online music store program.

Checkout

A
B

Card payment Account payment

(a) State three items of information that the diagram shows about the design of the program.

1 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

2 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

3 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[3]

(b) Examples of the data items that correspond to the arrows are given in the table.

Arrow Data item

A 234.56
B "Ms Roberta Smith"
C TRUE

Use pseudocode to write the function header for the Card payment module.

...................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................. [3]

© UCLES 2018 9618/02/SP/21

3 A stack is created using a high-level language. The following diagram represents the current state
of the stack. The Top of Stack pointer points to the last item added to the stack.

Address Value Pointer

99
100
101 E ⇐ TopOfStack
102 D
103 C
104 B
105 A

(a) Two operations associated with this stack are PUSH() and POP().

Describe these operations with reference to the diagram.

MyVar = POP()

...................................................................................................................................................

PUSH('Z')

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[4]

(b) Two programs use a stack to exchange data. Program AddString pushes a string of
characters onto the stack one character at a time. Program RemoveString pops the same
number of characters off the stack, one character at a time. The string taken off the stack is
different from the string put on the stack.

Explain why the strings are different.

...................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................. [2]

© UCLES 2018 9618/02/SP/21 [Turn over

4 (a) Parameter x is used to pass data to procedure MyProc in the following pseudocode:

x ← 4
CALL MyProc(x)
OUTPUT x

PROCEDURE MyProc(x : INTEGER)

DECLARE z : INTEGER
x ← x + 1
z ← x + 3
ENDPROCEDURE

There are two parameter passing methods that could be used.

Complete the following table for each of the two methods.

Name of parameter Value Explanation

passing method output

......................................................................................
.................................
............ ......................................................................................
.................................
......................................................................................

[6]

(b) The pseudocode includes the use of parameters.

State two other features in the pseudocode that support a modular approach to programming.

1 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

2 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[2]

© UCLES 2018 9618/02/SP/21

5 A company keeps details of its product items in a 1D array, Stock. The array consists of 1000
elements of type StockItem.

The record fields of StockItem are:

Field Typical value

ProductCode "BGR24-C"
Price 102.76
NumberInStock 15

(a) Write pseudocode to declare the record structure StockItem.

...................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................. [3]

(b) Write pseudocode to declare the Stock array.

...................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................. [3]

(c) Write pseudocode to modify the values to element 20 as follows:

• set the price to 105.99

• increase the number in stock by 12

...................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................. [2]

© UCLES 2018 9618/02/SP/21

(d) A stock report program is developed.

Write pseudocode to output the information for each stock item that has a price of at least
100.

Output the information as follows:

Product Code: BGR24-C Number in Stock: 15

...................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................. [4]

© UCLES 2018 9618/02/SP/21 [Turn over

6 Members of a family use the same laptop computer. Each family member has their own password.

To be valid, a password must comply with the following rules:

1 At least two lower-case alphabetic characters

2 At least two upper-case alphabetic characters
3 At least three numeric characters
4 Alpha-numeric characters only

A function, ValidatePassword, is needed to check that a given password follows these rules.
This function takes a string, Pass, as a parameter and returns a boolean value:

• TRUE if it is a valid password

• FALSE otherwise

(a) Write pseudocode to implement the function ValidatePassword.

Refer to the Insert for the list of pseudocode functions and operators.

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
© UCLES 2018 9618/02/SP/21
11

...................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................. [9]
© UCLES 2018 9618/02/SP/21 [Turn over
12

(b) The ValidatePassword function will be tested.

(i) Give a valid password that can be used to check that the function returns TRUE under
the correct conditions.

Password1: .................................................................................................................. [1]

(ii) Password1 is modified to test each rule separately. Give four modified passwords and
justify your choice.

Password to test rule 1: .....................................................................................................

Reason: .............................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

Password to test rule 2: .....................................................................................................

Reason: .............................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

Password to test rule 3: .....................................................................................................

Reason: .............................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

Password to test rule 4: .....................................................................................................

Reason: .............................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[4]

(iii) When testing the ValidatePassword function a module it is necessary to test all
possible paths through the code.

State the name given to this type of validation testing.

