1.2.2 Application generation - Harvey

Question 1

What is an application software?

Answer 1

Used by the end user to perform one specific task

Question 2

Examples of application software

Answer 2

desktop publishing, word processing, spreadsheets

Question 3

What is system software?

Answer 3

Low level software
responsible for managing computer resources

Question 4

Examples of system software

Answer 4

library programs, utility programs, operating system

Question 5

purpose of utilities

Answer 5

Used to maintain consistent high performance of the operating system.

Question 6

Examples of utilities

Answer 6

Compression
Defragmentation
Antivirus

Question 7

What is disk defragmentation?

Answer 7

Rearranging the contents of the hard drive so they can be accessed faster.

Question 8

Purpose of antivirus

Answer 8

To detect potential threats to the computer.

Question 9

Example of compression

Answer 9

compress large files for transmission across internet.

Question 10

What is source code

Answer 10

Code written by a programmer

Question 11

What is object code

Answer 11

Low level code understood by the computer

Question 12

What is open source?

Answer 12

Can access it without a license comes with source code

Question 13

What is closed source

Answer 13

Needs license to use it so can’t access source code.

Question 14

Advantages of open source

Answer 14

Can be modified to make improvements by anyone
Access to support from community.

Question 15

Advantages of closed source

Answer 15

Proper tested updates
Expert support from developers
Higher level of security

Question 16

Disadvantages of open source

Answer 16

Insufficient/incorrect support online
Lower security

Question 17

Disadvantages of closed source

Answer 17

Users cannot make improvements
Longer time to fix bugs/errors

Question 18

What is a translator?

Answer 18

Program that converts high level source code into low level object code

Question 19

What are the 3 translators?

Answer 19

Compiler
Interpreter
Assembler

Question 20

Purpose of a compiler

Answer 20

Translate high level code into machine code all at once

Question 21

Purpose of an interpreter

Answer 21

Translates and executes code line by line

Question 22

Purpose of an assembler

Answer 22

Translates assembly code into machine code

Question 23

Advantages of an interpreter

Answer 23

They stop and produce an error if a line contains an error.
Code can be executed on a range of platforms.

Question 24

Disadvantage of interpreter

Answer 24

Slower than running compiled code
Requires an interpreter in order to run code.

Question 25

Advantage of a compiler

Answer 25

Code can be ran without a translator being present

Question 26

Disadvantage of a compiler

Answer 26

If changes made whole code needs to be recompiled
compiled code specific to operating systems

Question 27

Advantage of an assembler

Answer 27

code translated on a one-to one basis with machine code

Question 28

Disadvantage of an assembler

Answer 28

Platform specific so dependent on processor

Question 29

stages of compilation

Answer 29

Lexical analysis
syntax analysis
code generation
code optimisation

Question 30

features of lexical analysis

Answer 30

source code broken down into tokens
white space and comments removed
symbol table created

Question 31

features of syntax analysis

Answer 31

tokens compared against syntax rules
tokens broken with incorrect syntax
syntax tree generated

Question 32

features of intermediate code generation

Answer 32

transforms syntax tree into intermediate code that is easier to optimise.

Question 33

features of code optimisation

Answer 33

intermediate code optimised to make it more efficient e.g. removing redundant code

Question 34

features of code generation

Answer 34

optimised intermediate code converted into machine code which is executable code that the machine can run.

Question 35

Role of a loader in application generation

Answer 35

Executable code is placed into memory for execution by the operating system

Question 36

What is an IDE?

Answer 36

A software helping programmers develop code

Question 37

Tools of an IDE

Answer 37

Code editor, syntax highlighting, debugger and compiler tool

Question 38

What is linking?

Answer 38

Linking is where compiled code is added to external libraries.