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neurologyYou need to know

• Abstraction is the process of removing unnecessary detail so that the important features of a problem or system can be examined more easily.
• An abstraction represents selected features of reality rather than reproducing every feature of the real situation.
• Abstraction reduces complexity, making problems easier to understand, model and solve.
• The usefulness of an abstract model depends on whether it retains the details relevant to its intended purpose.
• An abstract model may produce misleading results if important details or assumptions are omitted.
• Inputs are the data supplied to a system or process, while outputs are the data or actions produced by it.
• A precondition is a requirement that must be true before a process, algorithm or program component can run correctly.
• Caching stores copies of frequently or recently accessed data so that later requests can be served more quickly.
• Caching can reduce access time, network traffic and repeated computation, but it requires extra storage and may return outdated data if the cache is not updated correctly.
• Reusable program components are self-contained sections of code, such as functions, procedures, classes or libraries, that can be used in multiple parts of a program or in different programs.
• Reusable components can reduce development time, duplication and testing effort, while improving consistency and maintainability.
• Decomposition divides a complex problem into smaller, more manageable components that can be solved separately.
• The components of a problem describe the smaller tasks that must be addressed, while the components of a solution describe the algorithms, data and program modules used to address them.
• A procedure is an ordered sequence of steps that performs a specific task, and a sub-procedure performs a smaller task within a larger procedure.
• The order of procedural steps matters when one step depends on the result or state produced by an earlier step.
• A decision point selects between alternative paths according to whether a logical condition evaluates to true or false.
• Logical conditions use comparisons and Boolean operators such as AND, OR and NOT to determine which path through a program is followed.
• Concurrency allows multiple tasks to make progress during overlapping periods, although they do not necessarily execute at exactly the same instant.
• Concurrent processing can improve responsiveness, throughput and resource use when tasks are independent or spend time waiting for input or output.
• Concurrency can introduce communication and scheduling overheads, unpredictable execution order, competition for resources and errors caused by unsynchronised access to shared data.

• Devise an abstract model by identifying its purpose, retaining relevant features and removing unnecessary detail.
• Compare an abstraction with reality by identifying what has been represented, simplified or omitted and explaining the effects of those choices.
• Identify the inputs, processing and outputs of a given system or problem.
• Determine the preconditions for a solution by stating the data, resources and system states that must exist before execution begins.
• Evaluate whether caching is appropriate by weighing faster access and reduced processing against storage costs and the risk of stale data.
• Decompose a problem and its proposed solution into clearly defined components, including any reusable functions, procedures or modules.
• Arrange the steps of a solution in a valid order, showing dependencies and identifying suitable sub-procedures.
• Construct and trace decision logic by stating Boolean conditions and following the correct program path for given data.
• Identify tasks that can proceed concurrently and evaluate the likely benefits and trade-offs, including dependencies, shared resources, synchronisation and processing overheads.