Computer Basic Question and Answer Part2

Volatile memory: The data is lost on reboot. This is the ram memory. Random-access-memory. 

non-volatile memory: The data is saved to a hard drive or flash drive, or it could be a hard coded chip. This is rom memory. Read-only-memory. 

Volatile memory: you will lost all of your data when your electricity go out. Ram is volatile memory. When you shutdown your computer. Info that haven't saved is destroyed. 
Nonvolatile memory: All data that stored in this type of memory wil retain when you shutdown your computer. Rom is of type nonvolatile memory.

Non-volatile holds its data even when the power is turned off.

(V)

A process is an instance or invocation of a program - you can have for example two processes running the same program at the same time e.g. you can have a calculator program open twice, this is two processes but only one program. 

Some programs connect to and issue instructions to an existing process if one exists. Firefox is one example of such a program (when running under linux at least).


A process is a program in execution. It is an active entity whereas a program is an active entity. It is a set of instructions.

Note: There are comments associated with this question. See the discussion page to add to the conversation.

(vi)

An interpreter translates some form of source code into a target representation that it can immediately execute and evaluate. The structure of the interpreter is similar to that of a compiler, but the amount of time it takes to produce the executable representation will vary as will the amount of optimization. The following diagram shows one representation of the differences.

Compiler characteristics:

• spends a lot of time analyzing and processing the program
• the resulting executable is some form of machine- specific binary code
• the computer hardware interprets (executes) the resulting code
• program execution is fast

Interpreter characteristics:

• relatively little time is spent analyzing and processing the program
• the resulting code is some sort of intermediate code
• the resulting code is interpreted by another program
• program execution is relatively slow

The above characteristics are typical. There are well-known cases that are somewhere in between, such as Java with it's JVM.

(vii)

Linking is the process of combining various pieces of code and data together to form a single executable that can be loaded in memory. Linking can be done at compile time, at load time (by loaders) and also at run time (by application programs). The process of linking dates back to late 1940s, when it was done manually. Now, we have linkersthat support complex features, such as dynamically linked shared libraries. This article is a succinct discussion of all aspects of linking, ranging from relocation and symbol resolution to supporting position-independent shared libraries. To keep things simple and understandable, I target all my discussions to ELF (executable and linking format) executables on the x86 architecture (Linux) and use the GNU compiler (GCC) and linker (ld). However, the basic concepts of linking remain the same, regardless of the operating system, processor architecture or object file format being used.

(viii)

Computer is an electronic device that can store data, and process it and can also be programmed with any instructions.

Computer is used every where in the world in every field of life. There are many applications of computer for example. Computer can perform any kind of calculations in no time; where as a human being would take months and years to do the same calculations. Now a day's computer is used in almost every day application of life E.g. in

Banking:- Before when there was no computer, every where manual system was followed which was a very complicated and hard work but now with the coming of computer every thing is in a very systematic way. Every bank is now using a computerized system because it is very fast and user friendly. ATM cards are used every where now which let us bank any time we want. PC banking (Personal Computer banking) let us view our bank balance, request transfers between accounts and pay bills electronically etc…

Traffic light control: - In traffic light control the computer is being employed to drive the traffic light. There are some programmed codes like " turn off the red light" or "turn on the red light" to control the traffic light and to carry out the instructions that follows.

Another most important application of computer in real life is:

Sports: - In sports computers are used wildly in conjunction with video cameras. These are used to record the motion of all the sports men. 3D programs are used later on to help the trainers see there movements and could improve there styles of playing.

Schools and Collages: - There are many uses of computer in schools and collages e.g.

Every student details need to be stored so a computer program could help in this way.

Multimedia, animations, graphics and charts could be used to teach the students and many boring topics can be made interesting using multimedia. Students could access internet for online help and courses for more information.

(ix)

A supercomputer is a computer which performs at a rate of speed which is far above that of other computers. Given the constantly changing world of computing, it should come as no surprise to learn that most supercomputers bear their superlative titles for a few years, at best. Computer programmers are fond of saying that today's supercomputer will become tomorrow's computer; the computer you are reading this article on is probably more powerful than most historic supercomputers, for example.

