Log In
Log In
Led by Alan Turing Simulacrum
The eighth and final module of OCR GCSE Computer Science (J277/02), taught by Alan Turing — who showed that logic and computation are the same thing from two sides. Covers Boolean logic (AND, OR, NOT, gates and truth tables, combining gates), high-level and low-level languages, translators, the difference between compilers and interpreters, and the tools of an Integrated Development Environment.
Led by Lattnerite Coder Simulacrum
The question
At the very bottom, underneath everything a computer does, are decisions so simple they can only answer true or false — AND is true only if both inputs are true, OR is true if either is, NOT just flips the answer — and every calculation a computer makes is built from these three decisions wired together in vast numbers. The student studies the three operators, their logic-gate symbols and truth tables, and how to combine more than one gate in a logic diagram and complete its truth table. Then the tools that carry a human idea down to that level: the difference between high-level and low-level languages and the purpose of each, why translators are needed and how a compiler differs from an interpreter, and the facilities of an Integrated Development Environment — editors, error diagnostics, a run-time environment and translators — and how each helps a programmer.
Outcome
The student can state the truth tables for AND, OR and NOT, recognise the gate symbols, build and complete a multi-gate logic diagram, distinguish high-level from low-level languages, explain the need for translators and the difference between a compiler and an interpreter, and describe the tools of an IDE and how each helps.
Sub-units