FREE Epic Skills Assessment: Software Development Questions and Answers
Computer memory must be managed at the system level. Depending on the type of computer being evaluated, the memory capacity can vary greatly. For instance, a processor chip in a commercial card, like a chip-and-pin credit card, will have a very small amount of memory to store encrypted data. Petabytes of memory will need to be managed by a supercomputer (1 million GB).
Explanation:
Managing computer memory effectively involves optimizing the allocation and use of available memory resources, monitoring for memory leaks and other issues that can degrade system performance, and ensuring that memory-intensive applications have access to the resources they need to run efficiently.
This school's computers are part of a network. Networked operating systems are common in businesses. An operating system that can handle the network is required on each of these machines.
Explanation:
In a networked computing environment, multiple computers are connected together and can communicate with each other to share resources and data. To enable this communication, all the computers in the network need to be running an operating system that is designed to work with the network.
This is present in systems intended to use a computer to direct a number of operations. The engine and exhaust system in an automobile is under the microsecond control of the engine management computer. It requires processing a number of inputs that are constantly changing in order to produce an output. Fast only sometimes equates to real-time. For instance, a real-time operating system on a traffic signal computer can respond in just a few seconds. On the other hand, a car's braking system would have to react in milliseconds.
Explanation:
Real-time computing can be achieved through the use of specialized hardware and software designed to process data quickly and efficiently, as well as through careful system design and optimization. In some cases, real-time computing may also require the use of specialized operating systems or programming languages that are specifically designed for real-time applications.
An unfavorable situation known as a "stack overflow" occurs when a specific computer program tries to consume more memory than the call stack can hold. The call stack is a buffer used in programming that contains requests that must be addressed.
Explanation:
A stack overflow occurs when a program attempts to push too many items onto the call stack, causing the stack to exceed its predetermined limit. This can happen when a function calls itself repeatedly (known as recursion) without an exit condition, or when a program tries to allocate too much memory on the stack for variables or data structures.
Its initials, BIOS, denote the Basic Input/output System. The processor's program points to the BIOS memory when a computer is first turned on since the BIOS is responsible for getting it up and running. The BIOS will typically first check that the processor is operating, that the memory is installed and accessible, and that the machine is operational. It then uses a bootloader program to put the operating system's kernel into memory. This is known as the power-on self-test. Typically, flash memory is used to store the BIOS to be updated. Additionally, this enables the alteration and future storage of settings like the disk boot order.
Explanation:
BIOS stands for Basic Input/output System, and it is a firmware that is built into the motherboard of a computer system. When a computer is first turned on, the BIOS is responsible for initializing the system hardware and providing the necessary interfaces to allow the operating system to boot and run.
A device driver will be present for each piece of hardware, enabling the operating system to interact with and control it. There may be hundreds of drivers pre-installed with the operating system, and when the computer boots up, the appropriate drivers are loaded. Device drivers are stored in files known as the "registry" in Windows. They are referred to as "configuration files" in Linux. Different operating systems will require different device drivers for devices like printers, scanners, tablets, cameras, etc.
Explanation:
A device driver is a software component that enables the operating system to communicate with and control a specific hardware device, such as a printer, scanner, or graphics card. Without the appropriate device driver, the operating system would not be able to use the device or take advantage of its features.
In response to your keystrokes and other inputs, this portion of the operating system controls what you see on the screen. The user interface may be as simple as a server's command line or a fully featured graphical user interface.
Explanation:
The user interface (UI) is part of the operating system that allows users to interact with the computer system. It includes everything that is displayed on the screen, such as windows, icons, menus, buttons, and other graphical elements, as well as the methods used to interact with them, such as mouse clicks, touch inputs, and keystrokes.