Computer Systems and Low Level Programming (Language - C) Midterm

Questions are copied right from the powerpoint given. Don't come at me, I didn't make them.

What is a process?

A program loaded into memory and executing.

What is a thread?

A process control structure that is an execution location

A process with a single thread executes only one task at a time, while a multithreaded process can execute a task per thread

What are the differences between a process and a thread?

Process is a program under execution whereas a thread is part of process

Threads allows a program to perform multiple tasks simultaneously

What is an Operating System?

Acts as an intermediary between the user of a computer and the computer hardware.

What is a “system program”?

What is “kernel” of an Operating System?

What is “middleware”?

What is Moore’s Law?

What is an embedded computer?

What is a “resource allocator”?

What is a “device driver”?

What is “interrupt” and why?

Describe how interrupt is implemented. Hint = (zyBooks 1.2)

What is "interrupt-controller hardware”?

What is a “nonmastable interrupt”?

What is a “maskable interrupt”?

What is an “Interrupt chain”?

What is RAM?

What is the basic unit of computer storage?

How many bits are in a byte?

What is a von Neumann architecture?

What is a secondary storage?

What is a tertiary storage?

What is NVS?

What are the two types of NVS?

What are the minimal PCB contents?

What is a process “state”?

What are saved for the process state?

What can cause a process to change state?

Why Processes?

Provides independence from the type of CPU (virtual or physical)

Process as an abstraction allows independent development of concurrent tasks

What does having more processes do?

Allows for more efficient scheduling

(T/F) Having more CPUs than the number of processes helps with more performance.

False