The C Programming Language - Compiling; Data Types; Identifier Naming

Question 1

Source program/file

Answer 1

A sequence of bytes.

Question 2

Byte

Answer 2

An 8-bit chunk of data

Question 3

Bit

Answer 3

Another name for binary digit - represents a logical value in the form of a numerical - ‘0’ or ‘1’

Question 4

Text file

Answer 4

Files that store data in the form of a sequence of ASCII characters

Question 5

Binary file

Answer 5

Files that store data in binary form

Question 6

Describe the representation of info in a system

Answer 6

All information in a system is represented in the form of bits. However, the context is a key factor in distinguishing between different data objects.

Question 7

object code

Answer 7

A sequence of low-level machine-language instructions in binary form

Question 8

Compiler driver/compilation system

Answer 8

Software that translates a source file to an object file. It is composed of four programs, namely preprocessor, compiler, assembler, and linker.

Question 9

Define the four phases of the compilation process/name the four programs that make up the compilation system

Answer 9

PCAL - preprocess, compile, assemble, link

Question 10

Define the preprocessing phase of the compilation process/the function of the preprocessor program

Answer 10

The preprocessor (ccp) modifies the original source code/.c file by following directives that begin with the ‘#’ character (#include, #define for e.g.) and removing comments. This typically results in the C program being converted into a .i file

Question 11

.i file

Answer 11

An output file of the preprocessor

Question 12

Define the function of the #include <header file> directive

Answer 12

include instructs the preprocessor to read the contents of the given file into the source program/file/code.

Question 13

Define the compiling phase of the compilation process/the function of the compiler program

Answer 13

The compiler (cc1) parses the syntaxes of the preprocessed code (.i file) into an assembly language program/file; it converts the .i file into a .s file.

Question 14

Assembly code

Answer 14

A sequence of low-level machine language instructions written in textual form; an intermediary between textual code and machine/binary code; stored in a .s file/program.

Question 15

Define the assembly phase of the compilation process/the function of the assembler program

Answer 15

The assembler parses the assembly-language program (.s file) into a relocatable object program/file. It stores the resulting code into a .o file. The assembly code is converted into object code, i.e. low-level machine language instructions in binary form.

Question 16

Define the linking phase of the compilation process/the function of the linker program

Answer 16

The linker merges any precompiled object files resulting from any C library functions in the relocatable object file (.o) to generate an executable object file/executable that can be loaded into the computer memory and executed by the system.