fundamentals of computing

Question 1

Explain the concept of abstraction in programming

Answer 1

this is when you hide the complexity of a program by hiding unnecessary details from the user and showing only the necessary details.
The implementation of how the methods are worked on should be hidden within the class and not accessible outside of the class

Question 2

What is the purpose of the operating system

Answer 2

Is a program that is used to manage computer hardware.
it can act as an intermediary between computer user and computer hardware

Question 3

What is a compiler

Answer 3

Software we use to write computer code typically high level languages e.g c++ or Java and it converts it into lower level languages

Question 4

What is a text editor

Answer 4

software/ programs used for writing code/ text etc

Question 5

Name two categories of Memory

Answer 5

Primary memory
Secondary memory

Question 6

What is primary memory

Answer 6

Primary memory is a type of computer memory which is accessed by the pre-processor, typically it stores data/info the comp. is working on.

Question 7

difference between high level languages and low level languages is

Answer 7

H.L-
1)Programmer friendly
2)Low memory efficient
3) Debugging is easy
4)It is portable
5)It is easy to maintain
6)It needs a compiler/interpreter to translate it
7) Easy to understand
L.L-
1)Machine friendly
2) Not portable
3) Debugging is complex
4) Might be hard to maintain
5) High memory efficient
6) It needs an assembler for translation
7) Might be complex to understand

Question 8

Difference between bit and byte

Answer 8

BIT-
smallest unit in a computer
represented in lowercase ‘b’
used in radio telecommunications
represented in either 0 or 1 form
BYTE - It can be understood as a collection of 8 bits but it is quite greater
it is used in storage media devices
it is represented in uppercase ‘B’

Question 9

What is the role of the CPU?

Answer 9

It executes instructions.
It fetches information/instructions from the RAM, evaluates it then executes them

Question 10

What is binary code

Answer 10

Base 2 number system whose patterns are ones and zeros

Question 11

what is encryption

Answer 11

this is a form of cryptography where a plain text or file is converted into cipher, which can only be decoded by the receiver to whom the file was for

Question 12

Two types of protocols

Answer 12

Stateless Protocols
Stateful protocols

Question 13

What is Stateless protocol

Answer 13

A client sends a request to the server and the server sends back a response according to the current state.

Question 14

Examples of stateless protocol

Answer 14

Hyper Text Transfer Protocol(HTTP), Domain Name System(DNS)

Question 15

What is a stateful protocol

Answer 15

When a client sends a request to the server and the server doesn’t get the information it is sent again

Question 16

types of stateful protocol

Answer 16

TCP
FCP - File Transfer Protocol

Question 17

What is a string?

Answer 17

another way of saying text/ anything enclosed by quotation marks is known as a string

Question 18

what is concatenation?

Answer 18

adding two strings together

Question 19

what is a variable

Answer 19

something that can store information and can be manipulated/ referenced

Question 20

What is an assembler

Answer 20

is a program that translates assembly code into machine code

Question 21

Two types of assembler

Answer 21

self assembler - translates code to machine code in the same computer
cross assembler - translates machine code for another computer

Question 22

Define the term stack in data structures

Answer 22

it refers to linear data structure in which it follows a particular order which an operations is performed can be LIFO(Last In First Out) or FILO(First In Last Out)

Question 23

What is computer networking

Answer 23

Process of connecting computers to promote data exchange and enable communication between them

Question 24

What are the building blocks of a computer network and explain what they are.

Answer 24

Node and Links.
Nodes are devices for data communication while links are wires or free space for wireless networks.

Question 25

What is a protocol

Answer 25

a set of rules that govern how data is transmitted over a network

Question 26

Types of protocols are?

Answer 26

TCP/IP(Transmission Control Protocol) - To send data from one computer to another
FTP - File transfer Protocol- sends file from local network to remote network

Question 27

Role of a modem in computer networking

Answer 27

A modem(modulator/demodulator) converts analog signal form to digital signal form and vice versa
It connects to the internet through your internet service provider

Question 28

what is a network, and what are the types of area network?

Answer 28

It allows computer or interconnected devices to communicate with each other over any medium.
WAN,LAN,PAN, MAN, VPN

Question 29

Why do we hard code data

Answer 29

if the data rarely changes
if we haven’t written the code that obtains the data from the appropriate code
NB: hard coding is writing source code instead of getting it from externally