ICSE Class 12 Computer Science Syllabus

ISC Class 12 Computer Science Syllabus

The CISCE will administer the Class 10 ICSE board examination (Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination). The ICSE board’s syllabus gives students practical information in every subject to improve their analytical skills. The ISC Computer Science Syllabus design pushes students to go beyond their textbooks,  laboratory classes provide first-hand knowledge and understanding of the textual concepts taught in the classroom rather than simply memorising them.

Studying Computer Applications is a significant subject since it has many logical and functional components required to get good results. Students will need adequate guidance and support to prepare for this subject. Extramarks is one of the leading educational platforms that provides hands-on training material in the form of ISC Class 12 Computer Science Syllabus.

The best training material is available on the Extramarks platform for the ISC Class 12 Computer Science Syllabus.  It provides an overview of the entire syllabus to the students so that they can plan and prepare in advance to complete their syllabus.

ISC Class 12 Computer Science Syllabus: Semester 1 and 2

SEMESTER 1 (MARKS: 35) SEMESTER 2 (MARKS:35)
Name of the Unit Name of the Unit
Boolean Algebra Arrays, Strings
Computer Hardware Recursion
Implementation of algorithms to solve problems Inheritance, Interface, and Polymorphism
Programming in Java Data Structures
Objects  
Primitive values, Wrapper classes, Types and Casting  
Variables, Expressions  
Statements, Scope  
Methods  
Array, Strings  

A brief introduction to ISC Class 12 Computer Science Syllabus: Semester 1 & 2:

SECTION A

Boolean Algebra

Truth tables, satisfiable, unsatisfiable, and valid formulas; definition, truth values, and interpretation of well-formed formulae; propositional logic; Quantities with binary values; fundamental theorems in Boolean algebra such as De Morgan’s theorem and its applications; duality, idempotence, commutativity, associativity, distributivity, operations with 0 and 1; complements; absorption; involution; Boolean expressions are reduced to the sum of products and product of sums forms, and Karnaugh maps are used (up to four variables).

Computer Hardware

Applications of logic gates and Boolean algebra; application of basic logic gates in circuits.

SECTION B

The programming component of the syllabus (Sections B and C) emphasises algorithmic problem solving rather than just memorising Java grammar. Java 5.0 or a newer version should be used.

Any text editor, the Java and JAC applications, or another development environment—such as BlueJ, Eclipse, NetBeans, etc. can be used by students for programming. BlueJ is highly recommended because of its simplicity, usability, and suitability for a “objects first” approach.

Implementation of algorithms to solve problems

In the computer lab, students must complete programming assignments covering each primary subject in at least one assignment.

Programming in Java

Review of Class XI Sections B and C

Objects

The student must analyse various real-world programming examples from objects and class perspectives.

Primitive Values, Wrapper Classes, Types and Casting

Primitive variables and types, appropriate wrapper classes, user-defined type casting, and automated type coercion are all available.

Variables, Expressions

Expressions and their evaluation; named constants; variables serve as names for values.

Statements, Scope

Looping, conditional statements, blocks of statements, scope, and variable visibility.

Methods

Variables and static methods; formal and practical method arguments; various behaviours of basic and object arguments; this operator.

Arrays, Strings

Examples of algorithms that employ structured data types are arrays (single and multi-dimensional), address computations, and strings.

Recursions

Recursion concept; basic recursive procedures.

SECTION C

Inheritance, Interface and Polymorphism

Subclass polymorphism, dynamic binding, variable and method redefinition in subclasses, abstract classes, superclass and derived classes, and inheritance.

Data Structures

Basic algorithms and programmes employing the data structures, conversion of Infix to Prefix and Postfix notations, and direct implementation of basic data structures (stack, queue, circular queue, and de queue) through classes.

ISC Class 12 Computer Science Syllabus- Paper pattern

Before students begin their exam preparation, they must familiarise themselves with ISC Class 12 Computer Science Syllabus, the marking scale, and the paper format. Extramarks provides the complete exam paper pattern of Computer Science for the academic year 2023-2024. Students can get a thorough understanding of the subject’s fundamental concepts with the help of the ISC Class 12 Computer Science Syllabus.

As per the recent upgrade in ISC Class 12 Computer Science Syllabus, the Computer Applications paper carries a total of 100  marks. There are two papers: Theory and Practical. Students are evaluated based on their overall performance on both exams..

According to ISC Class 12 Computer Science Syllabus,  this examination consists of two papers: Paper I: Theory of 3 hours, 70 marks. Paper-II is 30 marks, a 3-hour practical exam. Two sections of  Paper I. Compulsory short answer questions covering the whole syllabus are included in Part I, which carries a total of 20 marks. 

