BCS Professional Examination
Advanced Diploma
Indicative Question Papers
Contents
Page No
Advanced Database Management Systems
2
Computer Graphics
3
Computer Services Management
5
Distributed and Parallel Systems
7
Knowledge Based Systems
8
Management Information Systems
10
Network Information Systems
11
Programming Paradigms
13
Software Engineering
15
Systems Design Methods
16
User Interface Design
17
1
BCS Professional Examination
Advanced Diploma
Advanced Database Management Systems
Indicative Question Paper
Answer 3 questions (out of 8). Each question carries equal marks.
Time: THREE hours
1.
Discuss the criteria you would use to determine whether a given database management system implements the
relational data model.
(20 marks)
2.
Compare and contrast ‘optimistic’ with ‘pessimistic’ concurrency control.
3.
Compare and contrast the situations in which an object oriented database management system would be
preferred to a relational database management system.
(20 marks)
4.
“There is no universally accepted, abstract, formally defined ‘object data model’” – (Date, 1995)
Discuss.
(20 marks)
5.
Critically evaluate the effect of the language SQL on the features exhibited by commercially available
relational database products.
(20 marks)
6.
Describe the main features of the object model defined in the ODMG 2.0 standard.
7.
Discuss the difference between the treatment of data in an operational database and a Data Warehouse. Show
how a Data Warehouse may be constructed from data drawn from operational databases.
(20 marks)
8.
Demonstrate with examples the way in which a deductive database management system extends the
capabilities of a relational database management system.
(20 marks)
(20 marks)
(20 marks)
2
BCS Professional Examination
Advanced Diploma
Computer Graphics
Indicative Question Paper
Answer 3 questions (out of 5). Each question carries equal marks.
Time: THREE hours.
Notes for Guidance
The duration of the paper is three hours. Candidates should answer three questions from a choice of five. Therefore,
candidates should aim to spend approximately one hour on each question.
Examination technique is particularly important with respect to questions at this level. Each question is normally a
combination of recalled book-work, an application of this knowledge to a problem and finally a more testing part,
worth around 20% of the marks for the question, to distinguish the better candidates. Questions may be structured to
aid the candidate in forming their solution or alternatively no breakdown of the marks may be given where the
examiners require the candidates to select the appropriate material in answering the question.
Candidates can make the mistake of writing down all that they know about a topic, recognised from a keyword in the
question, without really addressing the problem. Instead, they need to select the relevant material for solving the
problem presented in the question. Due to the nature of the subject area, solutions to questions can require material to
be integrated from different sections of the syllabus. Diagrams or example illustrations are often expected, even if not
explicitly stated in the question.
1.
2.
A flight simulator needs to model (three-dimensional) undulating, mountainous terrain, views of which will be
projected on to the pilot’s screen as the aircraft flies through and over the mountains.
i)
Suggest a suitable model for this terrain and describe a data structure that could record the details.
Illustrate your answer with a diagram and example.
(5 marks)
ii)
Describe in detail the transformations that would be required to manipulate the model in simulating the
movement of the flying aircraft.
(10 marks
iii)
The pilot’s screen will display perspective views of the mountains. Explain the process of generating
these perspective views.
(5 marks)
iv)
Outline a graphics architecture that would improve the performance of the implementation of the
transformations and of generating the perspective views.
(5 marks)
The ‘hypnotise’ screen saver initialises the screen to a black background and then proceeds to draw 20
polygons of different sizes on the screen in random positions, each one with a white outline and solid-filled
with a randomly chosen colour. The current polygon being drawn on the display is said to be in front of all
other polygons. When the 20 polygons have been drawn, the screen is cleared and the process repeats. If
interrupted at any point by the user, the screen saver restores the original screen contents and terminates.
Discuss the issues involved in the design of this screen saver and present the necessary algorithms for each
stage of its operation.
(25 marks)
3
3.
a)
A medical records database contains digitised X-ray films as part of a patient’s notes. What issues
must be considered in the selection of a suitable image compression technique? Identify a suitable
technique and describe its operation, illustrating your answer with an example.
