Fundamentals Questions and Answers

Answer: A

The code has a syntax error.

int x lacks the semicolon that ends a declaration, and x = (1 + 2; has an opening parenthesis with no closing one. Both break the grammar of C, so the compiler's parser rejects the program before it is ever linked or run.

A semantic error is grammatically valid code with a wrong meaning, such as a type mismatch. A linking error arises when a referenced function or variable cannot be found. A runtime error occurs while a compiled program runs. None can happen here because the code does not compile.

Answer: B

C programs are converted into machine language by a compiler.

A compiler translates the whole C source program into machine code (an object file), which the linker combines with library code into an executable.

An editor is only used to write and change the source text, and the operating system loads and runs the finished program; neither translates it. Since a compiler does, 'None of the above' is wrong.

Answer: C

Single-line comments in C use //.

Everything after // up to the end of the line is ignored by the compiler. This style, borrowed from C++, became part of standard C in C99.

/* ... */ marks a multi-line (block) comment, which needs both an opening and a closing mark. # begins a preprocessor directive such as #include, and a single / is the division operator.

Answer: D

C is called a middle level language (option D) because it combines the features of a high level language, such as functions and structured control, with low level features, such as pointers, bit operations and direct access to memory addresses.

It is not purely high level (A), since it gives machine-near control that languages like Java hide. It is not a low level language (B), since it is independent of machine instructions, and it is not machine language (C), which is binary code.

Answer: B

The maximum signed integer in two bytes is \(2^{15} - 1\).

Two bytes are 16 bits. In two's complement the top bit is the sign, which leaves 15 bits for the value:

\[ \text{max} = 2^{15} - 1 = 32767 \]

\(2^{16} - 1\) is 65535, the largest unsigned value in two bytes. \(2^{16}\) and \(2^{15}\) are one more than the largest unsigned and signed values, so no 16-bit integer can reach them.

Answer: D

Correct answer: All of above

A disk address must identify the sector uniquely, and that takes all three coordinates: which surface (which platter and which side of it), which track on that surface, and which sector along the track. This is the classic cylinder-head-sector scheme.

Answer: D

Correct answer: All of the above

The ALU’s decision-making reduces to three comparisons: greater than, less than and equal to. Every conditional branch in every program is built from them, and the more elaborate tests are combinations - “not less than” being “greater than or equal to”.

Answer: C

Correct answer: Formatting

Formatting changes how a document looks - fonts, sizes, margins, alignment, spacing - without changing what it says. Editing changes the content itself. The distinction is what makes a style sheet possible: alter the appearance of a whole document without touching a word of it.

Answer: D

Correct answer: All of the above

Direct entry means data enters the machine without being keyed. An optical scanner, a light pen, and a mouse or digitiser all qualify: each converts a physical action or image straight into machine-readable form. A keyboard, by contrast, is a keying device.

Answer: B

Correct answer: Digital plotter

A CAD drawing is made of lines, and a plotter draws them as lines - continuously, at large size and with high precision - rather than approximating them with a grid of dots. That is why plotters remained standard for engineering and architectural output long after dot-matrix and line printers had been displaced elsewhere.