CPA Foundation Level
Information Communication Technology cheat sheet
Every chapter's key points, formulas and definitions on one page, for the last week before the exam. Each heading links to the chapter that explains it.
Introduction to information communication technology
- ICT is the combined use of computing and telecommunications to create, store, process and exchange information.
- Hardware divides into input, processing, output and storage devices; the CPU executes instructions and performs calculations.
- A bit is a single binary digit and a byte is eight bits; storage units step up by 1,000 on product labels, while operating systems often count in steps of 1,024.
- System software, chiefly the operating system, manages the computer; application software performs tasks for the user and must run on the system software already in place.
- Separating the work of analysts, programmers, database administrators and security officers is a control: no single person can both change a system and approve the change.
Key terms
- Input devices
- Keyboard, mouse, scanner, capture data into the system.
- Processing unit
- The CPU, executes instructions and performs calculations.
- Output devices
- Monitor, printer, present processed results.
- Storage devices
- Hard disks, SSDs, hold data persistently.
- System software
- Manages the computer itself, chiefly the operating system (see the chapter on operating systems).
- Application software
- Performs specific user tasks, e.g. word processors, spreadsheets, accounting packages (see the chapter on application packages).
- Low-level languages
- Machine and assembly language, close to hardware, fast but hard to write.
- High-level languages
- Human-readable languages (e.g. Python, Java) translated into machine code by a compiler or interpreter.
The rest of the sheet covers
- Operating systems
- Application packages
- Computer networks
- The internet
- Data security
- Information systems in an enterprise
- E-commerce
- Mobile devices and applications
- Systems analysis and design
- Exam technique and revision
- Glossary