Tackling Computer Projects

Practical computer projects frequently comprise up to 30% of the final mark on an A-level computing course, and are a mandatory part of many BTEC courses. Students often find it difficult to think of a suitable idea for a computer project and then, having come up with one, find the analysis and design stages difficult to get started on. This is a comprehensive and practical guide to tackling a computing project for an A-level or BTEC National computing course, using either a programming language or a software package. It should also be useful to students doing a project for a GCSE computing course or a Higher National computing course, since the principles remain the same at any level. Part 1 of the book follows all the steps involved in writing a computer project, from the initial idea right through to the final documentation, with two specimen projects being used to illustrate the various stages of development and implementation. Parts 2 and 3 contain the two complete speciment projects, with margin comments for important points. The first project is implemented in Pascal and the second using a software package, Borland's Paradox database (Version 3.5
), although the actual package used is not of any significance here, as the emphasis is on how to analyze, design, test and document the system.