Practice C.2 Searching the web with authentic IB Computer Science (CS) 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.
Web crawlers are programs used by search engines to browse and index the web.
Define the term web crawler.
Describe how a web crawler identifies and collects information on web pages.
Explain two ways in which web indexing benefits the user experience in search engines.
HealthConnect is a website providing medical resources and health information to the public. To help users find specific information, HealthConnect relies on an in-house search engine that indexes its medical articles.
Describe the function of a meta-tag and how it can improve the relevance of search results on HealthConnect.
Explain one advantage and one disadvantage of using meta-tags for HealthConnect’s search engine optimization (SEO).
Outline two reasons why HealthConnect might prioritize updating its index regularly.
When a user requests a file from a particular website, the website uses lossy compression to send the file to the user over the internet.
Outline the functions of each of these three processes: crawling, indexing, searching.
Explain why the PageRank algorithm might discriminate against new websites.
Explain how a search engine is able to maintain an up-to-date index when the web is continually expanding.
Discuss how this use of lossy compression might affect the user's experience.
The internet and World Wide Web are often considered to be the same, or the terms are used in the wrong context.
Many organizations produce computer-based solutions that implement open standards.
A search engine is software that allows a user to search for information. The most commonly used search algorithms are the PageRank and HITS algorithms.
Outline why a search engine using the HITS algorithm might produce different page ranking from one using the PageRank algorithm.
Outline two advantages of using open standards.
Web crawlers browse the World Wide Web.
Explain how data stored in a meta-tag is used by a web crawler.
Distinguish between the internet and the World Wide Web.
MediaNest is a news aggregator website that collects articles from various reputable sources and ranks them based on popularity and relevancy.
Define the term search algorithm.
Outline two ways that a search algorithm on MediaNest could rank articles based on popularity and relevance.
Explain why MediaNest may face challenges when attempting to keep its index updated as new articles are published throughout the day.
FitLife is a wellness website that offers advice on exercise, nutrition, and mental health. Users can search for articles by entering keywords in a search bar on the website, which relies on a database of indexed articles to provide relevant results.
Define the term indexing in the context of a search engine.
Describe the role of keywords in improving search results for FitLife articles.
Outline two challenges FitLife may face in maintaining an up-to-date index of articles, given the constant publication of new content.
A search algorithm is responsible for ranking and retrieving pages based on user searches.
Outline two factors that a search algorithm might consider when ranking web pages.
Describe the purpose of a search algorithm.
Explain why certain algorithms, like PageRank, might reduce the visibility of new websites in search results.
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A web application (app) runs on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. It allows users to locate their position in real time on a map, as they walk around a city, as well as the surrounding attractions. The app uses icons to represent tourist attractions such as art galleries and museums. When the user clicks on the icon, further details are shown, such as opening times. The app includes some use of client-side scripting.
Many art galleries have websites that can be found by search engines. White hat techniques and practices allow website developers to optimize the search process. It is good practice to maintain the source code of websites up-to-date with actual information.
Explain why maintaining a clean HTML source code of a website by removing old information optimizes the search process.
State two metrics used by search engines.
With reference to the use on mobile devices, outline a feature of this application that may rely on client-side scripting.
The evolution of the web, architectures, protocols and their uses has led to increasingly sophisticated services that run on peer-2-peer (P2P) architectures.
Explain how a P2P network can provide more reliability than a client-server model.
Outline the functioning of this app. Include specific references to the technology and software involved.
The web is often categorized into different areas such as the surface web and the deep web.
Define the terms surface web and deep web.
Explain why certain websites may not be accessible on the surface web.
Describe two challenges for search engines when attempting to access deep web content.
White hat and black hat SEO practices impact website visibility on search engines.
Define white hat SEO and black hat SEO.
Outline one technique used in each type of SEO.
Explain one risk of relying on black hat SEO practices.