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UK GCSE Computer Science · independent study
Independent myAudience subject study using references for England. Published readings cover selected topics; full curriculum, assessment and practical coverage are not verified. No awarding-body affiliation, endorsement, qualification or grade guarantee is offered. Check the source specification and your centre for the requirements of your chosen course.
From a messy request to an algorithm
Represent quantities before calculating
Comparisons and decisions with boundaries
Truth tables connect circuits and programs
Loops need state meanings and stopping reasons
![Two outer-list references point to one shared [8,0,0] row in the repeated-row construction. In the independently built construction, index0 points to [8,0,0] and index1 points to a separate [0,0,0]. Arrows represent references, not copied values.](/assets/lesson-cs-direct-alias.webp)
Lists, grids and records preserve different relationships
Text parsing and characters without hidden assumptions
Linear search: contracts, traces and cost
![Bubble first pass swaps adjacent values in [4,1,3,2] to [1,4,3,2], then [1,3,4,2], then [1,3,2,4], fixing4 in the suffix. Pass2 sorts the remaining prefix in two comparisons; pass3 makes one without swapping. Six total comparisons operate on a copy.](/assets/lesson-cs-direct-bubble.webp)
Bubble sort and evidence about refinement
Merge sort: two ordered streams become one
Bits, hexadecimal and units encode a chosen meaning
Binary addition, logical shifts and deliberate overflow models
Images and sound: size follows dimensions and fidelity choices
Lossless compression and an evaluated end-to-end design
From a saved program to a working computer
CPU components: work, control and communication
Trace instructions through fetch, decode and execute
RAM, ROM, cache and registers: different jobs
Why clock speed alone cannot rank computers
Persistent storage: magnetic, solid-state and remote
Embedded and general-purpose systems: classify by role
Operating systems: sharing resources without mixing tasks