...................................................................................................................................... [1]

© UCLES 2018 9618/02/SP/21

(iv) A program consisting of several functions can be tested using a process known as ‘stub
testing’

Explain this process.

...........................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................... [2]

© UCLES 2018 9618/02/SP/21

7 LogArray is a 1D array containing 500 elements of type STRING.

A procedure, LogEvents, is required to add data from the array to the end of the existing text file
LoginFile.txt

Unused array elements are assigned the value "Empty". These can occur anywhere in the array
and should not be added to the file.

Write pseudocode for the procedure LogEvents.

Refer to the Insert for the list of pseudocode functions and operators.

..........................................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................................... [8]

© UCLES 2018 9618/02/SP/21

Cambridge International AS & A Level
* 0 9 1 0 1 4 3 9 3 6 *

COMPUTER SCIENCE 9618/21

Paper 2 Fundamental Problem-solving and Programming Skills May/June 2021

2 hours

You must answer on the question paper.

You will need: Insert (enclosed)

This document has 24 pages. Any blank pages are indicated.

DC (PQ) 214717
© UCLES 2021 [Turn over
2

Refer to the insert for the list of pseudocode functions and operators.

1 (a) A program is being developed to help manage the membership of a football club.

Complete the following identifier table.

Example
Explanation Variable name Data type
value

The preferred name of the member

"Wong"
joining the football club

A value to indicate whether an

FALSE existing member of the club lives at
the same address

When the member joined the football

19/02/1983
club

The number of points a member has

1345 earned. Members of the club earn
points for different activities.
[4]

(b) Each pseudocode statement in the following table may contain an error due to the incorrect
use of the function or operator.

Describe the error in each case, or write ‘NO ERROR’ if the statement contains no error.

You can assume that none of the variables referenced are of an incorrect type.

Statement Error

Result 2 & 4

SubString MID("pseudocode", 4, 1)

IF x = 3 OR 4 THEN

Result Status AND INT(x/2)

Message "Done" + LENGTH(MyString)

[5]

© UCLES 2021 9618/21/M/J/21

• student name (a string)

• test score (an integer).

State a suitable data structure and justify your answer.

Structure ...................................................................................................................................

Justification ...............................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[3]

© UCLES 2021 9618/21/M/J/21 [Turn over

2 (a) Four program modules form part of a program for a library.

A description of the relationship between the modules is summarised as follows:

Module name Description

UpdateLoan() • Calls either LoanExtend() or LoanReturn()

• Called with parameters LoanID and BookID
• Calls CheckReserve() to see whether the book has been
LoanExtend() reserved for another library user
• Returns TRUE if the loan has been extended, otherwise returns
FALSE
• Called with BookID
CheckReserve() • Returns TRUE if the book has been reserved, otherwise returns
FALSE
• Called with parameters LoanID and BookID
LoanReturn() • Returns a REAL (which is the value of the fine to be paid in the
case of an overdue loan)

Draw a structure chart to show the relationship between the four modules and the parameters
passed between them.

[5]
© UCLES 2021 9618/21/M/J/21
5

(b) The definition for module LoanReturn() is amended as follows:

Module name Description

Called with parameters LoanID, BookID and Fine
LoanReturn() The module code checks whether the book has been returned on time
and then assigns a new value to Fine

• LoanID and BookID are of type STRING

• Fine is of type REAL

Write the pseudocode header for the amended module LoanReturn().

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

© UCLES 2021 9618/21/M/J/21 [Turn over

(c) A program will:

• input 50 unique integer values

• output the largest value
• output the average of the values excluding the largest value.

Draw a program flowchart to represent the algorithm.

Variable declarations are not required.

It is not necessary to check that each input value is unique.

[6]
© UCLES 2021 9618/21/M/J/21
8

3 (a) A concert venue uses a program to calculate admission prices and store information about
ticket sales.

A number of arrays are used to store data. The computer is switched off overnight and data
has to be input again at the start of each day before any tickets can be sold. This process is
very time consuming.

(i) Explain how the program could use text files to speed up the process.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [2]

(ii) State the characteristic of text files that allow them to be used as explained in part (a)(i).