(10 marks)
Typically, what compression ratio can your chosen technique deliver and what types of images are its
best and worst-case scenarios?
(5 marks)
b)
Specify each of the following colours in both the RGB and HSV colour models:
i)
ii)
iii)
full-intensity yellow;
mid-grey; and
pink.
(6 marks)
Outline the basis of the algorithm for converting an RGB colour specification to one in the HSV
system.
(4 marks)
3.
5.
The characters of a certain font have been defined as a bitmap. In a direct mapping between the pixels of the
bitmap and those of the screen, 12-point characters are generated (there are 72 points in one inch).
a)
What would be the result of applying a simple scaling algorithm to generate 36-point characters?
Describe an algorithm that could be applied to this scaling operation to give characters that are more
visually pleasing.
(9 marks)
b)
What danger must be avoided in scaling the 12-point characters to yield 6-point characters? How can
this be controlled?
(9 marks)
c)
A better definition of the font characters could be achieved using splines. Explain how splines could
be used for this application and why they would not suffer from the same problems during scaling
operations.
(7 marks)
a)
Describe in detail, with the aid of a diagram, the Mid-Point Line algorithm for the scan conversion of
straight-line segments.
(9 marks)
b)
Explain how Gouraud shading attempts to smoothly colour a surface. Account for the source shading
values used by the technique.
(4 marks)
Describe one important visual problem in using Gouraud shading? Outline two approaches to overcoming
this problem.
(12 marks)
4
BCS Professional Examination
Advanced Diploma
Computer Services Management
Indicative Question Paper
Answer 3 questions (out of 5). Each question carries equal marks.
Time: THREE hours
1.
2.
Your Managing Director has read an article about the rapid growth of computer crime, the dependence of
modern businesses on computer systems and the problems that may arise if the central computer facility is
destroyed. He is now very concerned and has asked you for two reports.
a)
A report which recommends measures that should be taken to provide reasonable protection against
computer crime.
(10 marks)
b)
A report which discusses the requirements of, and which justifies the need for, a Computer Disaster
Contingency Plan.
(10 marks)
You have recently been appointed the Computer Services Manager of an organisation that has experienced
rapid and uncontrolled growth over the last few years. The computer facilities have not kept up with this
growth and there are several major issues affecting IT, including:
•
•
•
lack of a help desk,
recurrence of common faults,
absence of a central register of hardware and software assets.
Also, the users have a very informal relationship with the IT support staff and have become used to resolving
IT issues by dealing directly with their favoured support personnel.
Discuss:
a)
how a help desk facility could be used to address the issues given above;
b)
3.
(10 marks)
how you could persuade users and support staff to use a more formal approach for the resolution of IT
issues.
(10 marks)
A wealthy ex-student has bequeathed a substantial sum to your university. A condition of the legacy is that a
computer centre with adjacent offices is constructed to the highest possible architectural and technical
standards. Thus the computer centre buildings and infrastructure should consider the potential developments
and uses in the future.
As the Computer Services Manager you have been given the enviable task of specifying a computer
infrastructure for the building that could meet the demanding technical requirements.
Prepare a specification that states and justifies the required building features and infrastructure for:
a)
the computer centre; and
(10 marks)
b)
the adjacent offices.
(10 marks)
5
4.
5.
With knowledge gained from a recent seminar, your Finance Director has suggested that the entire IT function
is outsourced. The Managing Director is not convinced and has asked you to prepare a report showing:
a)
the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing all IT functions;
(8 marks)
b)
the implications of outsourcing just the computer operations function of IT;
(8 marks)
c)
the contents of a Service Level Agreement for computer operations.
(6 marks)
You have just taken up a post as a Computer Services Manager and are surprised at the high number of
operational failures. An investigation shows that these failures are due to the established practice of allowing
development staff to implement new and changed systems without any reference to the operations staff. Also,
there appears to be a high incidence of virus infection and a need to rebuild PC software installations. Further
investigations show that these are due to the same development staff using modems to gain access to the
Internet. Your opposite number, the Systems Development Manager, is a talented but formidable character.
