CCpE - Certified Computer Engineer (B CompE Bachelor of Computer Engineering) — Questions and Answers

Question 1: What does the term 'NP-complete' mean?

A problem that is both in NP and is NP-hard (every NP problem reduces to it) (Correct answer)
A problem solvable in polynomial time on a quantum computer
A problem that cannot be solved by any algorithm
A problem with no known approximation algorithm

Correct answer: A problem that is both in NP and is NP-hard (every NP problem reduces to it)

An NP-complete problem is in NP (solutions verifiable in polynomial time) and is NP-hard (every NP problem can be polynomially reduced to it), making it among the hardest problems in NP.

Question 2: What does CSMA/CD stand for in Ethernet networks?

Channel Sense Multiple Access with Collision Delay
Carrier Sense Media Access with Collision Delay
Channel Synchronization Multiple Access with Collision Detection
Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection

CSMA/CD is the MAC protocol used in traditional Ethernet to handle collisions by detecting and backing off when two devices transmit simultaneously.

Question 3: Which of the following errors will the operating system deal with?

lack of paper in printer
All of the above (Correct answer)
power failure
connection failure in the network

Correct answer: All of the above

An operating system is responsible for handling a wide range of errors to maintain system stability and provide a robust computing environment. This includes managing hardware-related issues like power failures and printer problems, as well as network connection failures. By detecting and responding to these errors, the OS ensures that the system can recover or inform the user appropriately.

Question 4: What is the main advantage of a skip list over a balanced BST?

Simpler concurrent implementation (Correct answer)
No need for comparison operations
Better worst-case time complexity
Lower memory usage

Correct answer: Simpler concurrent implementation

Skip lists are easier to implement in concurrent settings because they don't require complex rebalancing operations.

Question 5: What is the time complexity of building a heap from an unsorted array of n elements using the heapify approach?

O(log n)
O(n²)
O(n) (Correct answer)
O(n log n)

Correct answer: O(n)

Bottom-up heap construction using heapify runs in O(n) due to the mathematical sum of subtree heights.

Question 6: The ____ technique is used by the VLIW architecture to create parallelism.

SISD
MISD
MIMD (Correct answer)
SIMD

Correct answer: MIMD

VLIW (Very Long Instruction Word) architecture achieves parallelism by packing multiple independent operations into a single, very long instruction. This allows multiple functional units to execute these operations simultaneously. This approach aligns with the MIMD (Multiple Instruction, Multiple Data) paradigm, where different instructions operate on different data streams concurrently.

Question 7: How many words can an 8-bit CPU process?

8-bits – 16 bits
8-bits – 32 bits
4-bits – 32 bits
8-bits – 64 bits (Correct answer)

Correct answer: 8-bits – 64 bits

An 8-bit CPU's native word size is 8 bits, meaning it processes data in 8-bit chunks. However, through multiple instruction cycles and software techniques, it can manipulate and process larger data types, such as 16-bit, 32-bit, or even 64-bit 'words' by breaking them down into 8-bit operations. Therefore, while its fundamental unit is 8 bits, it can effectively handle data up to 64 bits in size.

Question 8: What is the Boolean expression produced by applying De Morgan's theorem to NOT(A AND B)?

NOT A OR NOT B (Correct answer)
A AND B
A OR B
NOT A AND NOT B

Correct answer: NOT A OR NOT B

De Morgan's theorem states that NOT(A AND B) = NOT A OR NOT B, allowing AND/OR gates to be swapped with complemented inputs.

Question 9: Which layer does a standard switch primarily operate on in the OSI model?

Layer 1 - Physical
Layer 2 - Data Link (Correct answer)
Layer 4 - Transport
Layer 3 - Network

Correct answer: Layer 2 - Data Link

A standard switch operates at Layer 2 (Data Link), forwarding frames based on MAC addresses.

Question 10: It is known as ________ in a stack when a user attempts to remove an element from an empty stack.

Empty collection
Underflow (Correct answer)
Garbage Collection
Overflow

Correct answer: Underflow

Attempting to remove an element from an empty stack is known as an 'underflow' condition. This is an error state because there are no elements available to be popped. Proper stack implementations typically check if the stack is empty before performing a pop operation to prevent underflow.

Question 11: Which type of programmable logic device uses a fixed AND array and programmable OR array?

PLA (Programmable Logic Array)
PAL (Programmable Array Logic) (Correct answer)
FPGA
CPLD

Correct answer: PAL (Programmable Array Logic)

A PAL (Programmable Array Logic) has a programmable AND array feeding a fixed OR array, offering simpler and faster implementation than a PLA.

Question 12: What is the time complexity of finding the lowest common ancestor (LCA) of two nodes in a Binary Search Tree?

O(n)
O(n log n)
O(log n) for balanced, O(n) worst case (Correct answer)
O(1)

Correct answer: O(log n) for balanced, O(n) worst case

In a balanced BST, LCA is found in O(log n) by comparing node values; in the worst case (skewed tree) it's O(n).

Question 13: What is the maximum transmission unit (MTU) for standard Ethernet?

9000 bytes
1024 bytes
1500 bytes (Correct answer)
512 bytes

Correct answer: 1500 bytes

Standard Ethernet has an MTU of 1500 bytes, meaning frames carrying more data must be fragmented.

Question 14: Which routing protocol uses the Bellman-Ford algorithm?

RIP (Correct answer)
EIGRP
BGP
OSPF

Correct answer: RIP

RIP (Routing Information Protocol) uses the Bellman-Ford algorithm to calculate the shortest path based on hop count.