The term “supercomputer” was coined in 1929 by the New York World, referring to tabulators manufactured by IBM. To modern computer users, these tabulators would probably appear awkward, slow, and cumbersome to use, but at the time, they represented the cutting edge of technology. This continues to be true of supercomputers today, which harness immense processing power so that they are incredibly fast, sophisticated, and powerful

(x)

Minicomputer is a largely obsolete term for a class of multi-user computers which make up the middle range of the computing spectrum, in between the largest multi-user systems (traditionally, mainframe computers) and the smallest single-user systems (microcomputers or personal computers). More modern terms for such machines include midrange systems (common in IBM parlance), workstations (common in Sun Microsystems and general UNIX/Linux parlance), and servers.

Although there is no rigid definition, a microcomputer (sometimes shortened to micro) is most often taken to mean a computer with a microprocessor as its CPU. Another general characteristic of these computers is that they occupy physically small amounts of space. Although the terms are not synonymous, many microcomputers are also personal computers (in the generic sense) and vice versa

10.

Pronounced rahm, acronym for read-only memory, computer memory on which data has been prerecorded. Once data has been written onto a ROMchip, it cannot be removed and can only be read.

• ROM: A regular ROM is constructed from hard-wired logic, encoded in the silicon itself, much the way that a processor is. It is designed to perform a specific function and cannot be changed. This is inflexible and so regular ROMs are only used generally for programs that are static (not changing often) and mass-produced. This product is analagous to a commercial software CD-ROM that you purchase in a store.
• Programmable ROM (PROM): This is a type of ROM that can be programmed using special equipment; it can be written to, but only once. This is useful for companies that make their own ROMs from software they write, because when they change their code they can create new PROMs without requiring expensive equipment. This is similar to the way a CD-ROM recorder works by letting you "burn" programs onto blanks once and then letting you read from them many times. In fact, programming a PROM is also called burning, just like burning a CD-R, and it is comparable in terms of its flexibility.
• Erasable Programmable ROM (EPROM): An EPROM is a ROM that can be erased and reprogrammed. A little glass window is installed in the top of the ROM package, through which you can actually see the chip that holds the memory. Ultraviolet light of a specific frequency can be shined through this window for a specified period of time, which will erase the EPROM and allow it to be reprogrammed again. Obviously this is much more useful than a regular PROM, but it does require the erasing light. Continuing the "CD" analogy, this technology is analogous to a reusable CD-RW.
• Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (EEPROM): The next level of erasability is the EEPROM, which can be erased under software control. This is the most flexible type of ROM, and is now commonly used for holding BIOS programs. When you hear reference to a "flash BIOS" or doing a BIOS upgrade by "flashing", this refers to reprogramming the BIOS EEPROM with a special software program. Here we are blurring the line a bit between what "read-only" really means, but remember that this rewriting is done maybe once a year or so, compared to real read-write memory (RAM) where rewriting is done often many times per second!

11.

 - Secondary storage, sometimes called auxiliary storage, is all datastorage that is not currently in a computer's primary storage or memory. An additional synonym is external storage.

In a personal computer, secondary storage typically consists of storage on the hard disk and on any removable media, if present, such as a CD or DVD

12.

In a computer, a register is one of a small set of data holding places that are part of a computer processor . A register may hold a computer instruction , a storage address, or any kind of data (such as a bit sequence or individual characters). Some instructions specify registers as part of the instruction. For example, an instruction may specify that the contents of two defined registers be added together and then placed in a specified register. A register must be large enough to hold an instruction - for example, in a 32-bit instruction computer, a register must be 32 bits in length. In some computer designs, there are smaller registers - for example, half-registers - for shorter instructions. Depending on the processor design and language rules, registers may be numbered or have arbitrary names.

13.

Special purpose computers are designed to do specific kinds of jobs. A TV, a washing machine, an iPod etc. are all forms of computers, but they have only a small range of things that they can do, and are designed specifically to do them. A PC or a Mac and other types of computers, can do a huge amount of things. They can be used by different people for completely different kinds of jobs. They are general purpose computers

14 (I)

. HDD is a non-volatile storage device for digital data. It features rotating rigid platters on a motor-driven spindle within a protective enclosure. Data are encoded magnetically by read/write heads that float on a cushion of air above the platters.

(II)

. A Compact Disc (also known as a CD) is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store sound recordings exclusively, but later it also allowed the preservation of other types of data. Audio CDs have been commercially available since October 1982. In 2010, they have been largely replaced by other forms of digital storage such as flash drives, with audio CD sales dropping nearly 50% from their peak in 2000.