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

(iii) Information about ticket sales will be stored as a booking. The booking requires the
following data:

• name of person booking

• number of people in the group (for example a family ticket or a school party)
• event type.

Suggest how data relating to each booking may be stored in a text file.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [2]

© UCLES 2021 9618/21/M/J/21

(b) A procedure Preview() will:

• take the name of a text file as a parameter

• output a warning message if the file is empty
• otherwise output the first five lines from the file (or as many lines as there are in the file if
this number is less than five).

Write pseudocode for the procedure Preview().

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [5]

© UCLES 2021 9618/21/M/J/21 [Turn over

4 Study the following pseudocode. Line numbers are for reference only.

10 FUNCTION Convert(Name : STRING) RETURNS STRING

11
12 DECLARE Flag: BOOLEAN
13 DECLARE Index : INTEGER
14 DECLARE ThisChar : CHAR
15 DECLARE NewName : STRING
16
17 CONSTANT SPACECHAR = ' '
18
19 Flag TRUE
20 Index 1
21 NewName "" // formatted name string
22
23 WHILE Index <= LENGTH(Name)
24 ThisChar MID(Name, Index, 1)
25 IF Flag = TRUE THEN
26 NewName NewName & UCASE(ThisChar)
27 IF ThisChar <> SPACECHAR THEN
28 Flag FALSE
29 ENDIF
30 ELSE
31 NewName NewName & ThisChar
32 ENDIF
33 IF ThisChar = SPACECHAR THEN
34 Flag TRUE
35 ENDIF
36 Index Index + 1
37 ENDWHILE
38
39 RETURN NewName
40
41 ENDFUNCTION

© UCLES 2021 9618/21/M/J/21

(a) Complete the trace table below by dry running the function when it is called as follows:

Result Convert("∇in∇a∇∇Cup")

Note: The symbol '∇' has been used to represent a space character.
Use this symbol for any space characters in the trace table.

The first row has been completed for you.

Name Flag Index NewName ThisChar

"∇in∇a∇∇Cup"

[5]

© UCLES 2021 9618/21/M/J/21 [Turn over

(b) The pseudocode for Convert() contains a conditional loop.

State a more appropriate loop structure.

Justify your answer.

Loop structure ...........................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Justification ...............................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[2]

(c) Two changes need to be made to the algorithm.

Change 1: Convert to lower case any character that is not the first character after a space.
Change 2: Replace multiple spaces with a single space.

(i) Change 1 may be implemented by modifying one line of the pseudocode.

Write the modified line.

...........................................................................................................................................

.......................................................................................................................................[1]

(ii) Change 2 may be implemented by moving one line of the pseudocode.

Write the number of the line to be moved and state its new position.

Line number ......................................................................................................................

New position ......................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[2]

© UCLES 2021 9618/21/M/J/21

5 A global 2D array Result of type INTEGER is used to store a list of exam candidate numbers
together with their marks. The array contains 2000 elements, organised as 1000 rows and
2 columns.

Column 1 contains the candidate number and column 2 contains the mark for the corresponding
candidate. All elements contain valid exam result data.

A procedure Sort() is needed to sort Result into ascending order of mark using an efficient
bubble sort algorithm.

Write pseudocode for the procedure Sort().

..........................................................................................................................................................

© UCLES 2021 9618/21/M/J/21

..........................................................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................................... [8]

© UCLES 2021 9618/21/M/J/21 [Turn over

6 The following diagram represents an Abstract Data Type (ADT) for a linked list.

A C D E Ø

The free list is as follows:

(a) Explain how a node containing data value B is added to the list in alphabetic sequence.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [4]

(b) Describe how the linked list in part (a) may be implemented using variables and arrays.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

© UCLES 2021 9618/21/M/J/21

7 A program is needed to take a string containing a full name and produce a new string of initials.

Some words in the full name will be ignored. For example, "the", "and", "of", "for" and "to" may all
be ignored.

Each letter of the abbreviated string must be upper case.

For example:

Full name Initials

Integrated Development Environment IDE

The American Standard Code for Information Interchange ASCII

The programmer has decided to use a global variable FNString of type STRING to store the full
name.