Despite this, you know that the issues must be addressed. Write a firm, but tactful report to the Systems
Development Manager to:
a)
describe how a modern configuration management system could work; and
(10 marks)
b)
outline how the virus and Internet problems could be overcome.
(10 marks)
6
BCS Professional Examination
Advanced Diploma
Distributed and Parallel Systems
Indicative Question Paper
Answer 3 questions (out of 5). Each question carries equal marks.
Time: THREE hours
1.
2.
3.
4.
The term "legacy code" refers to old programs, often developed by people who are no longer available.
a)
Give two distinct examples of "legacy code" that might reasonably be ported to a parallel processor.
Justify your choice of examples.
(10 marks)
b)
Describe a number of techniques that may be automatically applied to a sequential program to help
identify opportunities for parallelism.
(10 marks)
c)
Consider the order in which the techniques described in part b) can be applied. What might be the
effect of altering the order in which the techniques are applied?
(10 marks)
Multi-threaded applications are programs that include several simultaneous paths of execution. The order in
which threads of equal priority are executed is non-deterministic.
a)
Define the terms: threads and non-deterministic. Illustrate your answer with examples with which you
are familiar.
(10 marks)
b)
Using a programming language of your choice design a program that will illustrate the nondeterminism of threads. Explain the results you would expect to obtain.
(20 marks)
A new experimental programming environment is to be developed as part of a research project. As yet the
details of the environment are unclear, except that it will allow programmers to run their work over a network
of distributed computers.
a)
Describe two existing languages or environments that allow programs to be run over distributed
networks.
(15 marks)
b)
As the expert on distributed processing what issues should be addressed immediately?
(15 marks)
You have agreed to talk for approximately 30 minutes at the next meeting of the local branch of the British
Computer Society. The title of your talk is "Algorithm Design for Distributed and Parallel Systems".
Sketch out approximately eight overhead slides, with associated notes, that you would use for your talk.
(30 marks)
5.
Compare and contrast the terms: Distributed and Parallel in the context of computer systems. Your answer
should include definitions of all terms used and examples were appropriate.
(30 marks)
7
BCS Professional Examination
Advanced Diploma
Knowledge Based Systems
Indicative Question Paper
Answer 3 questions (out of 5). Each question carries equal marks.
Time: THREE hours
1.
Heuristic Search is a widely used method in knowledge based systems.
a)
Explain what is meant by heuristic search and describe three heuristic search techniques explaining the
relevance of each approach to problem solving.
(20 marks)
b)
Consider the following task.
The task involves moving a counter on a two-dimensional grid from a square on the first row (start-point) to a
square on the last row (end-point). The grid contains a number of marked squares. The counter can be moved
one square at a time in any direction, including diagonally, but must not move to a marked square. The idea is
to reach the end-point in as few moves as possible. The start-point, end-point and marked squares may change
each time the task is attempted.
Suggest heuristics that might be used to help in this task.
(6 marks)
Outline an algorithm based on the heuristics you have suggested. (You may assume that the marked
squares will be set so that no dead ends are possible and at least one improved move is possible from
any unmarked square until the goal square is reached.)
(7 marks)
2.
3.
Explain, with examples, why natural language processing is difficult.
(10 marks)
Discuss approaches that have been developed towards its achievement.
(23 marks)
a)
Briefly explain the use of semantic nets and frames in knowledge representation.
b)
Consider the following scenario.
(6 marks)
John is a man aged 21 with brown hair and blue eyes. Kate is a woman aged 22 with red hair
and green eyes. Kate gave John a bottle of wine. John likes Kate.
Produce a semantic net and a frame representation for the scenario described above.
c)
Expand the semantic net produced to include the following statements:
Everybody likes somebody.
Everybody is liked by somebody.
