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Questions and Answers
What was the significant improvement in the secondary generation of computers?
What is the primary characteristic of Supercomputers?
What was the main feature of the fourth generation of computers?
What is the unit of measurement for the speed of Supercomputers?
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What is the main feature of the fifth generation of computers?
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What is the significance of the size of a computer?
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What is the type of pen drive used today?
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What is the primary function of Cache Memory?
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What is the smallest and fastest type of Cache Memory?
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What is the purpose of Registers in a CPU?
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What is the characteristic of Secondary Memory?
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What is the typical storage capacity of a hard drive in a laptop?
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What is the primary component of a hard disk that holds the platters?
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What is the minimum capacity of magnetic tape?
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What is the primary function of a laser beam in optical disks?
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What is the characteristic of CD-R and DVD-R?
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What is the primary advantage of flash memory?
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What is the most common type of flash memory used on a computer?
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What is the primary function of a hub in a network?
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What is the purpose of a bridge in a network?
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What is the primary function of a router?
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What is software primarily composed of?
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How can computer software be broadly classified?
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What is the purpose of a switch in a network?
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What is the purpose of an enumeration in programming?
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What is the null character that ends a string in C?
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What is the result of the expression a = b % c when b = 5 and c = 2?
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What is the purpose of relational operators in C?
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What is the operator that returns the remainder of the division of two operands?
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Study Notes
Storage Devices
- A hard disk consists of a spindle, platters made of non-magnetic material, and two surfaces coated with magnetic material.
- Each surface has serially numbered tracks and sectors or blocks.
- Hard disks rotate at speeds of 5400 and 7200 rpm.
Magnetic Tape
- Magnetic tape is made of plastic film coated with magnetic material on one side.
- It can store up to 1 TB or more, but 200 TB is expected.
- However, it is not fully portable and requires a separate tape drive.
- Data is accessed sequentially, making it unsuitable for backup.
Optical Disks
- Optical disks, such as CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, and Blu-ray disks, are non-volatile read-only memory.
- CD-ROM and DVD-ROM can hold large volumes of data (700MB to 8.5 GB).
- Blu-ray disks have a capacity of up to 50 GB.
- A laser beam is used to control read and write operations, constructing pits and lands by burning selected areas along tracks.
Flash Memory
- Flash memory does not have moving parts and is based on EEPROM.
- It is available in various forms, such as pen drives, magnetic cards (SD cards), and solid-state disks (SSDs).
- Flash memory is portable, requires little power, and is reliable.
Networks
- The internet is a wide network of computers, open to all, and contains a large number of intranets.
- Connecting computers in a network requires additional devices, such as hubs and switches, which are not part of the computer's basic configuration.
Network Hardware
- Hubs accept network data from computers and broadcast it to nodes by checking the destination address.
- Switches have a table containing MAC addresses of connected devices and send data after looking up the table for the destination.
- Bridges connect two networks using the same protocol, while routers connect two similar or dissimilar networks separated by a long distance.
Software Basics
- Software is a collection of code that drives a computer to perform related tasks.
- Programs in software use a language, and the source code is created by programmers using programming languages like C, C++, Java, and Python.
- Software is developed to operate on multiple platforms.
Software Types
- Computer software can be broadly classified into two types: system software and application software.
Computer Generations
- The second generation computers used magnetic hard disks for secondary memory.
- The third generation computers had OS and could run programs invoked by multiple users.
- The fourth generation computers used microprocessors, LSI, and VLSI, and had OS moved from MSDOS to GUI like Windows.
- The fifth generation computers use artificial intelligence, natural languages, and are expected to interact with users in natural language.
Computer Types
- Supercomputers are huge machines with the most powerful and fastest processors, using multiple CPUs for parallel data processing.
- They have speeds measured in flops (floating point operations per second), with the fastest operating at 34 petaflops.
Cache Memory
- Cache memory holds frequently used program portions, acting as a buffer between CPU and RAM.
- It has multiple levels: L1 (smallest and fastest), L2 (present closer to CPU), and L3 (shared by cores).
Registers
- Registers are small, ultra-fast memory integrated into the CPU, representing the fastest memory of the computer.
- Each register has a length equal to the computer's word length.
- Data is loaded into registers before processing, and registers are numbered and specified by program instructions.
Secondary Memory
- Secondary memory is not directly connected to CPU and exists inside and outside the machine.
- It is non-volatile, offline, and long-term storage, slower, and cheaper than primary memory but has higher capacity.
Hard Disk
- Hard disk is the oldest secondary storage device, with more capacity and less cost.
- It is commonly present in laptops with 500GB and desktops with 1TB.
Enumerations
- An enumeration is a list of constant integer values, with distinct names.
- The keyword used is "enum", and enumeration constants are used in programming.
Strings
- A string is a group of characters together, enclosed within double quotes.
- Strings end with a NULL character (\0), and are used in programming.
Operators
- Operators are symbols that tell the compiler to perform specific mathematical and logical functions.
- The different operators supported in 'C' are: arithmetic, relational, logical, assignment, bitwise, unary, and ternary/conditional operators.
Arithmetic Operators
- Arithmetic operators perform mathematical operations, such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and modulus.
Relational Operators
- Relational operators are used to compare two quantities, producing an output of either 0 (False) or 1 (True).
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Description
Test your knowledge about the different generations of computers, from the secondary generation to the fourth generation, including their key features and advancements.