Question 15: Which protocol is responsible for converting domain names to IP addresses?

DHCP
ICMP
DNS (Correct answer)
ARP

Correct answer: DNS

DNS (Domain Name System) translates human-readable domain names into their corresponding IP addresses.

Question 16: What port number does HTTPS use by default?

80
8080
21
443 (Correct answer)

Correct answer: 443

HTTPS (HTTP Secure) uses port 443 by default to provide encrypted web communication via TLS/SSL.

Question 17: What is the purpose of a NAT (Network Address Translation) device?

Assign MAC addresses to devices
Encrypt data between networks
Translate private IP addresses to public IP addresses (Correct answer)
Filter traffic by application type

Correct answer: Translate private IP addresses to public IP addresses

NAT translates private (internal) IP addresses to a public IP address, allowing multiple devices to share a single public IP.

Question 18: Convolution of two signals in the time domain corresponds to which operation in the frequency domain?

Multiplication (Correct answer)
Addition
Integration
Differentiation

Correct answer: Multiplication

The Convolution Theorem states that convolution in the time domain equals pointwise multiplication in the frequency domain, simplifying computation.

Question 19: In Python, how is multiple inheritance resolved when two parent classes define the same method?

Python requires explicit disambiguation via super()
The method from the last listed parent class is always used
A runtime TypeError is raised
Python uses the Method Resolution Order (MRO) following the C3 linearization algorithm (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Python uses the Method Resolution Order (MRO) following the C3 linearization algorithm

Python's MRO (viewable via ClassName.__mro__) uses C3 linearization to determine a consistent method lookup order across multiple base classes.

Question 20: Which sorting algorithm has the best worst-case time complexity?

Merge Sort (Correct answer)
Bubble Sort
Insertion Sort
Quick Sort

Correct answer: Merge Sort

Merge Sort guarantees O(n log n) in the worst case by always dividing the array in half and merging sorted halves, unlike Quick Sort which degrades to O(n²).

Question 21: What is the key property of a greedy algorithm?

It explores all possible solutions before choosing the best one
It divides the problem into equal halves recursively
It uses randomness to find near-optimal solutions
It makes the locally optimal choice at each step without reconsidering past decisions (Correct answer)

Correct answer: It makes the locally optimal choice at each step without reconsidering past decisions

A greedy algorithm makes the best choice available at each step and never revisits or undoes those choices, hoping the locally optimal selections lead to a global optimum.

Question 22: In IEEE 754 single-precision floating point, how many bits are allocated to the exponent field?

16
8 (Correct answer)
23
1

Correct answer: 8

IEEE 754 single-precision uses 1 sign bit, 8 exponent bits with a bias of 127, and 23 mantissa bits for a total of 32 bits.

Question 23: Who is the C language's father?

Rasmus Lerdorf
Steve Jobs
Dennis Ritchie (Correct answer)
James Gosling

Correct answer: Dennis Ritchie

Dennis Ritchie is widely recognized as the creator of the C programming language. He developed C at Bell Labs between 1969 and 1973, primarily for use with the Unix operating system. His work profoundly influenced the development of subsequent programming languages and operating systems.

Question 24: What is the purpose of a software requirements specification (SRS) document?

Document post-deployment maintenance procedures
Describe the physical architecture of the system
Define the project schedule and budget
Provide a detailed description of the software's functions, performance, and constraints (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Provide a detailed description of the software's functions, performance, and constraints

An SRS document formally describes what a software system should do, serving as a contract between stakeholders and developers.

Question 25: We frequently use ____ to decrease memory access time.

Cache’s (Correct answer)
SDRAM’s
Higher capacity RAM’s
Heaps

Correct answer: Cache’s

Caches are small, high-speed memory units located closer to the CPU than main memory (RAM). They store frequently accessed data and instructions, allowing the processor to retrieve them much faster than from main memory. By reducing the average memory access time, caches significantly improve the overall performance and speed of a computer system.

Question 26: In order to decrease the Costs, both the CISC and RISC architectures have been developed.

Time delay
All of the above
Cost
Semantic gap (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Semantic gap

Both CISC and RISC architectures were developed, in part, to address the 'semantic gap.' This gap refers to the difference between the high-level operations expressed in programming languages and the low-level operations directly executable by hardware. CISC aimed to bridge this by providing complex instructions, while RISC focused on optimizing simpler instructions for better compiler efficiency.

Question 27: Which normal form eliminates partial dependencies on a composite primary key?

Second Normal Form (2NF) (Correct answer)
Boyce-Codd Normal Form (BCNF)
Third Normal Form (3NF)
First Normal Form (1NF)

Correct answer: Second Normal Form (2NF)

2NF removes partial dependencies by ensuring every non-key attribute is fully functionally dependent on the entire primary key.

Question 28: What is the primary purpose of a Translation Lookaside Buffer (TLB)?

Accelerate floating-point operations
Store recently used data pages
Buffer disk I/O requests
Cache recent virtual-to-physical address translations (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Cache recent virtual-to-physical address translations

A TLB caches page table entries so the CPU can translate virtual addresses without accessing main memory on every reference.

CCpE - Certified Computer Engineer (B CompE Bachelor of Computer Engineering)

The Certified Computer Engineer (CCpE) certification by the Computer Engineering Certification Board of the Philippines (CpECB) validates knowledge in core computer engineering disciplines including digital logic, algorithms, computer networks, and software engineering for BSCpE graduates.

Questions

35 min

Time Limit

70%

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