IGCSE Computer Science Paper 2 Definitions Worksheet: 7a Program Development Life Cycle (Modules 1–16)
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Key terms
Write what each term means, in your own words.
1
program development life cycle
2
Analysis
3
problem statement
4
abstraction
5
requirement
6
Input, Process, Output, Storage
7
Design stage
8
flowchart symbols
9
Coding stage
10
Iterative testing
Answer Key
IGCSE Computer Science Paper 2 · Modules 1–16 · Student wording will vary for definitions
1program development life cycle — The four ordered stages that take a program from problem to working code: analysis, design, coding and testing. Planning before coding saves time.
2Analysis — The first stage of the PDLC: work out exactly what problem must be solved and what the program must do, using abstraction and decomposition, before any design or code.
3problem statement — A clear one or two sentence description of what needs to be solved and what the program must achieve, written so the user and the goal are obvious.
4abstraction — Keeping only the details needed to solve a problem and leaving out the details that do not matter, e.g. a map shows roads but not every tree.
5requirement — A statement of something the program must do or provide so that the problem is solved. It is specific, comes from the problem and the user, and is used later to test the program.
6Input, Process, Output, Storage — The four parts of a program's requirements: the data it takes in, the work it does on that data, the results it shows, and the data it keeps for later.
7Design stage — The second PDLC stage: plan the solution in detail using decomposition, structure diagrams, flowcharts and pseudocode, before any program code is written.
8flowchart symbols — Six standard flowchart shapes: terminator (Start/Stop), process, input/output, decision (two exits), subroutine call, and flow lines with arrows showing direction.
9Coding stage — The third PDLC stage, where the design (pseudocode or flowchart) is turned into program code in a programming language, written step by step and checked against the requirements.
10Iterative testing — Testing each small part of the code as it is written, fixing any errors, then retesting before moving on. This finds errors early and repeats until that part works.