It is assumed that:

• words in the full name string are separated by a single space character
• space characters will not occur at the beginning or the end of the full name string
• the full name string contains at least one word.

The programmer has started to define program modules as follows:

Module Description
• Called with an INTEGER as a parameter, representing the number of a
word in FNString.
GetStart()
• Returns the character start position of that word in FNString or
returns –1 if that word does not exist
• For example: if FNString contains the string "hot and cold",
GetStart(3) returns 9
• Called with a parameter representing the position of the first character
of a word in FNString
GetWord() • Returns the word from FNString
• For example: if FNString contains the string "hot and cold",
GetWord(9) returns "cold"

© UCLES 2021 9618/21/M/J/21

(a) Write pseudocode for the module GetStart().

...................................................................................................................................................

© UCLES 2021 9618/21/M/J/21 [Turn over

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [7]

(b) The programmer has decided to use a global ten-element 1D array IgnoreList of type
STRING to store the ignored words. Unused elements contain the empty string ("") and may
occur anywhere in the array.

A new module AddWord() is needed as follows:

Module Description
• Called with a parameter representing a word
• Stores the word in an unused element of the IgnoreList array
AddWord() and returns TRUE
• Returns FALSE if the array was already full or if the word was
already in the array

Write a detailed description of the algorithm for AddWord(). Do not include pseudocode
statements in your answer.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [4]

© UCLES 2021 9618/21/M/J/21

(c) As a reminder, the module description of GetWord() is repeated:

Module Description
• Called with a parameter representing the position of the first
character of a word in FNString
GetWord() • Returns the word from FNString
• For example: if FNString contains the string "hot and cold",
GetWord(9) returns "cold"

Write pseudocode for the module GetWord().

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [5]
© UCLES 2021 9618/21/M/J/21
Cambridge International AS & A Level
* 3 0 1 3 8 0 7 6 7 4 *

COMPUTER SCIENCE 9618/22

Paper 2 Fundamental Problem-solving and Programming Skills May/June 2021

2 hours

You must answer on the question paper.

You will need: Insert (enclosed)

INSTRUCTIONS
● Answer all questions
● Use a black or dark blue pen.
● Write your name, centre number and candidate number in the boxes at the top of the page.
● Write your answer to each question in the space provided.
● Do not use an erasable pen or correction fluid.
● Do not write on any bar codes.
● You may use an HB pencil for any diagrams, graphs or rough working.
● Calculators must not be used in this paper.

This document has 16 pages. Any blank pages are indicated.

DC (MB/FC) 200588/5
© UCLES 2021 [Turn over
2

Refer to the insert for the list of pseudocode functions and operators.

1 (a) (i) Complete the following table by giving the appropriate data type in each case.

Variable Example data value Data type

Name "Catherine"
Index 100
Modified FALSE
Holiday 25/12/2020
[4]

(ii) Evaluate each expression in the following table by using the initial data values shown in
part (a)(i).

Expression Evaluates to
Modified OR Index > 100
LENGTH("Student: " & Name)
INT(Index + 2.9)
MID(Name, 1, 3)
[4]

(b) Each pseudocode statement in the following table contains an example of selection,
assignment or iteration.

Put one tick (‘✓’) in the appropriate column for each statement.

Statement Selection Assignment Iteration

Index Index + 1
IF Modified = TRUE THEN
ENDWHILE
[3]

© UCLES 2021 9618/22/M/J/21

2 (a) Examine the following state-transition diagram.

Low level detected | Activate pump

Low level detected

X S2
S1

Normal level detected Normal level detected | Deactivate pump

(i) Complete the table with reference to the diagram.

Answer
The number of transitions that result in a different state
The number of transitions with associated outputs
The label that should replace ‘X’
The final or halting state
[4]

(ii) The current state is S1. The following inputs occur.

1. Low level detected

2. Low level detected
3. Low level detected
4. Low level detected

Give the number of outputs and the current state.

Number of outputs .............................................................................................................

Current state .....................................................................................................................

[2]

© UCLES 2021 9618/22/M/J/21 [Turn over

(b) A system is being developed to help manage book loans in a library.

Registered users may borrow books from the library for a period of time.

(i) State three items of data that must be stored for each loan.

