Chapter 2: Hardware and Software

Flashcards about computer hardware and software.

What are the physical components of a computer?

Hardware devices

What are programs or apps also known as?

Software (application software)

What type of computer serves many terminals within an organization?

Mainframe computer

What type of computer is designed to carry out large numbers of complex calculations?

Supercomputer

What does RAS stand for in the context of mainframe computers?

Reliability, Availability, and Serviceability

What is the term for hardware components that can be replaced while the system is running?

Hot-swappable

What unit measures how many instructions a processor can perform every second?

MIPS (millions of instructions per second)

What unit measures floating point operations per second and is used to compare the speed of supercomputers?

FLOPS (floating point operations per second)

What kind of software is designed to maintain or operate the computer system?

System software

After BIOS, what is the first piece of software that loads when a computer is turned on?

Operating system

What is the software that comes with an external hardware component and sends customized instructions to that specific component?

Device driver

What translates a program written in a high-level programming language into machine code?

Translator

What type of translator creates an executable file containing machine code?

Compiler

What are the three stages of the compilation process?

Lexical analysis, syntax analysis, code generation

What type of translator translates a program one line at a time?

Interpreter

What combines object files together to form a single executable file?

Linker (link editor)

What type of software performs maintenance on the computer system?

Utility software

What is the main function of anti-virus software?

Monitor the system for viruses and malware and check for existing threats.

What do backup utilities create?

A second copy of data and programs that are in storage

What will data compression utilities do?

Reduce the original size of files so that they use up less storage space

What does a disk defragmentation utility do?

Reorganize all the files so that each file is contiguous (kept together).

What is the process of organizing the tracks on a disc into sectors?

Formatting

What kind of software is written especially to meet the requirements of a client?

Custom-written software

What kind of software is general purpose and available to a large market?

Off-the-shelf software

What type of software has the source code freely available?

Open source software

What type of software is owned by a single person or organization who sells it for use under an agreed license?

Proprietary software

What is the communication between the user and the computer system?

User Interface

What type of interface allows a user to enter text commands?

Command Line Interface (CLI)

What is the most common type of interface, found on desktops, tablets and mobile phones?

Graphical User Interface (GUI)

What acronym remembers the elements of a GUI?

WIMP (Windows, Icons, Menus, Pointers)

What type of interface refers to using the spoken word to communicate with a computer system?

Dialogue Interface

What type of interface recognizes human motion?

Gesture Based Interface