Computer Fundamentals Questions and Answers

Answer: A

Correct answer: Laser disks

On an optical disk the data is recorded as microscopic pits pressed into a reflective layer; a laser beam scans the track and detects the change in reflection at each pit edge. Tape and punched cards store data magnetically and mechanically, and a RAM cartridge holds it electronically.

Answer: D

Correct answer: Writing tablet

A writing tablet, or graphics tablet, senses the position of a stylus on its surface, so it captures both the character being written and where on the surface it was written - the coded character and the positional coordinates the question asks for.

Answer: A

Correct answer: Magnetic card

A magnetic card carries a short stripe of magnetic material and so holds only a small quantity of data - an account number, an identifier, an expiry date. Tape holds vast amounts sequentially, and an optical mark reader is an input device rather than a storage medium.

Answer: B

Correct answer: Application language

A functional or application language is one written in terms of the problem being solved - describing what is wanted rather than the machine steps that produce it - so its statements apply functions to values. Machine and low-level languages describe the hardware’s own operations instead.

Answer: C

Correct answer: Programs

A compiler and an interpreter are themselves programs - software written to read another program as input and either translate it into machine code or execute it directly. They are not hardware, not codes, and not mnemonics; the mnemonics belong to the assembly language they may be asked to process.

Answer: D

Correct answer: A program which translates source program into object program

A compiler is a program: it reads the whole source program, checks it against the grammar of the language, and produces an object program in machine code that can then be linked and run. The person who writes the source is the programmer.

Answer: B

Correct answer: Light pen

A light pen is held against the screen and its photocell detects the instant the scanning beam passes beneath it; from the timing the system works out which point was touched. It was the standard way of pointing at a spot on a display before the mouse became common.

Answer: A

Correct answer: Algorithmic language

An algorithmic language - pseudocode or a formal notation such as ALGOL - states an algorithm precisely without tying it to any machine, so the logic can be set out and checked before it is coded. Assembly and machine languages describe a particular processor’s operations instead.

Answer: C

Correct answer: Packing

Packing compresses data for storage by removing the waste in its representation - putting two decimal digits in one byte, dropping leading zeros and blanks, or coding repeated values once. A buffer merely holds data in transit and a field is one item within a record.

Answer: D

Correct answer: CP/M

CP/M - Control Program for Microcomputers, written by Gary Kildall in 1974 - was the first widely used operating system for 8-bit microprocessor machines, single-user and single-tasking. MS-DOS and PC-DOS came later for the IBM PC, and Unix is a multi-user system.