I85PREP
⌘ K
Matura Computer Science study materials
Matura Computer Science study resources

Matura Computer Science: Problem Solving with a Spreadsheet and a Programming Language

Matura Computer Science · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

All guide sections

Problem Solving with a Spreadsheet and a Programming Language

Problem Solving with a Spreadsheet and a Programming Language combines the two practical tools of the exam: a spreadsheet for calculation and a program for data processing.

Spreadsheet rules

  • Relative A1 shifts when filled; absolute $A$1 does not; mixed A$1 and $A1 lock one coordinate.
  • IF(condition; then; else) nests, and AND, OR, NOT build compound conditions.
  • COUNTIF(range; criterion), SUMIF(range; criterion; sum_range), plus COUNTIFS, SUMIFS and AVERAGEIF.
  • VLOOKUP(value; range; column; FALSE) for exact match; TRUE assumes sorted data and matches approximately. INDEX+MATCH or XLOOKUP avoids the left-column limitation.
  • Text “5” is not the number 5; CSV import may need a decimal-comma locale; TRIM removes stray spaces that break matching.

Programming side

Read the input, validate its shape, choose a structure (list, dictionary, counter), compute, then format output exactly as specified. Handle empty input, a single record, and maximum size.

Worked example

=SUMIF(B2:B100; “Math”; D2:D100) adds points in D for rows where B is exactly Math. If a cell holds “Math ” with a trailing space the criterion fails; wrapping the column in TRIM fixes it. For counting above a threshold, =COUNTIF(D2:D100; “>50”) works only because the operator sits inside a quoted text criterion, not because 50 alone was typed.

Traps

  • Relying on VLOOKUP's default TRUE and getting an approximate result.
  • An off-by-one column index in VLOOKUP.
  • Forgetting $ anchors when copying a formula down, so ranges slide.
  • Creating a circular reference, where a cell depends on itself.
  • Sorting one column but not the adjacent data, so rows desynchronise.