Unit 1: Computer Languages - Practice Quiz

1 Which language is directly understood by a computer's CPU?

2 What symbols are commonly used to write machine language instructions?

3 Which language uses short symbolic codes such as ADD and MOV?

4 Which type of language is generally easiest for humans to read and write?

5 Which language is most closely related to the hardware of a computer?

6 What does a compiler translate?

7 What does an assembler translate into machine language?

8 How does an interpreter usually translate a program?

9 Which translator usually produces an object or executable program before execution?

10 Which translator is specifically used for assembly language?

11 What is a common result when a compiler finds an error in source code?

12 What is usually the first step in developing a computer program?

13 What is an algorithm?

14 Which activity involves writing instructions in a programming language?

15 What is the purpose of testing a program?

16 What is debugging?

17 What is source code?

18 What is the main purpose of compilation?

19 What does program execution mean?

20 Which form of code can the CPU execute directly?

21 A machine-code program compiled for Processor X is copied to a computer using Processor Y with a different instruction set. What is most likely required?

22 An assembly program contains the instruction ADD R1, R2. What does an assembler primarily do with this instruction?

23 A team is developing a large business application that must run on several processor types. Why is a high-level language generally preferred over assembly language?

24 A programmer needs precise control over registers and memory while writing a device driver for one processor. Which language level is most suitable?

25 A programming system reports several syntax errors before any part of a program begins running. Which translator behavior does this best illustrate?

26 A developer wants to enter commands in an interactive console and see each result immediately. Which translator is most appropriate?

27 An assembly instruction branches to a symbolic label named LOOP. How does the assembler handle LOOP?

28 A source file uses processor mnemonics, symbolic labels, and directives such as .data. Which translator should process it?

29 A program will be executed thousands of times after it is completed. Why might compilation be preferred over repeated interpretation?

30 A completed payroll program calculates overtime incorrectly because the overtime rule was misunderstood at the start of the project. Which stage should be revisited first?

31 Before writing code, a programmer creates a flowchart and discovers that one decision path never produces an output. Which stage has revealed the problem?

32 A test case produces an incorrect result. The programmer traces variable values, finds a faulty condition, and corrects it. Which activity is being performed?

33 A tax application has worked correctly for two years, but it must now be updated to support new tax rates. Which stage does this work represent?

34 Individual modules pass their own tests, but errors occur when the modules exchange data. Which testing activity is most appropriate next?

35 A source file contains a syntax error such as a missing closing parenthesis. What is the most likely result during compilation?

36 A source file compiles successfully, but the build reports undefined reference to calculateTotal. At which stage did the problem most likely occur?

37 What is the loader's main role after an executable has been created?

38 Which sequence correctly represents a typical compiled program's path from source code to execution?

39 A project contains three separately compiled source files. Only one source file is changed. What is normally required to create an updated executable efficiently?

40 An interpreted script prints four results and then stops when it reaches an invalid statement on line 5. Why were the first four results displayed?

41 A fixed-width ISA encodes a branch using a PC-relative displacement measured from the instruction following the branch. An entire code block, including both the branch and its target, is relocated by the same address offset. Assuming no instruction sizes change, what must happen to the encoded displacement?

42 Two processors accept assembly statements written as ADD R1, R2, but their machine encodings and operand semantics differ. What is the strongest valid conclusion?

43 A conforming high-level-language program runs on two implementations but assumes that an int has exactly 32 bits. One implementation uses 16-bit integers. Which statement best characterizes the program?

44 An assembler accepts LOADIMM R1, value. For small values it emits one machine instruction, while for larger values it emits three instructions. What does this demonstrate?

45 A disassembler converts an executable back into assembly instructions correctly. Which original source information is generally impossible to reconstruct uniquely from the executable alone?

46 An assembly source contains forward references whose instruction sizes depend on the final symbol addresses. Why is a two-pass assembler commonly useful?

47 A language implementation translates source code into portable bytecode and then executes that bytecode instruction by instruction in a virtual machine. Which classification is most accurate?

48 An optimizing compiler removes a calculation whose result is never used. Under the language's rules, the calculation has no side effects and the program has no undefined behavior. Why is the removal valid?

49 An interpreter executes statements immediately and provides no transactional rollback. Three statements update a variable successfully, but the fourth raises a runtime error. What state should normally be expected afterward?

50 An assembler encounters a call to an external function whose address is unknown but expected to be supplied by another object file. What should a relocatable-object assembler normally emit?

51 During acceptance testing, users reject a system described only as needing to respond "quickly." Which action best addresses the underlying development failure?

52 Two modules pass all unit tests but fail during integration because one supplies temperatures in Celsius while the other expects Fahrenheit. What is the most appropriate corrective response?

53 A defect appears only in an optimized production build, while the unoptimized debug build passes. What is the best investigation strategy?

54 A throwaway prototype validates a user-interface concept and is then proposed for immediate production deployment. It lacks security analysis, scalability design, and automated tests. What is the best response?

55 A regulatory requirement changes after release. The project maintains links among requirements, design elements, source modules, and test cases. How should these links be used first?

56 In a conventional native-language toolchain that uses a preprocessor and textual assembly output, which sequence correctly orders the major stages?

57 A source file contains a valid declaration for compute and calls it correctly, but no linked object or library provides its definition. What outcome is most likely?

58 A function changes from int f(int) to double f(double). The callee is rebuilt, but a caller compiled against the old declaration is not. On a platform whose linker matches only the symbol name f, what can occur?

59 A dynamically linked executable was linked successfully, but the installed shared library lacks a required symbol version. The loader is configured for eager symbol resolution. When is failure most likely?

60 A compiler successfully produces an object file for ISA-A, but the linker is configured to create an executable for incompatible ISA-B. The source language is supported on both systems. What is the correct conclusion?