Hesse Abitur Computer Science, advanced course - independent foundations study materials
Hesse Abitur Computer Science, advanced course - independent foundations study resources

Hesse Abitur Computer Science, advanced course - independent foundations cheat sheet

Hesse Abitur Computer Science, advanced course - independent foundations · Keep the key ideas within reach.

Quick reference

Programming and Software Development

  • Recursion needs a base case and progress toward that base case.

  • Overloading uses different signatures; overriding replaces an inherited method.

  • Unit tests isolate units; integration tests combine them.

  • Short-circuit evaluation can skip the right operand.

  • Pass-by-value copies arguments; pass-by-reference can mutate the caller's object.

Quick reference

Computational Thinking and Problem Solving

  • Decomposition breaks problems down; abstraction removes irrelevant detail.

  • Binary search requires sorted data and is O(log n).

  • Merge sort is O(n log n) worst case; bubble sort is O(n^2).

  • Trace tables prevent guessing about loop output.

  • Update search bounds to mid + 1 or mid - 1, not mid.

Quick reference

Data representation, arrays, lists, trees and graphs

  • n-bit two's complement range is −2^(n−1) to 2^(n−1) − 1; negation is invert then add 1.

  • Normalised two's complement mantissa has differing top two bits: 01… for positive, 10… for negative.

  • Longer mantissa = more precision; longer exponent = more range.

  • Bitmap size = width × height × colour depth ÷ 8; sound size = rate × resolution × channels × seconds ÷ 8.

  • Stacks are LIFO, queues FIFO; hash tables give near-constant lookup; linked lists give O(1) insertion once positioned.

  • Lossless compression preserves all data (RLE, Huffman); lossy discards detail permanently (JPEG, MP3).

Quick reference

Data, Databases, and Information Retrieval

  • Primary keys are unique and non-null; foreign keys enforce referential integrity.

  • WHERE filters rows before grouping; HAVING filters aggregated groups.

  • COUNT(*) counts rows; COUNT(column) skips NULL values.

  • LEFT JOIN preserves unmatched left rows; INNER JOIN removes them.

  • Precision = relevant retrieved / retrieved; recall = relevant retrieved / all relevant.

Quick reference

Automata, formal languages and computability

  • Ein totaler DEA hat genau einen Übergang pro Zustand und Zeichen; partielle Konventionen können durch einen Fehlerzustand vervollständigt werden.

  • Reguläre Sprachen = DEA-erkennbar = durch reguläre Ausdrücke beschreibbar = Typ-3-Grammatik.

  • Kellerautomaten erkennen genau die kontextfreien Sprachen, etwa a^n b^n.

  • Das Pumping-Lemma ist notwendig, aber nicht hinreichend für Regularität.

  • Entscheidbar bedeutet terminierende Ja/Nein-Antwort für jede Eingabe; das Halteproblem ist unentscheidbar.

  • Die Potenzmengenkonstruktion wandelt jeden NEA in einen äquivalenten DEA um.

Quick reference

Computer architecture, logic and data representation

  • State whether addresses refer to bytes or words before calculating capacity.

  • Distinguish PC, instruction register, address register and data register.

  • For n-bit two’s complement the range is−2^(n−1) through 2^(n−1)−1.

  • Cache locality and pipeline hazards matter more than a clock-rate label alone.

Quick reference

Computing Systems

  • Fetch-decode-execute uses the PC, IR, ALU, and registers.

  • Memory hierarchy: registers, cache, RAM, storage, offline.

  • RAM is volatile; SSDs retain data without power.

  • A process has its own address space; threads share one.

  • Authentication verifies identity; authorization grants permissions.

  • TCP is reliable and connection-oriented; UDP is connectionless and lower overhead.

  • IP addresses route between networks; MAC addresses work on the local link.

  • A /26 subnet has 64 addresses and 62 usable hosts.

  • DNS resolves names; DHCP assigns addresses.

  • Security protects data; privacy governs collection and use.

Quick reference

Impacts of Computing

  • The digital divide includes access, affordability, skills, and broadband quality.

  • Automation can displace some jobs while creating or reshaping others.

  • Algorithmic bias can arise from biased data, design, or deployment context.

  • Impact analysis asks who benefits, who pays, who is excluded, and what is assumed.

  • Adoption is uneven; access alone does not guarantee equitable outcomes.

  • CIA triad: confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

  • Authentication proves identity; authorization grants permissions.

  • Encryption is reversible with a key; hashing is one-way.

  • Use unique salts and slow password hashing, never plain encryption, for passwords.

  • Least privilege and defense in depth reduce the impact of failures.