Definition of software and hardware ( 1 mark)
- Hardware is physical component of the computer
- Software is computer programs
Definition of application & system software (1 mark)
- Application software provides services for the users
- System software provides services for computers
Examples of application software (3 marks)
- Video games
- Word processor
- Spreadsheet
Name 2 type of system software ( 2 marks)
Operating system & Utility system
Examples of utility software (3 marks)
- Anti-malware
- Defragmentation
- firewall
Definition of utility software and operating system ( 1 marK0
Utility software allows computer to run smoothly
Operating system provides an user interface for user to interact
Name properties of each of the following user interfaces? (4 marks)
GUI
Menu-driven
Command line
Natural language
Graphical User Interface uses WIMP ( Windows, Icons, Menus and pointer)
Menu-drive: only one option is selected at the same time
Command line: text-based and for programmers
Natural language: Spoken with human language
Define multitasking (1 mark)
- It’s the action of dividing processing unit and memory for all the programs to keep it running in the background.
- The main program will have the most processing unit
Describe how an interrupt work? (5 marks)
- The interrupt is stored at the interrupt handler (IR)
- It will be given priority and sit in a queue
- If it has higher priority than the current FDE cycle, the current FDE cycle will stop to allow the interrupt to be dealt with first.
- The interrupt service routine (ISR) has all the necessary information to deal with an interrupt
- After being done, it will go back to the current FDE cycle or load in another interrupt.
Examples of hardware & software interrupts (4 marks)
Software: division by 0, program is not responding,printer runs out paper
Hardware: Keyboard buttons pressed, mouse button pressed,D
Define defragmentation (2 marks)
- As data is stored onto the memory, it will be scattered around because the data has different amount of memory.
- Defragmentation will help to re-organize into a continuous stream for easier access by the read-write arm
Describe the BIOS system (3 marks)
Application system runs on operating system
Operating system runs on firmware
The firmware will load in bootstrap loader to boot up the system
Application -> Operating -> Firmware
Identify 3 types of languages (3 marks)
- High-level
- Low-level
- Machine code
Define the purposes of each languages (3 marks)
Machine code: Binary representation
Low level (assembly language): use mnemonics , occupies less memory and executes faster
High level (python) : Use English language so it’s easier to understand. but it can’t directly manipulate the hardware
Difference between interpreter and compiler and assembler (7 marks)
Assembler: Convert low-level language to machine code
Compiler:
+ convert high-level language to machine code
+ produces an executable file so it won’t need to go through re-translation ==> takes less time
+ Errors are given after the translation ==> longer for debug
Interpreter:
+ convert high-level language to machine code
+ Translate line by line
+ If an error occured, it will stop at that line until being solved
Define IDE (2 marks)
- Integrated development environment
- This aids for progmrammers to write computer programs
Features of IDE (4 marks)
- Auto-completion
- Auto-correction
- Error diagnosis
- Run-time environment