Nobody is liked by everybody.
d)
(14 marks)
(8 marks)
Conceptual Dependency is a specialised semantic net approach. Describe its main features.
(5 marks)
8
4.
a)
Discuss the potential role of connectionist models in artificial intelligence giving examples of some of
the approaches that have been proposed in this field.
(22 marks)
b)
Consider the Hopfield network shown below:
+2
-2
+2
-1
+1
-1
-1
-2
+1
+3
-2
Given that any element may initially fire, produce the set of possible stable states for the above network.
(8 marks)
5.
c)
What is the main difference in learning approach between neural network models and genetic models?
(3 marks)
a)
Use predicate logic to represent the following statements:
All children like toys.
All adults dislike toys.
Jane is an adult.
Mary is a child.
A doll is a toy.
Loopy Lou is a doll.
b)
(6 marks)
Prove the following statements, supplementing the predicate logic statements given already with
additional expressions if necessary.
i)
ii)
Mary likes Loopy Lou.
Jane dislikes Loopy Lou.
c)
Explain resolution and unification and their roles in computing proofs in predicate logic.
d)
Consider the following question:
(10 marks)
(10 marks)
Will Mary always like Loopy Lou?
Explain the difficulties that this type of question would pose for the knowledge base developed earlier.
How might your predicate logic knowledge base be extended to accommodate it?
(7 marks)
9
BCS Professional Examination
Advanced Diploma
Management Information Systems
Sample Question Paper
Answer 4 questions (out of 6). Each question carries equal marks.
Time: THREE hours
1.
Discuss the importance of Strategic Information Systems Planning (SISP) to the effective identification of
MIS applications. Your answer should include an overview of SISP. Use real-life examples to illustrate your
answer wherever possible.
(25 marks)
2.
a)
Outline the role of management within an organisation.
b)
Using real-life examples to illustrate your answer, discuss how Data Warehouses and Data Mining
provide management support within an organisation.
(20 marks)
a)
Describe, with supporting real-life examples, the key issues that need to be addressed during a MIS
feasibility study.
(12 marks)
b)
Discuss the factors that you, as Project Manager, would take into account when selecting a
development approach to adopt for a given MIS project. Illustrate your answer with real-life examples.
(13 marks)
3.
4.
(5 marks)
“Over the next ten years, all MIS will become Internet-based.”
Discuss the extent to which you agree with this statement. Illustrate your answer with real-life examples.
Make sure you describe what is meant by Internet-based MIS within your answer.
(25 marks)
5.
Sprague & McNurlin adopt a traditional view of MIS based on System Types. Fidler & Rogerson, on the
other hand, adopt an alternative, so-termed Functionality view of MIS.
Outline what is meant by the Systems Type view of MIS and the Functionality View of MIS. Which do you
believe to be the most appropriate view of MIS for today’s organisations? Justify your answer, using
supporting real-life examples wherever possible.
(25 marks)
6.
“The techniques and tools that you apply during the development of an MIS depend solely on the MIS’
intended functionality.”
Discuss the extent to which you agree with this statement. Illustrate your answer with appropriate real-life
examples wherever possible.
(25 marks)
10
The BCS Professional Examination
Advanced Diploma
Network Information Systems
Indicative Question Paper
Answer 4 questions (out of 6). Each question carries equal marks.
Time: THREE hours
1.
As part of a general strategic objective to eliminate the use of expensive office and car parking space, an
environmental friendly university is contemplating the use of the Internet to support teaching staff and
examiners working off site.
a)
Produce a Security Policy for the university.
b)
Explain how the policy would be implemented and operated.
(25 marks)
2.
Reports suggest that electronic commerce has been hampered by the lack of a secure mechanism for real-time
financial transactions via the Internet.
a)
Compare two of the more popular technologies for securing financial transactions at the network and at
the application layer.
b)
Evaluate the effectiveness of the technologies identified for securing electronic payments.
(25 marks)
3.
4.