1 ........................................................................................................................................

2 ........................................................................................................................................

3 ........................................................................................................................................
[2]

(ii) State one item of data that will be required in the library system but does not need to be
stored for each loan.

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

(iii) One operation that manipulates the data stored for each loan, would produce a list of all
overdue books.

Identify two other operations.

Operation 1 .......................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

Operation 2 .......................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[2]

© UCLES 2021 9618/22/M/J/21

3 The following diagram represents an Abstract Data Type (ADT).

A B
Dolphin Cat Fish Elk

(a) Identify this type of ADT.

............................................................................................................................................. [1]

(b) Give the technical term for the item labelled A in the diagram.

............................................................................................................................................. [1]

Explain the meaning of the value given to this item.

Term ..........................................................................................................................................

Meaning ....................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[2]

(d) Complete the diagram to show the ADT after the data has been sorted in alphabetical order.

Dolphin Cat Fish Elk

[2]

© UCLES 2021 9618/22/M/J/21 [Turn over

4 A teacher uses a paper-based system to store marks for a class test. The teacher requires a
program to assign grades based on these results.

The program will output the grades together with the average mark.

Write a detailed description of the algorithm that will be needed.

..........................................................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................................... [6]

© UCLES 2021 9618/22/M/J/21

5 (a) A student is learning about arrays.

She wants to write a program to:

• declare a 1D array RNum of 100 elements of type INTEGER

• assign each element a random value in the range 1 to 200 inclusive
• count and output how many numbers generated were between 66 and 173 inclusive.

(i) Write pseudocode to represent the algorithm.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [6]

(ii) The student decides to modify the algorithm so that each element of the array will contain
a unique value.

Describe the changes that the student needs to make to the algorithm.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [3]

© UCLES 2021 9618/22/M/J/21 [Turn over

(b) The following is a pseudocode function.

Line numbers are given for reference only.

01 FUNCTION StringClean(InString : STRING) RETURNS STRING

02
03 DECLARE NextChar : CHAR
04 DECLARE OutString : STRING
05 DECLARE Counter : INTEGER
06
07 OutString ""
08
09 FOR Counter 1 TO LENGTH(InString)
10 NextChar MID(InString, Counter, 1)
11 NextChar LCASE(NextChar)
12 IF NOT((NextChar < 'a') OR (NextChar > 'z')) THEN
13 OutString OutString & NextChar
14 ENDIF
15 NEXT Counter
16
17 RETURN OutString
18
19 ENDFUNCTION

(i) Examine the pseudocode and complete the following table.

Answer

Give a line number containing an example of an initialisation statement.

Give a line number containing the start of a repeating block of code.

Give a line number containing a logic operation.

Give the number of parameters to the function MID().

[4]

(ii) Write a simplified version of the statement in line 12.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [2]

© UCLES 2021 9618/22/M/J/21

6 A procedure CountVowels() will:

• be called with a string containing alphanumeric characters as its parameter

• count and output the number of occurrences of each vowel (a, e, i, o, u) in the string
• count and output the number of occurrences of the other alphabetic characters (as a single
total).

The string may contain both upper and lower case characters.

Each count value will be stored in a unique element of a global 1D array CharCount of type
INTEGER. The array will contain six elements.

Write pseudocode for the procedure CountVowels().

..........................................................................................................................................................

© UCLES 2021 9618/22/M/J/21

..........................................................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................................... [8]

7 A procedure, FormatName():

• is called with a string containing words and spaces as its parameter. In this context, a word is
any sequence of characters that does not contain a space character.

• creates a new formatted string from this string with the following requirements:
1. Any leading spaces removed (spaces before the first word).
2. Any trailing spaces removed (spaces after the last word).
3. Any multiple spaces between words converted to a single space.
4. All characters converted to lower case.

The FormatName() procedure has been written in a programming language and is to be tested
using the black-box method.

(a) Give a test string that could be used to show that all four formatting requirements have been
applied correctly.

Use the symbol ‘∇’ to represent a space character.

............................................................................................................................................. [3]

(b) The FormatName() procedure should assign a value to the global variable FString.

There is a fault in the program, which means that the assignment does not always take place.

