driver BIOS and VMs Flashcards
what is a device driver
a piece of software that allows the operating system to interact with hardware
what is the BIOS
Basic input/output sequence
what is POST and when is it done
power on self test
during the BIOS when it tests the hardware in the compyter system to see if it is ready for use
what is a virtual machine
a piece of software thatbehaves as a computer
What are the purposes of VMs
test codes on multiple OS’s
save space time and cost instead of setting up multiple systems
cons of virtual machines
requires a powerful machine
has to be an accurate representation (when testing code)
slower
what is intermediate code
halfway between machien code and source code
independent of processsor
how does intermediate code work
compile the code halfway into intermediate code
then translated into by a virtual mahine
usually to test code works on multiple operating systems
