TSA Coding General Study Guide (copy)

What is hardware?

The physical components of a computer system.

What is a motherboard?

The main circuit board that connects all components of a computer.

What is the central processing unit (CPU)?

The primary component that executes instructions and processes data.

What are the two major CPU manufacturers for PCs?

Intel and AMD.

What is mass storage?

Devices that store large amounts of data.

What is a Hard Disk Drive (HDD)?

A traditional storage device that uses spinning disks to read/write data.

What is a Solid State Drive (SSD)?

A storage device that uses flash memory for faster data access.

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 the CPU.

When is RAM used?

When the CPU needs to access data quickly during processing.

How is RAM different from mass storage? Why?

RAM is temporary and faster than mass storage, which is permanent.

When should mass storage be used over RAM?

When large amounts of data need to be stored permanently.

What is cache in the context of computing?

A small, fast type of volatile memory that provides high-speed data access to the CPU.

What is a graphical processing unit (GPU)?

A specialized processor designed to accelerate graphics rendering.

Where does the GPU typically reside?

On the motherboard or as a dedicated graphics card.

What is a clock in the context of computing?

A timing device that synchronizes the operations of the CPU.

What is the power supply unit (PSU)?

The component that supplies power to the computer.

What is Universal Serial Bus (USB)? When would you use it?

A standard for connecting devices; used for data transfer and power.

What is a Secure Digital (SD) card? When would you use it?

A memory card used for storing data in portable devices.

What is VGA, DVI, and HDMI for?

Standards for sending video signals from a source 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.

What is binary?

A base-2 numeral system that uses two symbols: 0 and 1.

What is decimal?

A base-10 numeral system that uses ten symbols: 0-9.

What is octal?

A base-8 numeral system that uses eight symbols: 0-7.

What is hexadecimal?

A base-16 numeral system that uses sixteen symbols: 0-9 and A-F.

What is base-64?

An encoding scheme that converts binary data into ASCII text.

What is ASCII?

A character encoding standard for electronic communication.

What is UTF-8?

A variable-width character encoding for Unicode.

What is the difference between encodings and encryption?

Encodings are transformations for data representation; encryption is for data security.

What is a bit?

The smallest unit of data in computing, representing a binary value.

What is a byte?

A group of 8 bits, commonly used to represent a character.

What is a hertz?

A unit of frequency equal to one cycle per second.

What are metric prefixes?

Prefixes that denote powers of ten (e.g., kilo, mega, giga).

What are binary prefixes?

Prefixes that denote powers of two (e.g., kibi, mebi, gibi).

What is the difference between metric and binary prefixes?

Metric prefixes are based on powers of ten; binary prefixes are based on powers of two.

Why don’t we really use binary prefixes?

Because metric prefixes are more widely recognized in everyday usage.

Why are the numbers off when checking a thumb drive's capacity?

Because manufacturers use decimal system to calculate capacity, while computers use binary.

What is firmware?

Software that is permanently programmed into hardware.

What is system setup?

The configuration interface for hardware settings.

What is BIOS/UEFI?

Firmware interfaces for computing devices to boot up.

What is a compiler?

A program that converts high-level code into machine code.

What is an assembler?

A tool that converts assembly language into machine code.

What is an interpreter in computing?

A program that executes code line by line.

What is assembly?

A low-level programming language closely related to machine code.

What is a runtime environment?

A collection of programs that allow code to run in its intended environment.

What is bytecode?

An intermediate code that is executed by a virtual machine.

What is machine code?

The lowest-level representation of a compiled program.

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

The source code is freely available for use and modification.

What are some examples of open source projects?

Linux, Apache, and Mozilla Firefox.

What is a proprietary program?

Software owned by an individual or company, with restrictions on use.

What is a high-level language?

A programming language that is more abstract and closer to human language. Examples include Python and Java.

What is a low-level language?

A programming language that is closely related to machine code. Examples include Assembly.

How are high-level and low-level programming languages different?

High-level languages are easier to use; low-level languages provide more control over hardware.

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

It supports the concept of objects that contain data and methods. Examples include Java and C++.

What is a programming language?

A set of instructions that can be used to produce various kinds of output.

What is Java?

A high-level programming language commonly used for web and application development.

What is C?

A general-purpose programming language often used for system programming.

What is C#?

A programming language developed by Microsoft for .NET framework applications.

What is C++?

An extension of C that includes object-oriented features.

What is Python?

A high-level programming language known for its readability and versatility.

What is JavaScript?

A scripting language commonly used for web development.

What is an integer (int)?

A data type that represents whole numbers.

What is a string (str)?

A sequence of characters used to represent text.

What is a character (chr)?

A data type that represents a single character.

What is a floating-point (float) number?

A data type that represents decimal numbers.

What is a boolean (bool) value?

A data type that represents true/false values.

Why are there different variable types?

To efficiently represent and manipulate different kinds of data.

What is type casting?

The conversion of one data type to another.

What is a list?

An ordered collection of items that can be of different types.

What is an array?

A data structure that contains a fixed number of elements of the same type.

What is a set?

An unordered collection of unique items.

What is a dictionary (map)?

A collection of key-value pairs for data storage.

What are if statements?

Conditional statements that execute code based on a boolean expression.

What are other statements?

Additional control structures like for loops and while loops.

What are logic gates?

Basic building blocks of digital circuits that operate on one or more binary inputs.

What does the OR logic gate do?

Outputs true if at least one input is true.

What does the AND logic gate do?

Outputs true only if all inputs are true.

What does the NOT logic gate do?

Outputs the opposite of the input value.

What does the XOR logic gate do?

Outputs true if exactly one input is true.

What is a for loop?

A control structure that repeats a block of code a specified number of times.

What is a while loop?

A control structure that repeats a block of code as long as a condition is true.

What is a function?

A reusable block of code that performs a specific task.

What is an object?

An instance of a class that encapsulates data and behavior.

What is a method?

A function associated with an object.

What is a class?

A blueprint for creating objects that defines properties and methods.

What is a bug?

An error or flaw in a program that produces incorrect results.

What is debugging?

The process of identifying and fixing bugs in software.

What is code?

The written instructions that make up a computer program.

What is an algorithm?

A step-by-step procedure for solving a problem.

What is a program?

A set of instructions that tell a computer how to perform a task.

What is data?

Information processed or stored by a computer.

What is input and output?

Input is data sent to a program, output is data produced by it.

What is the internet?

A worldwide network of interconnected computers.

What is a packet?

A formatted unit of data carried by a packet-switched network.

What is TCP/IP?

A set of protocols that govern communication over the internet.

What is UDP/IP?

A communication protocol that allows sending packets without checking for reliability.

How is TCP and UDP different?

TCP is connection-oriented and reliable; UDP is connectionless and faster.