The Computer-Aided Manufacturing system of a small engineering company uses 1980s baseband LAN
technology. This system needs to be overhauled in order to both extend its life for another fifteen years and
also to facilitate the seamless integration of other business units such as Product Design, Sales and Marketing,
and Training.
a)
Write a report that details the strengths and limitations of the existing architecture in meeting the
objectives outlined above.
b)
Propose a cost-effective solution based on current developments in LAN technology.
(25 marks)
The merger of two national travel companies in the UK and USA has resulted in various proposals for the
possible integration and rationalisation of the existing Ethernet-based network infrastructure.
For this new company, write a proposal including a brief SWOT analysis, for a modern WAN
infrastructure. The document should include a brief explanation of the architecture and its operation
in response to various end-user activities.
(25 marks)
11
5.
The IT Team of a local supermarket have observed over a period of two years the downsizing trend in the use
of processing power. To provide online shopping for regular customers the team are to investigate the
possibility of providing free of charge client software and hardware.
There are a number of options available to the team, covering both network software and hardware
architectures.
a)
Discuss three of the options available, for supporting distributed processing
b)
Recommend (with justification) the most appropriate system for their needs.
State clearly any assumptions you make.
(25 marks)
6.
Network directory services for tracking thousands of network resources in an organisation, along with their
access properties and privileges, can be a major undertaking.
a)
As a network administrator, write a report that critically evaluates the current tools and techniques
available to track such resources.
b)
Present alternative service architectures with a brief explanation of their operation.
(25 marks)
12
BCS Professional Examinations
Advanced Diploma
Programming Paradigms
Indicative Question Paper
Answer 3 questions (out of 6). Each question carries equal marks.
Time: THREE hours.
Notes for Guidance
The duration of the paper is 3 hours, and candidates are required to answer 3 questions from a menu of 6. Hence,
candidates should spend about 10 minutes in reading through the paper, 50 minutes in answering each of the 4
questions, and 20 minutes in checking and “tidying up”.
No specific book references are given for this paper. The breadth and depth of expected sources are not susceptible to
learning by rote, and the expected answers should not be dependent on bookwork alone.
It is understood that candidates will not necessarily be able to tackle the whole syllabus at the same level of attainment.
The choice of allowed questions across the syllabus should enable candidates to concentrate on their strengths. In this
indicative paper, each question has been taken largely from a single section of the syllabus; this will not necessarily be
the pattern adopted in the future.
Indicative questions are generally in discursive form; again, this may not fully reflect future trends in this area.
1.
When selecting a suitable language for the implementation of a computer-based solution of a problem, what
are the characteristics which should be taken into account, and how should these be related to the type of
problem?
(20 marks)
2.
Appropriate tools must support efficient program production and testing. Describe the functionalities you
would require from development tools, from debugging tools and from testing tools and the environments in
which you would expect them to be used.
(20 marks)
3.
Within the object oriented paradigm, a number of languages offer similar problem-solving opportunities. By
considering at least two object oriented languages with which you are familiar, discuss the relevance of:
i)
ii)
iii)
inheritance;
encapsulations; and
polymorphism
in the design and implementation of problem solutions. You should illustrate your answer with suitable
examples.
(20 marks)
4.
a)
Distinguish between lazy and eager evaluation in the implementation of applicative (functional)
programming languages.
(10 marks)
b)
Discuss the suitability of purely functional languages for the development of interactive systems.
(10 marks)
13
5.
a)
b)
6.
Discuss the necessity for “extra-logical” features in logic programming languages.
(10 marks)
So-called and-parallelism and or-parallelism are two common approaches to the concurrent execution
of logic programming clauses. Compare and contrast them.
(10 marks)
To what extents are the issues of concurrency and of distribution addressed by languages following the object
oriented, functional and logic-based paradigms? You should illustrate your answer with suitably annotated
examples of each system, pointing out the relevant parts of the paradigm referred to in each instance.
(20 marks)
14
BCS Professional Examination
Advanced Diploma
Software Engineering
Indicative Question Paper
Answer 3 questions (out of 5). Each question carries equal marks.
