TSA Coding General Study Guide

What is hardware?

the physical components of a computer system.

What is a motherboard?

the main printed circuit board that connects all components of a computer.

What is the central processing unit (CPU)?

the primary component of a computer that performs most of the processing inside the machine.

What are the two major CPU manufacturers for PCs?

Intel and AMD

What is mass storage?

devices that store large amounts of data permanently.

What is a Hard Disk Drive (HDD)?

a type of mass storage device that uses spinning disks to read and write data.

What is a Solid State Drive (SSD)?

a type of mass storage device that uses flash memory to store data, providing faster performance.

Which is generally faster: HDD or SSD?

SSD is generally faster than HDD.

Which is less prone to failure: HDD or SSD? Why?

SSD is less prone to failure because it has no moving parts.

What is random access memory (RAM)?

a type of volatile memory that temporarily stores data for quick access by the CPU.

When is RAM used?

when the computer is running applications and processing data.

How is RAM different from mass storage? Why?

RAM is temporary and volatile, while mass storage is permanent and non-volatile.

When should mass storage be used over RAM?

Mass storage should be used for long-term data retention.

What is cache in the context of computing?

a small amount of fast storage that holds frequently accessed data for quick retrieval.

What is a graphical processing unit (GPU)?

a specialized processor designed to accelerate graphics rendering.

_________ is a type of volatile memory that temporarily stores data for quick access by the CPU.

Random access memory (RAM)

_________ is a type of software that is permanently programmed into hardware devices.

Firmware

_________ is a type of software that is permanently programmed into hardware devices.

Firmware

What is Universal Serial Bus (USB)?

a standard for connecting peripherals to a computer.

What is a Secure Digital (SD) card?

a portable storage device used in cameras, smartphones, and other devices.

What is Video Graphics Array (VGA), Digital Visual Interface (DVI), and High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) for?

standards for transmitting video and audio signals from a computer to a display.

What are routers?

devices that forward data packets between computer networks.

What are modems?

devices that modulate and demodulate signals for internet access.

What is an encoding?

the process of converting data into a specific format for efficient transmission or storage.

What is binary?

a base-2 numeral system that uses two symbols, typically 0 and 1.

What is decimal?

a base-10 numeral system that uses ten symbols, from 0 to 9.

What is octal?

a base-8 numeral system that uses eight symbols, from 0 to 7.

What is hexadecimal?

a base-16 numeral system that uses sixteen symbols, from 0 to 9 and A to F.

What is base-64?

an encoding scheme that converts binary data into ASCII string format.

What is the American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII)?

a character encoding standard that represents text in computers using numerical codes.

What is Unicode Transformation Format 8 (UTF-8)?

a variable-width character encoding that can represent every character in the Unicode character set.

What is the difference between encodings and encryption?

Encodings convert data into a different format, while encryption secures data by encoding it to prevent unauthorized access.

What is a bit?

the smallest unit of data in computing, representing a binary value of either 0 or 1.

What is a byte?

a group of 8 bits and is the standard unit of data storage.

What is a hertz?

a unit of frequency that measures cycles per second.

What are metric prefixes (kilo, mega, giga, tera, peta)?

units that denote multiples of 10, such as kilo (10^3) and mega (10^6).

What are binary prefixes (kibi, mebi, gibi, tebi, pebi)?

Binary prefixes denote multiples of 1024, with kibi (2^10) and mebi (2^20) being examples.

What is the difference between metric and binary prefixes?

Metric prefixes are based on powers of 10, while binary prefixes are based on powers of 2.

Why don’t we really use binary prefixes?

They can cause confusion as they differ from the traditional decimal-based system commonly used.

You buy a thumb drive with 64 gigabytes. However, when you check the properties, the numbers are off. Why is this?

The discrepancy is due to the difference between decimal and binary representations of data.

What is firmware?

a type of software that is permanently programmed into hardware devices.

What is system setup?

the process of configuring hardware settings in the BIOS/UEFI.

What is BIOS/UEFI?

firmware interfaces for booting the operating system and managing hardware.

What is a compiler?

It translates source code written in a programming language into machine code.

What is an assembler?