(III) DVD stands for Digital Versatile/Video Disc, DVDR stands for DVD Recordable and DVDRW for DVD ReWriteable. If you're familiar with regular audio/music CDs or regular DVD-Video discs, then you will know what a recordable DVD looks like. A recordable DVD stores up to 2 hours of very good quality DVD-Video, including several audio tracks in formats like stereo, Dolby Digital or DTS and also advanced menu systems, subtitles and still pictures that can be played by many standalone DVD Players and most computer DVD-ROMs. If you choose to lower the video quality it is possible to store several hours video on a recordable DVD using low bitrates and low resolution with video quality more like VHS, SVHS, SVCD, CVD or VCD. It is also possible to have up to 4.37* GB ordinary data or mix DVD-Video and data on a recordable DVD that can be played by most computer DVD-ROMs

15.

A printer is an output device that prints characters, symbols, graphs, and perhaps on paper. The print output is generally referred to as hardcopy because it forms a relatively permanent. Softcopy refers to temporary images as displayed on a monitor. Printer, depending on whether the image is generated consisting classified by physical contact of the printing mechanism with the paper. Impact printers are in contact, no impact printernot.

Laser Printer: Like a matrix printers, laser printers produce images with dot points. However, as in a photocopying machine, these images on a drum, treated with a pay as magnetic ink toner (powder), created and then transferred from drum to paper.
– There are good reasons why laser printers are so popular. They produce crisp, sharp images of text and graphics, providingResolution of 300 dpi to 1,200 dpi, which is located near the quality (NTQ). They are quiet and fast. 4-32, you can text-only pages per minute for each micro-computer for printing, and more than 120 pages per minute for mainframes. (Pages with more graphics to print more slowly.) You can print) in many fonts (styles and sizes. The more expensive models can print in various colors.

17.

Impact Printers

An impact printer has mechanisms similar to those of a typewriter. Form characters or images, creating a mechanism such as a hammer or wheel against a ribbon printing, so that the image on paper. Impact printers are disappearing, but you can still get in contact with a dot-matrix printer. A matrix printer contains a print head of small pins that strike a ribbon of ink to form characters or images. Printheads are with 9, 18 or 24 availablePins, which offers 24-pin is the best print quality. Dot-matrix printers offer a choice between the quality of project output, a rough-looking 72 dots per inch vertically, which may be acceptable for draft documents and reports, and a quality point, a sharp-looking 144 points per inch vertically, which are more suitable for a finished product that will be shown to other people.

Dot matrix printers through 40-300 characters per second (cps) and some graphics for print, even ifPlayback quality is poor. The tapes are for limited use of colors available. Dot matrix printers are noisy, expensive, and may be replaced by multi-part forms printing, multiple copies of a page that is not at the same time, the printer ninimpact can do.

A different kind of impact that the printer is not used with microcomputers. Largecomputers use high-speed line printers that print a variety of characters at once, and not a single character at a time. Some, called chainContain printer fonts embedded in a chain of rotation, with the exception of the printer ribbon, the characters on a tape rotation. Speed up to 3000 lines per minute, it may be possible with these machines.

Non-Impact Printer

Non impact printers, used almost everywhere now be faster and quieter than impact printers because they have fewer moving parts. Not impact printer forms characters and images without direct physical contact between the printing and paper.

Two typesNon impact printers, often used with microcomputers are laser printers and inkjet printers.

18.

 A number system is the set of symbols used to express quantities as the basis for counting, determining order, comparing amounts, performing calculations, and representing value. It is the set of characters and mathematical rules that are used to represent a number

 Examples include the Arabic, Babylonian, Chinese, Egyptian, Greek, Mayan, and Roman number systems. The ISBN and Dewey Decimal System are examples of number systems used in libraries. Social Security even has a number system.

20.

Computer programming (often shortened to programming or coding) is the process of designing, writing, testing, debugging /troubleshooting, and maintaining the source code of computer programs. This source code is written in a programming language. The purpose of programming is to create a program that exhibits a certain desired behaviour. The process of writing source code often requires expertise in many different subjects, including knowledge of the application domain, specialized algorithms and formal logic

EXAMPLE:

21.

A

We can use problem analysis to gather information that helps you determine the nature of a problem encountered on your system.
The problem analysis information is used to:
• Determine if you can resolve the problem yourself.
• Gather sufficient information to communicate with a service provider and quickly determine the service action that needs to be taken.
The method of finding and collecting error information depends on the state of the hardware at the time of the failure. This procedure directs you to one of the following places to find error information:
• Hardware Management Console (HMC) error logs
• The operating system's error log
• The control panel
• Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) error logs

B.

