KS3 (Years 7–9) · Computer Science
Programming Fundamentals
What is it
Programming fundamentals are the building blocks every program is made from: variables (storing data), sequence (steps in order), selection (if/else decisions), and iteration (loops that repeat).
Why it matters
These four concepts appear in every programming language you'll ever learn — Python, JavaScript, C++, all of them. Master the fundamentals once here, and switching languages later becomes a matter of new syntax, not new thinking.
Exam tip
When tracing through code by hand, write out the value of each variable after every line — most marks are lost from losing track partway through, not from misunderstanding the logic.
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