IB Computer Science HL study plan

Decompose the IA computational solution into a problem statement, success criteria, and a testable client or user need, then get it signed off by your supervisor

Draft a project plan with dated milestones covering design, iterative development, testing, and evaluation, and map each milestone to the IB assessment criteria

Set up a version-controlled repository with a README, folder structure, and a running skeleton program that accepts input and produces output

Write the first design record: UML class or data-flow diagram plus a short justification of the chosen approach and its alternatives

Implement the core data model of your IA solution using at least one abstract data structure, and document why that structure was chosen over an array or list

Write unit tests for the core data model before extending features, and record pass/fail results in a test log

Code a working implementation of a stack, queue, and binary search tree from scratch without library helpers, then compare your implementation against a library version

Trace insertion, deletion, and traversal algorithms on a hand-drawn tree of at least 10 nodes and verify the traces against your code

Implement and compare recursive and iterative versions of at least two algorithms, and measure their performance on increasing input sizes

Analyse the time complexity of each ADT operation you have written, and justify each Big-O claim with a counting argument

Implement a hash table with collision handling and evaluate its behaviour under a deliberately poor hash function

Solve five past-paper-style ADT trace questions under timed conditions and mark them against the mark scheme

Write pseudocode for every remaining IA feature and convert each into tested code, keeping the pseudocode in the documentation

Refactor the solution to separate logic from input/output, and add error handling for invalid user input

Complete a full pass of the programming fundamentals question style: trace loops, evaluate boolean expressions, and convert between pseudocode and a high-level language

Run a usability test with at least two real users and record their feedback verbatim

Diagram the fetch-decode-execute cycle and explain the role of the program counter, instruction register, MAR, MDR, and ALU in a written answer of exam length

Compare von Neumann and Harvard architectures, and explain the purpose of the cache, buses, and clock in determining performance

Describe the function of primary and secondary storage, and evaluate at least three storage media against criteria such as speed, capacity, and durability

Explain how logic gates combine into half-adders and full-adders, and construct a truth table for a given circuit

Answer 10 short-answer questions on system fundamentals and computer organization, then mark them strictly

Explain the OSI and TCP/IP models layer by layer, and map at least four protocols to the correct layers

Describe how a packet travels from a client to a server, including IP addressing, subnetting basics, routing, and DNS resolution

Compare network topologies and transmission media, and justify a network design for a given scenario

Explain the role of the operating system in process scheduling, memory management, and resource allocation, and compare at least two scheduling policies with worked examples

Describe how a virtual machine and a sandbox isolate processes, and evaluate the trade-offs of virtualization

Explain how the OS manages primary memory, including paging, virtual memory, and thrashing, and work through a page-replacement trace

Analyse the causes and detection of deadlock, and evaluate at least two prevention or avoidance strategies

Explain the purpose and mechanisms of control systems in the syllabus sense, including sensors, actuators, and feedback loops, and give a concrete example

Describe how concurrent processes are managed, including interrupts and polling, and compare their trade-offs

Answer 10 timed questions on resource management and control, and correct every error against the mark scheme

Complete the IA evaluation criterion: critically evaluate the solution against the success criteria, and propose specific further improvements

Record and annotate a 5-minute video demonstrating the solution against each success criterion

Run two full timed mock papers covering all seven examined domains, and log every lost mark by domain

Revise only the two weakest domains identified by the mock papers, and re-test those topics the next day