Part II (50 marks) is  divided into three Sections A, B, and C. Students must answer two out of three questions in all the three sections A, B and C. In each Section A and B carry 10 marks whereas  Section C only has 5 marks. So, Part II  there are a total of six questions that students need to answer.

The practical exam consists of 30 marks. This paper will be evaluated by a visiting examiner who has been appointed locally by the council. Candidates must attempt any one of the three programming problems during this exam. 

ISC Class 12 Computer Science Syllabus: Study Materials

Students should refer to the ISC Class 12 Computer Science Syllabus and other study resources offered by  Extramarks subject experts to enhance their knowledge and better comprehend the subject. They can explore important topics and concepts in less time with the help of these ICSE Solutions. These ICSE revision notes adhere to the latest ISC & ICSE syllabus to improvise students’  learning in an easy and efficient manner. The study tools include fundamental concepts, summaries, and examples to help students excel in their ICSE examinations. Given below are links to these study resources.

Apart from ISC Class 12 Computer Science Syllabus, students can also gain access to academic notes from Extramarks: 

ICSE Solutions

ICSE Revision Notes

ICSE Important Questions 

ICSE Question Paper

ICSE Sample Question Papers

Benefits of studying from ISC Class 12 Computer Science Syllabus

The benefits of referring to Extramarks ISC Class 12 Computer Science Syllabus while studying are as follows:

  • ISC Class 12 Computer Science Syllabus provides students with a thorough understanding of the important concepts and topics they need to practice and revise in order to perform well in their exams.
  • The syllabus contains precise and to the point information based on the most recent ICSE Board regulations.
  • Students can effortlessly cover the entire syllabus by creating a well-organised study schedule with the help of this tool.
  • The syllabus is a quick reference and a helpful roadmap since it highlights important concepts and summarises each topic.

ISC Computer Science Class 12 Syllabus

There are two papers in the subject: Paper I is Theory of 3 hours and 70 marks. Paper II is Practical of 3 hours and 30 marks. Paper I is divided into two parts. Part I (20 marks) consists of compulsory short answer questions, testing knowledge, application and skills relating to the entire syllabus.

Part II (50 marks) is divided into three Sections, A, B and C. You are required to answer two questions out of three from Section A (each carrying 10 marks) and two questions out of three from Section B (each carrying 10 marks) and two questions out of three from Section C (each carrying 5 marks). Therefore, a total of six questions are to be answered in Part II.

Section A

1. Boolean Algebra

(a) Propositional logic, well formed formulae, truth values and interpretation of well formed formulae (wff), truth tables, satisfiable, unsatisfiable and valid formulae. Equivalence laws and their use in simplifying wffs.

(b) Binary valued quantities; basic postulates of Boolean algebra; operations AND, OR and NOT; truth tables.

(c) Basic theorems of Boolean algebra (e.g. duality, idempotence, commutativity, associativity, distributivity, operations with 0 and 1, complements, absorption, involution); De Morgan’s theorem and its applications; reducing Boolean expressions to sum of products and product of sums forms; Karnaugh maps (up to four variables).

2. Computer Hardware

(a) Elementary logic gates (NOT, AND, OR, NAND, NOR, XOR, XNOR) and their use in circuits.

(b) Applications of Boolean algebra and logic gates to half adders, full adders, encoders, decoders, multiplexers, NAND, NOR as universal gates.

Section B

The programming element in the syllabus (Sections B and C) is aimed at algorithmic problem solving and not merely rote learning of Java syntax. The Java version used should be 5.0 or later.

For programming, the students can use any text editor and the javac and java programs or any other development environment: for example, BlueJ, Eclipse, NetBeans etc. BlueJ is strongly recommended for its simplicity, ease of use and because it is very well suited for an ‘objects first’ approach.

3. Implementation of algorithms to solve problems

The students are required to do lab assignments in the computer lab concurrently with the lectures. Programming assignments should be done such that each major topic is covered in at least one assignment. Assignment problems should be designed so that they are sufficiently challenging. Students must do algorithm design, address correctness issues, implement and execute the algorithm in Java and debug where necessary.

4. Programming in Java

(Review of Class XI Sections B and C)

Items 4 to 13 should be introduced almost simultaneously along with classes and their definitions. While reviewing, ensure that new higher order problems are solved using these constructs.

5. Objects

(a) Objects as data (attributes) + behaviour (methods); object as an instance of a class. Constructors.

