Software and Hardware

Question 1

What is hardware, give some examples.

Answer 1

Hardware is the physical components that make up a computer system

Question 2

What is software, give some examples.

Answer 2

Software is the programs or coded instructions that make a computer function

Question 3

What are the 2 different types of software

Answer 3

System and Application software

Question 4

What is System Software needed for?

Answer 4

System Software is needed to run the computer’s hardware / Application software

Question 5

What is Application Software needed for

Answer 5

Application Software is needed to help carry out user-related tasks.

Question 6

What are the types of System Software?

Answer 6

Operating System
Libraries
Utility Programs
Programming Language translators

Question 7

What are the types of Application Software?

Answer 7

General Purpose
Specialised Applications
Bespoke Applications

Question 8

What are Library programs and what are they used for?

Answer 8

• Library programs are pre-written software that is stored in a compiled format.
• They are used to assist programmers in interacting with peripherals such as printers

Question 9

What are advantages of using Library programs?

Answer 9

• Programmers don’t have to rewrite huge bits of code.

- Library programs are often reliable and efficient pieces of code as they have been designed to be used widely

Question 10

What are Utility programs?

Answer 10

Programs designed to help maintain/optimise the performance of a computer

Question 11

What are examples of Utility programs?

Answer 11

Disk defragmentation
File compression 
Firewall
File backup software
Antivirus software
Encryption of data before transmission

Question 12

What does a disk defragmenter do?

Why is this helpful?

Answer 12

• It recognises the hard disk so that parts of the same file stored in different places are recombined.
• It makes reading a file quicker

Question 13

Give an example of a General Purpose, Special purpose

Answer 13

• word processor, spreadsheet

- payroll system

Question 14

Advantages of special purpose over bespoke software?

Answer 14

• It will be cheaper
• It will be ready to be installed immediately
• It is likely to be well-documented, well tested and debugged

Question 15

What is an operating system?

Answer 15

• A set of programs that manages the operations of the computer
• It lies between application software and the computer hardware

Question 16

Where is the operating system held?

Answer 16

• In permanent storage (like a hard disk)

- When a computer is turned on, the OS is copied from storage into RAM

Question 17

What are the roles of the Operating System?

Answer 17

• It hides complexities of the Hardware from the user by creating a user interface
• It handles interrupts
  It manages
• Memory
• Processor Scheduling
• Secondary Storage
• Input/Output devices

Question 18

How is memory managed by the OS?

Answer 18

• OS controls the allocation and management of space

- It can also copy data to the hard disk if virtual memory is needed

Question 19

What is virtual memory and when is it used?

Answer 19

• Virtual memory is when the hard disk is used as an extension of memory
• It’s used when RAM isn’t large enough to store all of the programs the user is running simultaneously

Question 20

How is processor scheduling managed by the OS?

Answer 20

-The OS is allocates processor time to multiple applications running at the same time

Question 21

What are the objectives for the scheduler?

Answer 21

• Maximise throughput
• Be fair to all users on a system
• Provide acceptable response time to all users
• Ensure hardware is kept as busy as possible

Question 22

How is backing store managed by the OS?

Answer 22

The OS keeps a directory of where files are stored so they can be quickly accessed

Question 23

How are peripherals managed by the OS?

Answer 23

• The OS communicates with the peripherals to check they are switched on and the correct peripheral to send the data to
• They also ensure peripherals are allocated to processes without causing conflicts.

Question 24

How are interrputs managed by the OS?

Answer 24

• The OS detects the interrupt signal and displays an error message to the user if appropriate