±«Óãtv

Software development and programming paradigms change over time, from imperative programming to high level languages like Python and C++.

What is digital data, and how do computers understand it? How is digital data represented, stored, shared and manipulated?

Digital design demands an understanding of computational thinking, as programming simply tells a computer what to do and how to do it.

Computer programs use data stores to organise the different types of data they contain. Data stores can be either a constant, variable or an array, and contain inputs, outputs, functions, instructions, sequences and more.

In some ways, computer languages are no different to our own. They have strict rules programmers must follow in order to make their programs understood. Mistakes throw up errors, which must be fixed.

Once software has been created, it must be tested under different conditions to make sure it works. This can be achieved with white box, black box, unit, integration and system testing, as well as thorough planning and evaluation.