Computing Systems

Question 1

In what order does the integer to binary conversion table go?

Answer 1

128 - 64 - 32 - 16 - 8 - 4 - 2 - 1

Question 2

How many bits does extended Ascii use to store characters?

Answer 2

8 bits

Question 3

What is a printable character?

Answer 3

Any character that can be displayed on the screen (!, #, A, @)

Question 4

What is a control character?

Answer 4

A character that tells the computer to do something. (tab, enter, escape, home, page up, page down)

Question 5

How are Bit-Map graphics stored?

Answer 5

As a 2D array of pixels.

Question 6

How are vector graphics stored?

Answer 6

Stored as a set of objects in the computers memory. Each object is stored as a set of attributes.

Question 7

What are the 4 objects I need to know?

Answer 7

Rectangle, Ellipse, Line, Polygon

Question 8

What are the 3 Attributes of objects I need to know?

Answer 8

Co-ordinates, Fill colour, Line colour

Question 9

What 4 things does the CPU contain?

Answer 9

ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit), Registers, Control Unit and the Memory Unit.

Question 10

What does the Control Unit do?

Answer 10

Controls the other components in the computer and tells them what to do.

Question 11

What does the ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit) do?

Answer 11

Calculate any arithmetic or evalulate a logic operation.

Question 12

What do the Registers do?

Answer 12

They are a small, temporary, storage unit used to store data for the CPU.

Question 13

What does the Memory Unit contain?

Answer 13

RAM (Random access memory) & ROM (Read-only Memory)

Question 14

What is RAM used for?

Answer 14

Used to store the instructions/data of any currently running programs.

Question 15

How is data stored in RAM?

Answer 15

In memory locations in RAM using a unique address.

Question 16

What is ROM used for?

Answer 16

Used to store things the computer should not forget (where to load OS from)

Question 17

Can instructions in RAM be deleted/edited?

Answer 17

Yes

Question 18

Can instructions in ROM be changed/edited?

Answer 18

No

Question 19

What is the Address Bus?

Answer 19

The address bus is a uni-directional bus that transfers the address (location) of the data the CPU wants to access from the CPU to the RAM.

Question 20

What is the Data Bus?

Answer 20

The data bus is a bi-directional bus that transfers data between the CPU and RAM.

Question 21

What is a Translator used for?

Answer 21

Used to run programs created by Humans by converting High-Level Language to Low-Level language.

Question 22

What is an interpreter?

Answer 22

An interpreter is a translator that converts high-level language line by line into a low-level language, as the program is running.

Question 23

What are the Two Advantages of interpreters?

Answer 23

Used during development as they are quicker at running programs. Easy to locate errors as it highlights which line(s) cause the program to fail.

Question 24

What are the two disadvantages of interpreters?

Answer 24

Run time is slower, interpreters uses up some memory.

Question 25

What is a Compiler?

Answer 25

Compilers convert a whole program at one time into a Low-Level Language.

Question 26

What are the two Advantages of a compiler?

Answer 26

Execution of the program is faster, original program source code is unavailable to view (people can’t plagarise it)

Question 27

What is the disadvantage of a compiler?

Answer 27

Compiler cannot find errors in the source code (errors must be fixed before compiling)

Question 28

What are 3 ways you can reduce a computers environmental impact?

Answer 28

Reduce the brightness settings on the monitor, Power down monitor after a set inactivity time, Power down the computer after a set inactivity time.

Question 29

What is a firewall?

Answer 29

A firewall is a network security system used to prevent unauthorized access to or from a private network/computer.

Question 30

What are the two ways firewalls protect a network or computer?

Answer 30

Blacklisting/Whitelisting specific IP Addresses, Blacklisting or Whitelisting traffic from certain ports.

Question 31

What is the purpose of encryption?

Answer 31

Used to encrypt (make unreadable) data to prevent unauthorised people from using the data.