Eduqas A500QS 2.4: Organisation and structure of data
The free BugBot lessons that teach this point, a robot to try it on, and the past-paper questions that test it.
What it covers
Data in memory is lost when the program ends; data that must last is kept in files on storage. At GCSE (F7.1) you read and wrote CSV files line by line. At A level you need to know how the records in a file are laid out, and how that layout decides whether finding one record takes one step or means reading the whole file.
- Fields, records and files
- Text files and binary files
- Serial files
- Sequential files
- Indexed sequential files
- Direct access files
Or do it in the simulator, with tasks that mark themselves
Lessons that teach it
- A3.8 Fields, records and file organisation Data structures
Text and binary files, fixed-length records, and serial, sequential, indexed sequential and direct access files. - A11.2 Relational databases and keys Databases and big data
Flat files against relational databases, and every kind of key: primary, composite, foreign and secondary, with indexes and how records… - A11.8 Capturing, managing and exchanging data Databases and big data
How data gets in, how it is selected and managed, and how systems swap it as CSV, JSON and XML. The robot exports its own readings.
Try it on a robot
The task from A3.8 Fields, records and file organisation, running here. Change the program and press Run.
The specification is Eduqas's own document; this page says which of our lessons teach point 2.4 and is not endorsed by the board.