Exam 1

Question 1

Chapter 1

Answer 1

Topic

Question 2

Personal computer (PC)
(Section 1.1)

Answer 2

A computer designed for use by an individual, usually incorporating a graphics display, a keyboard, and a mouse.

Question 3

Server

Answer 3

A computer used for running larger programs for multiple users, often simultaneously, and typically accessed only via a network.

Question 4

Supercomputer

Answer 4

A class of computers with the highest performance and cost; they are configured as servers and typically cost tens to hundreds of millions of dollars.

Question 5

Embedded computer

Answer 5

A computer inside another device used for running one predetermined application or collection of software.

Question 6

Personal mobile devices (PMDs)

Answer 6

are small wireless devices to connect to the Internet; they rely on batteries for power, and software is installed by downloading apps. Conventional examples are smart phones and tablets.

Question 7

Cloud computing

Answer 7

refers to large collections of servers that provide services over the Internet; some providers rent dynamically varying numbers of servers as a utility.

Question 8

Software as a Service (SaaS)

Answer 8

delivers software and data as a service over the Internet, usually via a thin program such as a browser that runs on local client devices, instead of binary code that must be installed, and runs wholly on that device. Examples include web search and social networking.

Question 9

Multicore microprocessor

Answer 9

A microprocessor containing multiple processors (“cores”) in a single integrated circuit.

Question 10

Acronym

Answer 10

A word constructed by taking the initial letters of a string of words. For example: RAM is an acronym for Random Access Memory, and CPU is an acronym for Central Processing Unit.

Question 11

Terabyte (TB):

Answer 11

Originally 1,099,511,627,776 (240) bytes, although communications and secondary storage systems developers started using the term to mean 1,000,000,000,000 (1012) bytes. To reduce confusion, we now use the term tebibyte (TiB) for 240 bytes, defining terabyte (TB) to mean 1012 bytes. The figure below shows the full range of decimal and binary values and names.

Question 12

Systems software:

Answer 12

Software that provides services that are commonly useful, including operating systems, compilers, loaders, and assemblers.

Question 13

Operating system

Answer 13

Supervising program that manages the resources of a computer for the benefit of the programs that run on that computer.

Question 14

Compiler

Answer 14

A program that translates high-level language statements into assembly language statements.

Question 15

Binary digit

Answer 15

Also called a bit. One of the two numbers in base 2 (0 or 1) that are the components of information

Question 16

Instruction

Answer 16

A command that computer hardware understands and obeys.

Question 17

Assembler

Answer 17

A program that translates a symbolic version of instructions into the binary version.

Question 18

Assembly language

Answer 18

A symbolic representation of machine instructions.

Question 19

Machine language

Answer 19

A binary representation of machine instructions.

Question 20

High-level programming language

Answer 20

A portable language such as C, C++, Java, or Visual Basic that is composed of words and algebraic notation that can be translated by a compiler into assembly language.