Explain two ways of exposing the fault.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

© UCLES 2021 9618/22/M/J/21 [Turn over

8 A program is needed to take a string containing a full name and to produce a new string of initials.

Some words in the full name will be ignored. For example, “the”, “and”, “of”, “for” and “to” may all
be ignored.

Each letter of the new string must be upper case.

For example:

Full name Initials

Integrated Development Environment IDE
The American Standard Code for Information Interchange ASCII

The programmer has decided to use the following global variables:

• a ten element 1D array IgnoreList of type STRING to store the ignored words
• a string FNString to store the full name string.

Assume that:

• each alphabetic character in the full name string may be either upper or lower case
• the full name string contains at least one word.

The programmer has started to define program modules as follows:

Module Description
• Called with an INTEGER as its parameter, representing the number of
a word in FNString
GetStart() • Returns the character start position of that word in FNString or
returns -1 if that word does not exist
• For example: GetStart(3) applied to "hot and cold" returns 9
• Called with the position of the first character of a word in FNString
as its parameter
GetWord() • Returns the word from FNString
• For example: if FNString contains the string "hot and cold",
GetWord(9) returns "cold"
• Called with a STRING parameter representing a word
IgnoreWord() • Searches for the word in the IgnoreList array
• Returns TRUE if the word is found, otherwise returns FALSE
• Processes the sequence of words in the full name one word at a time
GetInitials()
• Calls GetStart(), GetWord() and IgnoreWord() to process
each word to form the new string
• Outputs the new string

© UCLES 2021 9618/22/M/J/21

(a) Write pseudocode for the module IgnoreWord().

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(b) Write pseudocode for the module GetInitials().

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© UCLES 2021 9618/22/M/J/21
Cambridge International AS & A Level
* 7 4 8 3 1 9 9 9 0 1 *

COMPUTER SCIENCE 9618/23

Paper 2 Fundamental Problem-solving and Programming Skills May/June 2021

2 hours

You must answer on the question paper.

You will need: Insert (enclosed)

This document has 24 pages. Any blank pages are indicated.

DC (PQ/FC) 200587/4
© UCLES 2021 [Turn over
2

Refer to the insert for the list of pseudocode functions and operators.

1 (a) A program is being developed to help manage the membership of a football club.

Complete the following identifier table.

Example
Explanation Variable name Data type
value

The preferred name of the member

"Wong"
joining the football club

A value to indicate whether an

FALSE existing member of the club lives at
the same address

When the member joined the football

19/02/1983
club

The number of points a member has

1345 earned. Members of the club earn
points for different activities.
[4]

(b) Each pseudocode statement in the following table may contain an error due to the incorrect
use of the function or operator.

Describe the error in each case, or write ‘NO ERROR’ if the statement contains no error.

You can assume that none of the variables referenced are of an incorrect type.

Statement Error

Result 2 & 4

SubString MID("pseudocode", 4, 1)

IF x = 3 OR 4 THEN

Result Status AND INT(x/2)

Message "Done" + LENGTH(MyString)

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© UCLES 2021 9618/23/M/J/21

• student name (a string)

• test score (an integer).

State a suitable data structure and justify your answer.

Structure ...................................................................................................................................

Justification ...............................................................................................................................

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2 (a) Four program modules form part of a program for a library.

A description of the relationship between the modules is summarised as follows:

Module name Description

UpdateLoan() • Calls either LoanExtend() or LoanReturn()

Draw a structure chart to show the relationship between the four modules and the parameters
passed between them.

[5]
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(b) The definition for module LoanReturn() is amended as follows:

Module name Description

Called with parameters LoanID, BookID and Fine
LoanReturn() The module code checks whether the book has been returned on time
and then assigns a new value to Fine

• LoanID and BookID are of type STRING

• Fine is of type REAL

Write the pseudocode header for the amended module LoanReturn().

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© UCLES 2021 9618/23/M/J/21 [Turn over

(c) A program will:

• input 50 unique integer values

• output the largest value
• output the average of the values excluding the largest value.

Draw a program flowchart to represent the algorithm.

Variable declarations are not required.

It is not necessary to check that each input value is unique.

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