CPP Study Guide 2026

Thread starvation happens when a thread never gets scheduled because other threads or high-priority tasks continuously consume CPU time.

3NF requires the table to be in 2NF and that no non-key attribute depends transitively on the primary key (i.e., no non-key → non-key dependencies).

Concurrency is a design concern about structuring a program to handle multiple tasks; parallelism is physical simultaneous execution on multiple cores.

A Binary Tree is a non-linear data structure where each node has at most two children, typically referred to as the left child and the right child. Unlike linear structures like arrays, linked lists, and stacks, which arrange data sequentially, a binary tree organizes data hierarchically in a branching fashion.

A debugger is a specialized software tool specifically designed to assist programmers in the process of finding and fixing errors in their code. It provides functionalities like setting breakpoints, stepping through code execution line by line, inspecting variable values, and examining the call stack. These features make it an indispensable tool for diagnosing and resolving software defects.

In debugging, a breakpoint is a deliberate stopping point or pause inserted into the code by the developer. When the program's execution reaches a breakpoint, it temporarily halts, allowing the programmer to inspect the program's state, including variable values, memory contents, and the call stack, at that precise moment. This pause is crucial for understanding program flow and identifying the source of errors.