CSCI 223 Test 1 Flashcards
source program
created with an editor and saved in a text file (extension .c)
how many bits are in a byte
8
files that consist exclusively of ASCII characters are known as ?; all other files are known as
text files; binary files
? goes into the preprocessor and ? comes out
source program (text); modified source program (text)
? goes into the compiler and ? comes out
modified source program (text); assembly program (text)
? goes into the assembler and ? comes out
assembly program (text); object file (binary)
? goes into the linker and ? comes out
object file (binary); executable file (binary)
what programs perform the four phases of preprocessing, compiling, assembling, and linking?
preprocessor, assembler, compiler, linker
Why do we need to understand how compilation systems work?
to optimize program performance, understand link-time errors, and avoid security holes
assembly language definition
low-level programming language which is a human readable, textual representation of machine code
assembly language facts
each statement corresponds to a single machine code; each assembly language is specific to a particular processor architecture (ISA); it contains a lot of hardware info
ISA
Instruction Set Architecture: interface b/w software and hardware (e.g. x86, ARM, MIPS, …); assembly language is very important to the ISA
what translates high level languages to low level languages?
the compiler
examples of high level programming
C/C++, Java, …
examples of low level programming
x86, ARM, MIPS, …
a system is made up of
hardware and software
software is made up of
application programs and the operating system
hardware is made up of
processor, memory, I/O devices, etc.
ALU
arithmetic logic unit
what is the fastest yet smallest memory space?
the register file (inside the CPU)
onchip memory versus offchip memory
offchip: outside CPU and onchip: inside CPU (e.g. main memory is offchip; cache, register file is onchip)
onchip memory has (faster/slower) access time than main memory
faster
memory hierarchy generalization
smaller, faster, and costlier (per byte) storage devices at the top to larger, slower, and cheaper (per byte) storage devices at the bottom
memory hierarchy L0
registers