Practice A3.3 Database programming with authentic IB Computer Science (First Exam 2027) exam questions for both SL and HL students. This question bank mirrors Paper 1, 2, 3 structure, covering key topics like programming concepts, algorithms, and data structures. Get instant solutions, detailed explanations, and build exam confidence with questions in the style of IB examiners.
A healthcare analytics platform processes patient data from multiple hospitals for population health studies.
Design stored procedures for anonymizing patient data while preserving statistical validity for research purposes.
A customer relationship management (CRM) system requires complex reporting and data analysis capabilities.
Compare different approaches to database programming including embedded SQL, stored procedures, and ORM (Object-Relational Mapping) frameworks:
Write pseudocode for a stored procedure that calculates monthly sales performance metrics, including error handling and transaction management.
An inventory management system needs to handle real-time stock updates and generate automated alerts.
Explain how database triggers can automate business logic and maintain data consistency, providing specific examples for inventory management.
Discuss the potential drawbacks of using triggers extensively and alternative approaches for implementing business rules.
A content management system handles articles, user comments, and search functionality across multiple languages.
Design a database solution for full-text search capabilities that supports multiple languages and relevance ranking:
Analyze how database cursors and pagination techniques handle large result sets efficiently in web applications.
A gaming platform tracks player statistics, achievements, and leaderboards with real-time updates.
Compare different approaches to handling concurrent updates to player scores and rankings, including optimistic vs pessimistic locking strategies.
Explain how batch processing techniques can efficiently update aggregated statistics and leaderboards.
A financial trading platform processes millions of transactions daily and requires high-performance database operations.
Analyze different SQL optimization techniques for improving query performance:
| Optimization Technique | Implementation Method | Performance Impact | Use Case | Potential Drawbacks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Index Optimization | High | Storage overhead | ||
| Query Rewriting | Complex joins | |||
| Partitioning | Horizontal/Vertical split | Large tables | ||
| Materialized Views | Medium | Data consistency |
Explain how database connection pooling and prepared statements improve application performance in high-transaction environments.
An e-commerce platform experiences rapid growth requiring database scalability and performance optimization.
Explain how database connection pooling and query optimization improve application performance under high load.