Time: THREE hours
1.
“The most important aspect of software development is conformance to an appropriate process model."
Using relevant examples, DEFEND or ATTACK this statement.
2
Compare and contrast formal approaches to specification with structured approaches.
What are the difficulties in trying to combine these two approaches?
3.
(25 marks)
(25 marks)
"The benefits of using formal methods as part of the software development life cycle are masked by the cost."
Using relevant examples from all phases in the development life cycle DEFEND or ATTACK this statement.
(25 marks)
4.
Identify what is meant by risk analysis and describe five risks associated with a software-engineering project.
Discuss techniques that can be used to reduce each of the risks that you have described.
5.
(25 marks)
The quality of software can be measured by a number of quality attributes.
Identify and define six of these quality attributes; discuss how they can be achieved in the development of
software, and state the implications of ignoring each attribute.
(25 marks)
15
BCS Professional Examination
Advanced Diploma
System Design Methods
Indicative Question Paper
Answer 3 questions (out of 5). Each question carries equal marks.
Time: THREE hours
1.
Many software development methods include procedures to check that the different products of the
development process are consistent.
Describe THREE different consistency checking procedures to be found in system design methods. (The
procedures you describe may all be taken from the same method or may be chosen from different methods.)
(12 marks)
Discuss critically the usefulness (or otherwise) of the procedures you have described, illustrating your
discussion with suitable examples.
(8 marks)
2.
The software house for which you work has just been commissioned by two different companies to develop
very similar systems. The systems are substantial, each requiring some 40-person years of development effort,
including provision for the first year’s maintenance. One of the companies has standardised on the ABC
development method and the other has standardised on the XYZ method. In each case, your company will be
required to use the customer’s standard method and has staff with the necessary expertise available.
Your technical director feels that this provides an unusually good opportunity to gather data about the
comparative performance of the two methods and has asked you plan a programme of data gathering and
analysis from the two projects.
Write a preliminary report explaining what data you would collect and justifying your choice.
(20 marks)
3.
Some software development methods, such as SSADM, HOOD or JSD, view software development primarily
as an engineering activity while others, such as ETHICS, see it as a human-centred activity.
Explain how these two approaches differ in practical terms, illustrating your answer with suitable examples.
(8 marks)
Despite their well-documented effectiveness, methods that adopt a human-centred approach are much less
widely used than those that adopt an engineering approach. Discuss possible reasons for this.
(12 marks)
4.
The requirements analysis phase of a software development project is widely considered to be both the most
important and the most difficult phase.
Compare and contrast the support that TWO different development methods provide for requirements analysis.
(20 marks)
5.
The IT director of your organisation has decided that the use of rapid application development would bring
significant business benefits to the organisation. You have been asked to investigate how the organisation
should go about doing this.
Write a preliminary report describing, in generic terms, the tools and techniques that are available, and
discussing the advantages and disadvantages of adopting this approach.
(20 marks)
16
BCS Professional Examination
Advanced Diploma
User Interface Design
Indicative Question Paper
Answer 3 questions (out of 5). Each question carries equal marks.
Time: THREE hours
1.
Describe the main features of a graphical user interface.
Discuss the reasons for which such interfaces are considered to improve the usability of application programs.
(20 marks)
2.
Modern graphical user interfaces consume large amounts of processor power, RAM and disk space. Hardware
is not so cheap that these costs can be ignored.
Discuss the extent to which the benefits of sophisticated graphical user interfaces justify the extra cost of the
hardware necessary to support them.
(20 marks)
3.
Describe the facilities provided by systems, such as Microsoft's OLE, that allow objects to be shared between
multiple applications.
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of such systems from the point of view of developing graphical
user interfaces to applications.
(20 marks)
4.
Suggest a set of heuristic criteria for evaluating a prototype user interface.
Describe how you would develop a structured method for evaluating user interfaces based on these criteria.
(20 marks)
5.
How would a user interface in an application to control and monitor steel production differ from an
application to sell books on-line?
(20 marks)
17