(b) Analysis of some real-world programming examples in terms of objects and classes.

(c) Basic input/output using Scanner and Printer classes from JDK; input/output exceptions. Tokens in an input stream, concept of whitespace, extracting tokens from an input stream (String Tokenizer class).

6. Primitive values, Wrapper classes, Types and casting

Primitive values and types: byte, int, short, long, float, double, boolean, char. Corresponding wrapper classes for each primitive type. Class as type of the object. Class as mechanism for user defined types. Changing types through user defined casting and automatic type coercion for some primitive types.

7. Variables, Expressions

Variables as names for values; named constants (final), expressions (arithmetic and logical) and their evaluation (operators, associativity, precedence). Assignment operation; difference between left hand side and right hand side of assignment.

8. Statements, Scope

Statements; conditional (if, if else, if else if, switch case, ternary operator), looping (for, while, do while, continue, break); grouping statements in blocks, scope and visibility of variables.

9. Methods

Methods (as abstractions for complex user defined operations on objects), formal arguments and actual arguments in methods; different behaviour of primitive and object arguments. Static method and variables. The this Operator. Examples of algorithmic problem solving using methods (number problems, finding roots of algebraic equations etc.).

10. Arrays, Strings

Structured data types – arrays (single and multidimensional), address calculations, strings. Example algorithms that use structured data types (e.g. searching, finding maximum/minimum, sorting techniques, solving systems of linear equations, substring, concatenation, length, access to char in string, etc.).

11. Recursion

Concept of recursion, simple recursive methods (e.g. factorial, GCD, binary search, conversion of representations of numbers between different bases).

Section C

Inheritance, Interface, Polymorphism, Data structures, Computational complexity

12. Inheritance, Interfaces and Polymorphism

(a) Inheritance; super and derived classes; member access in derived classes; redefinition of variables and methods in subclasses; abstract classes; class Object; protected visibility. Subclass polymorphism and dynamic binding.

(b) Interfaces in Java (conceptual)

Emphasize the difference between the Java language construct interface and the word interface often used to describe the set of method prototypes of a class.

13. Data structures

(a) Basic data structures (stack, queue, dequeue); implementation directly through classes; definition through an interface and multiple implementations by implementing the interface. Conversion of Infix to Prefix and Postfix notations.

(b) Single linked list (Algorithm and programming), binary trees, tree traversals (Conceptual).

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FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

1. What criteria does the visiting examiner use to assess the practical exam?

The candidate’s choice of algorithm and implementation technique, documentation, and proper output on known inputs listed in the question paper all factor towards how well the candidate does on the programming task they were given. Programming assignments are of 5 marks completed during the year, and the computer programming problem answer carries 15 marks. The final 10 points are for internal assessment.

2. What should the preparation strategy for ISC Class 12 Computer Science Board exam be?

Creating a schedule is one of the most important aspects of preparing for the final exam. You can cover all the chapters and subjects. Analyse your performance by answering questions from previous years’ exams. Do not unnecessarily stress  yourself; instead, take a break from studying to relax and rejuvenate with friends and family members. Keep your confidence level high by following your study schedule and leave nothing until the last minute except revision. Students will find it easier  to crack the tests, and won’t be anxious or stressed before the exams.

3. How can one score well on the ISC Class 12 Computer Science exam?

Follow your textbook and the study guides on the Extramarks website that focuses on every topic on your syllabus.  It should be read, analysed, and understood thoroughly. Understand the scoring system and periodically review the concepts. Don’t leave out anything included in the Extramarks-provided syllabus that follows the updated ISC standards. Students can definitely score well  in the board examination if they use the Extramarks study materials.

4. Where can I get the ISC Class 12 Computer Science Syllabus for 2023-2024?

Since there is a lot of bogus content on the Internet and students may get easily digressed,  Extramarks offers the most recent updated syllabus published by the Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) so that students can get everything in one place and prevent any kind of confusion and chaos. Extramarks is one of the leading educational online learning platforms providing reliable and authentic study materials to help you perform at your best in various competitive exams. Students can easily access ISC Class 12 Computer Science Syllabus on  Extramarks website.

5. Where can I get sample papers for the ISC?

Sample papers for ISC can be easily obtained from the Extramarks website. These sample papers align with the standards of ISC and can help students prepare  well for  their final exams. The sample papers are very useful in  providing additional practice and  getting them ready for the ISC Board examination. To help students grasp them better, they are written in simple, easy-to-understand language. Extramarks provides all  the necessary information to encourage , motivate and assist students in every way.