TSA Tech Bowl Computing / Electronics ALL VOCAB (given not extra)

What is hardware?

The physical parts of a computer.

What is a Central Processing Unit (CPU)?

The brain of the computer that does instructions.

What is Random Access Memory (RAM)?

Memory that stores data temporarily while the computer is on.

What is a motherboard?

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

What is cache?

Fast memory inside the CPU for quick access.

What is WiFi?

Wireless technology to connect to the internet.

What is Bluetooth?

Wireless technology to connect devices over short distances.

What is the Universal Serial Bus (USB) protocol?

A standard way to connect devices to a computer.

What is a register?

Small, fast storage inside the CPU for immediate data.

What is a hard disk drive (HDD)?

A device that stores data on spinning disks.

What is a solid state drive (SSD)?

A fast storage device with no moving parts.

What is a flash drive?

A small portable storage device using flash memory.

What is a Standard Digital (SD) card?

A small memory card used to store data in devices like cameras.

What is software?

Programs and instructions a computer runs.

What is firmware?

Software built into hardware to control it.

What is an operating system?

Software that manages the computer and its programs.

What is Linux?

An open-source operating system.

What is Windows?

A popular operating system made by Microsoft.

What is macOS?

Apple’s operating system for Mac computers.

What is Android?

An operating system for mobile devices.

What is iOS?

Apple’s operating system for iPhones and iPads.

What is UEFI / BIOS?

Software that starts a computer and prepares it to run the OS.

What is open source code?

Software code that anyone can see and change.

What is closed source code?

Software code that is kept secret by its creators.

What is a terminal / console?

A text-based interface to control the computer.

What is a web browser?

A program used to view websites.

What is a search engine?

A tool to find information on the internet.

What is a client?

A device or program that requests data from a server.

What is a server?

A computer that provides data or services to clients.

What is a local area network (LAN)?

A network that connects devices in a small area.

What is a wide area network (WAN)?

A network that covers a large area, like the internet.

What is a switch?

A device that connects multiple devices in a network.

What is a hub?

A device that connects devices but sends data to all of them.

What is a router?

A device that directs data between networks.

What is a modem?

A device that connects a network to the internet.

What is an Internet Protocol (IP) address?

A unique number that identifies a device on a network.

What is a domain name system (DNS) server?

A server that translates domain names into IP addresses.

What is a domain?

A website’s address on the internet.

What is a port?

A channel for sending data between devices.

What is a top level domain (TLD)?

The last part of a domain name, like .com or .org.

What is a subdomain?

A part of a domain that comes before the main name.

What is the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)?

A way to send web pages over the internet.

What is the file transfer protocol (FTP)?

A way to transfer files between computers.

What is the secure shell protocol (SSH)?

A secure way to access a computer remotely.

What is a hyperlink?

A link you click to go to another webpage.

What is the world wide web?

A system of web pages connected by links.

What are fiber optic cables?

Cables that use light to send data fast.

What is the Transmission Control Protocol TCP/IP?

A set of rules for sending data over the internet.

What is the User Datagram Protocol (UDP)?

A faster way to send data with less checking for errors.

What is an Integrated Development Environment (IDE)?

A software tool to write and test code.

What is assembly?

A low-level programming language close to machine code.

What is a low-level language?

A programming language close to the computer’s hardware.

What is a high-level language?

A programming language easy for humans to read.

What is a compiler?

A program that changes code into machine language.

What is object-oriented programming?

A style of programming using objects and classes.

What is JavaScript?

A programming language mainly used for websites.

What is Python?

A popular, easy-to-learn programming language.

What is C?

A powerful programming language for system software.

What is C++?

An extension of C with object-oriented features.

What is Java?

A programming language used for many apps and websites.

What is HTML?

A language used to create web pages.

What is SQL?

A language used to manage databases.

What are functions?

Blocks of code that do specific tasks.

What is an algorithm?

A step-by-step set of instructions to solve a problem.

What is an integer?

A whole number without decimals.

What is a string?

Text or characters in programming.

What is a floating point number?

A number with decimals.

What is a variable?

A storage location for data in programming.

What is a boolean?

A type that can be true or false.

What is a conditional?

A statement that runs code based on a condition.

What is an if statement?

Code that runs only if a condition is true.

What is a for loop?

Code that repeats a set number of times.

What is a while loop?

Code that repeats while a condition is true.

What is an OR gate?

A logic gate that outputs true if any input is true.

What is an AND gate?

A logic gate that outputs true only if all inputs are true.

What is a NOT gate?

A logic gate that reverses the input.

What is an XOR gate?

A logic gate that outputs true if inputs are different.

What is an operator?

A symbol or word that performs operations on data.

What is a bit?

The smallest unit of data, 0 or 1.

What is a byte?

A group of 8 bits.

What is binary?

A number system using only 0 and 1.

What is hexadecimal?

A base-16 number system using 0-9 and A-F.

What is base64?

A way to encode data using 64 characters.

What is plaintext?

Text that can be read by humans.

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

A code that assigns numbers to letters and symbols.

What is Unicode / UTF-8?

A system that represents many languages with unique codes.

What is Morse code?

A code using dots and dashes to send messages.

What is a Portable Document Format (PDF) file?

A file format that shows documents the same everywhere.

What is a Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) file?

A common image file format that uses lossy compression.

What is a Portable Network Graphics (PNG) file?

An image file format that supports transparency.

What is an executable (EXE) file?

A file that runs a program when opened.

What is a ZIP file?

A compressed file that holds one or more files.

What is data compression?

Reducing the size of data to save space.

What is lossy compression?

Compression that loses some data to make files smaller.

What is lossless compression?

Compression that keeps all original data.

What are file archives?

Files that bundle many files into one.

What are magic bytes?

Unique bytes at the start of a file identifying its type.

What is cryptography?

The science of keeping information secret.

What is steganography?

Hiding secret messages inside other data.

What is symmetric encryption?

Encryption using the same key to lock and unlock data.