It converts assembly language code into machine code.

What is an interpreter (in computing)?

it executes code line by line during runtime, without compiling it first.

What is assembly?

a low-level programming language that closely corresponds to machine code.

What is a runtime environment?

the environment in which a program is executed.

What is bytecode?

an intermediate code between source code and machine code, typically run by a virtual machine.

What is machine code?

the lowest-level programming language, consisting of binary instructions.

What does it mean for a project to be open source?

the source code is freely available for anyone to use, modify, and distribute.

What is a proprietary program?

software that is owned by an individual or company and restricts access to its source code.

What is a high-level language?

programming languages that are more abstract and easier for humans to read and write.

What is a low-level language?

programming languages that are closer to machine code and harder for humans to understand.

What is the difference between high-level and low-level code?

High-level code is more abstract and easier for humans to read and write, while low-level code is closer to machine language and offers more control over hardware.

What does it mean for a programming language to be object-oriented?

it means to focuses on objects that contain both data and methods.

What is a programming language?

a formal set of instructions to communicate with a computer.

What is an integer (int)?

a whole number without a fractional component.

What is a string (str)?

a sequence of characters used to represent text.

What is a character (chr)?

a single textual symbol representing a letter, number, or punctuation mark.

What is a floating-point (float) number?

a number that has a decimal point and can represent fractions.

What is a boolean (bool) value?

a data type that can only be true or false.

Why are there different variable types?

Different variable types allow for efficient storage and processing of diverse data.

What is type casting?

converting a variable from one data type to another.

What is a list?

a collection of ordered elements that can contain duplicate values.

What is an array?

a collection of elements, typically of the same data type, stored in contiguous memory.

What is a set?

an unordered collection of unique elements.

What is a dictionary (map)?

a collection of key-value pairs.

What are if statements?

conditional statements that execute code based on whether a condition is true.

What are other statements?

they include loops and functions that provide structured control flow.

What are logic gates?

the basic building blocks of digital circuits that perform logical operations.

What does the OR logic gate do?

it outputs true if at least one input is true.

What does the AND logic gate do?

it outputs true only if all inputs are true.

What does the NOT logic gate do?

it outputs the opposite value of its input.

What does the XOR logic gate do?

it outputs true only if exactly one input is true.

What is a for loop?

a control flow statement for repeating a set of instructions a specified number of times.

What is a while loop?

it repeats a set of instructions as long as a specified condition is true.

What is a function?

a block of code that performs a specific task and can be reused.

What is an object?

an instance of a class that contains data and methods to manipulate that data.

What is a method?

a function that is associated with an object.

What is a class?

a blueprint for creating objects, defining their properties and behaviors.

What is a bug?

an error or flaw in a program that causes it to behave unexpectedly.

What is debugging?

the process of identifying and fixing bugs in a program.

What is code?

a set of instructions written in a programming language that a computer can execute.

What is an algorithm?

a step-by-step procedure for solving a specific problem or performing a task.

What is a program?

a complete set of instructions that a computer follows to perform a specific task.

What is data?

information that can be processed by a computer.

What is input and output?

data sent to a computer for processing, while output is the result produced by the computer.

What is the internet?

a global network of interconnected computers that communicate using standardized protocols.

What is a packet?

a formatted unit of data sent over a network.

What is Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)?

a set of communication protocols used for transmitting data over the internet.

What is User Datagram Protocol / Internet Protocol (UDP/IP)?

a communication protocol used for sending messages without establishing a connection.

How is TCP and UDP different? When may you want to use one over another?

TCP is connection-oriented and reliable, while UDP is connectionless and faster; use TCP for reliable communication and UDP for speed.

What is an IP address?

a unique numerical label assigned to each device connected to a network.

What is the World Wide Web?

a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the internet.

What is a web browser?

software used to access and display content on the World Wide Web.

What is a domain name?

a human-readable address used to access a website.

What is the Domain Name System (DNS)?

a system that translates domain names into IP addresses.

What is a Universal Resource Locator (URL)?

the specific address used to access a resource on the internet.

What is Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)?

a protocol used for transmitting hypertext requests and information on the internet.