In its most general sense, an algorithm is any set of detailed instructions which results in a predictable end-state from a known beginning. Algorithms are only as good as the instructions given, however, and the result will be incorrect if the algorithm is not properly defined.
A common example of an algorithm would be instructions for assembling a model airplane. Given the starting set of a number of marked pieces, one can follow the instructions given to result in a predictable end-state: the completed airplane. Misprints in the instructions, or a failure to properly follow a step will result in a faulty end product.

C.

A flowchart is a type of diagram that represents an algorithm or process, showing the steps as boxes of various kinds, and their order by connecting these with arrows. This diagrammatic representation can give a step-by-step solution to a given problem. Process operations are represented in these boxes, and arrows connecting them represent flow of control. Data flows are not typically represented in a flowchart, in contrast with data flow diagrams; rather, they are implied by the sequencing of operations. Flowcharts are used in analyzing, designing, documenting or managing a process or program in various fields

D.

The most basic difference is that the statements in a low level language can be directly mapped to processor instructions, while a single statement in a high level language may execute dozens of instructions. 

Low level refers to the fact that this is a machine language, binary in form, generally meaning one low level command = one executed instruction.

The complexity arises when we need to enable a programmer to designate one high level instruction that performs several or many machine (low level) operations.

Low Level Languages: Assembler and Advanced Assembler - see Compiler Languages.
High Level Languages: RPG, COBOL, any that make machine level programming of a computer easier

22.

C  is a general-purpose computer programming language developed in 1972 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system.^[4]

Although C was designed for implementing system software,^[5] it is also widely used for developing portable application software.

Features

• A simple core language, with important functionality such as math functions or file handling provided by sets of library routines instead
• Focus on the procedural programming paradigm, with facilities for programming in a structured style
• A simple type system which prevents many operations that are not meaningful
• Use of a preprocessor language, the C preprocessor, for tasks such as defining macros and including multiple source code files
• Low-level unchecked access to computer memory via the use of pointers
• Parameters that are always passed to functions by value, never by reference
• Function pointers, which allow for a rudimentary form of closures and polymorphism
• Lexical variable scoping
• Records, or user-defined aggregate datatypes (structs) which allow related data to be combined and manipulated as a whole
• Very little else

23.

A programming language is proposed to help programmer to process certain kinds of data and to provide useful output. The task of data processing is accomplished by executing series of commands called program. A program usually contains different types of data types (integer, float, character etc.) and need to store the values being used in the program. C language is rich of data types. A C programmer has to employ proper data type as per his requirement.

C has different data types for different types of data and can be broadly classified as :

1. Primary data types
2. Secondary data types

24. Structured programming (sometimes known as modular programming) is a subset of procedural programming that enforces a logical structure on the program being written to make it more efficient and easier to understand and modify. Certain languages such as Ada, Pascal, and dBASEare designed with features that encourage or enforce a logical program structure.

Structured programming frequently employs a top-down design model, in which developers map out the overall program structure into separate subsections. A defined function or set of similar functions is coded in a separate module or submodule, which means that code can be loaded intomemory more efficiently and that modules can be reused in other programs. After a module has been tested individually, it is then integrated with other modules into the overall program structure.

Program flow follows a simple hierarchical model that employs loopingconstructs such as "for," "repeat," and "while." Use of the "Go To" statement is discouraged.

Structured programming was first suggested by Corrado Bohm and Guiseppe Jacopini. The two mathematicians demonstrated that any computer program can be written with just three structures: decisions, sequences, and loops. Edsger Dijkstra's subsequent article, Go To Statement Considered Harmfulwas instrumental in the trend towards structured programming. The most common methodology employed was developed by Dijkstra. In this model (which is often considered to be synonymous with structured programming, although other models exist) the developer separates programs into subsections that each have only one point of access and one point of exit.

Almost any language can use structured programming techniques to avoid common pitfalls of unstructured languages. Unstructured programming must rely upon the discipline of the developer to avoid structural problems, and as a consequence may result in poorly organized programs. Most modern procedural languages include features that encourage structured programming. Object-oriented programming (OOP) can be thought of as a type of structured programming, uses structured programming techniques for program flow, and adds more structure for data to the model.