Scientific Programming/C Flashcards
A computer system consists of what three components?
Hardware, software and firmware
What is a general purpose computer?
It is a computer that can run many different languages and solve many problems.
What is a special purpose computer?
It is a computer that uses a single programming languae designed for a specific type of application.
What are types of general purpose computers?
Mainfram, super, personal and laptop
What is a mainframe computer used for?
Large mainframe computers are used for critical applications such as census, industry and statistics, like IBM
What is a super computer used for?
They are used for complex scientific computations, and are super fast
What is a server?
It is a large computer system that stores large variaties of programs and data bases
What is a workstation?
Workstations are capable of performing large computations
What is the motherboard?
Each component is attatched to this and it allows all the compenents to communicate with each other.
What is the video card?
It provides image to the screen
What is the hard drive?
It stores data even when the machine is off
What is the RAM?
RAM contains info while the computer is on but it is lost when turned off
What is the CPU?
It provides the calculations and manipulation of data sent from the user
What is turnaround?
Turnaround is the amount of time elapsing between request to the computer and availability of output
What is throughput?
It is measured by the number of jobs that are completed in a given time period.
What is modularization?
It is the process of breaking down a complex problem into solvable,manageable and functional units
What is the first part of modular design?
To break the problem into modules or subproblems.
What are two module types?
Functional: A module with a specific function or task to perform
Spatial: a module that is repeated in several places.
What is a structure chart?
It is a design tool that represents both modules of an algorithm and their relationship to each other.
What is an algorithm?
It is a procedure consisting of a finite number of precisely defined steps for solving a problem.
What is a program?
It is a sequence of executable unambiguous instructions written in a computer language
What is pseudocode?
It is a semi-formal description of the steps to be carried out by a computer.
What is source code?
A text listing commands to be compiled and assembled into an executable program
What is documentation?
It is comments that document the code the whole programming process as an aid to the programmer
What is the operating system?
Acts like a middleman between user and hardware, examples include iOS, Windows, Linux
What is a high level programming language?
It is a language that is more similar to human language and is more portable in that it can be translated from operating system to operating system. examples are Python, C, Javascript, C++
What is a low-level language?
It is more like machine language, binary code. Some examples are binary, machine, assembly.
How does every program in C begin?
int main(){
~~~~~~~
}
