Higher Computing Science

How agile development builds on the iterative process from National 5, working in short, repeated cycles rather than one long pass through each stage.

The three data structures examined at Higher: parallel 1D arrays, records for grouping related fields, and arrays of records combining both.

How arguments pass into procedures and functions, why a variable's scope matters, and the four pre-defined functions examined at this level.

The three standard algorithms examined at Higher, each working over a 1D array or an array of records: linear search, finding the minimum or maximum, and counting occurrences.

Reading from and writing to a sequential CSV or txt file, so a program's data can persist after it finishes running.

The fetch-execute cycle, and the four factors, from clock speed to cache to core count, that affect how fast a computer actually runs.

How smart heating systems, intelligent transport systems and car management systems reduce environmental impact, extending National 5's basic energy-saving content.

The three offences under the Computer Misuse Act 1990, the risks of tracking cookies and DOS attacks, and how public/private key encryption secures data in transit.

UPDATE, SELECT, DELETE and INSERT statements using wildcards, aggregate functions, computed values with aliases, GROUP BY and ORDER BY, across a database of three or more linked tables.