Asian Power Systems Review Center

COMPUTER FUNDAMENTALS AND PROGRAMMING

I. THEORY

Computer – is a fast electronic calculating machine that accepts input information, processes it
according to a list of internally stored instructions called programs, and produces the resultant output
information.

Computer system – is the physical equipment and instructions, i.e. hardware and software, used as a
unit to process data.

Classification of Computers:
A. According to function
1. General purpose computer – these machines have the capability of dealing with a
variety of different problems, and are able to act in response to programs created to meet
different needs
2. Special purpose computer – are these machines that are designed to perform one
specific task.

B. According to type
1. Analog computer – are used for scientific, engineering, and process-control purposes.
2. Digital computer – is a machine that specializes in counting.
3. Hybrid computer – combination of analog and digital computer.

C. According to size
1. Microcomputer – are small, single-user computers without extensive peripherals and
storage. The most common microcomputer is the PC.
2. Minicomputer – these are larger computers used in business data processing at a single
location.
3. Mainframe computer – are general-purpose computers used in large and centralized
applications in which several programs are running simultaneously.
4. Supercomputer – are extremely powerful computers that have specific functions, such
as engineering design, analysis, etc.

D. By generations
1. 1st generation (1945 – 1956) – employs vacuum tubes an vale technology and gad the
main limitations of heavy power consumption and very little reliability.
• ABC (Atanasoff-Berry Computer) – first electronic computer.
• Colossus – a special-purpose computer used to crack German code for the
British code contains 1,500 thermionic valves.
• ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator) – it is regarded
as the prototype of all later computer equipment.
• EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Calculator) – ii is the
first computer to contain memory to hold both stored program and data.
• UNIVAC (Universal Automatic Computer) – the first commercial
computer.

1
Asian Power Systems Review Center

2. 2nd generation (1959 – 1965) – smaller in size. Computers were introduced doe to the
introduction of transistors. Computers during this time were faster, more reliable, and
more energy efficient.

3. 3rd generation (1966 – 1970) – Integrated semiconductor chip was introduced and was
also characterized by the use of operating system.

4. 4th generation (1970 – present) – VLSI and ULSI were made available, mainframe
computers were introduced; and local as well as global linking of computers were made
available.

5. 5th generation (Present and beyond) – Computers with artificial intelligence.

Components of Computer System:

A. Hardware – refers to the physical components of the computer system.

Three elements of the computer system’s hardware:

1. The Central Processing Unit (CPU) – is that part of a computer which is responsible for
executing programs, doing arithmetic and exercising general control.

2. Memory – the function of the memory is to store data.

Two types of memory used in main memory:

a. ROM (Read Only Memory) – is a non-volatile memory, so its contents are
not lost when the power is turned off.

Two Basic Types of ROM:

1. Mask ROM – is where data is written at the factory during production
and it cannot be changed thereafter.
2. PROM – is where user writes the data.
• UVEPROM – Ultraviolet Erasable PROM
• EPROM – Erasable PROM

b. RAM (Random Access Memory) – a memory which can be read and written
any number of times, but its contents are lost when the power is turned off.

Classification of RAM:
1. Static RAM – uses flip-flops to store the state of digits so that data is
maintained until the power is turned off.
2. Dynamic RAM – utilizes the gate capacitance of MOS transistors to
maintain the states of each digit.

3. I/O – input and output devices.

The standard types of I/O devices:
a. Printers
b. Cassette tapes, floppy disks, compact disks
c. Keyboard
d. Monitor or CRT display

Buffer – is a storage which is used to store data temporarily while it is being transferred.

2
Asian Power Systems Review Center

Printer – is an output device which writes output data (such as letters and graphics) on
paper to produce hard copies.

Types of printer:
1. Impact printers – are devices which print characters and so forth by some
mechanical method. Examples are dot matrix printer and raised character printer.
2. Non-impact printers – are devices which print characters using thermal or chemical
printing process. Examples are ink jet printers and laser printers.

B. Software – refers to the programs used in the computer system.

Types of software:
1. System software – DOS, Windows, Unix, etc
2. Application software – Wordstar, Payroll program, MS Office, etc.

Programming Languages
Programming – is the process of preparing sequences of instructions for control of a computer’s
operation.

Flowchart – is a graphical representation of computer operations.

Algorithm – is a sequence of instruction that tells how to solve a particular problem.

Types of Programming Languages:

1. Machine Language – is a set of binary instruction codes which can be directly executed by the
hardware of a computer’s CPU.
2. Assembly Language – is a language in which the various instruction codes are expressed in
mnemonic form.
3. High Level Languages – are generally similar to the words of natural English and the languages
themselves are bases on commonly accepted specifications which make them much less
dependent on computer type.

Common High Level Programming Languages:

a. BASIC – Beginner’s All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code.
b. Pascal
c. FORTRAN – Formula Translation
d. COBOL – Common Business Language
e. C Language
f. ADA
g. ALGOL – Algorithm Language
h. APL – A Programming Language
i. FORTH
j. PL/I – Programming Language 1
k. RPG – Report Program Generator

Character Codes in Computer System

Code – it is a term used when numbers, letters or words are represented by a special group of
symbols.

3
Asian Power Systems Review Center

Special Binary Coding – is when the decimal number is represented by its equivalent binary
number.

Different types of binary coding:

1. Binary Coded Decimal (BCD) – a code in which each digit of a decimal number is represented
by its binary equivalent.

Decimal Digit BCD Equivalent

0 0000
1 0001
2 0010
3 0011
4 0100
5 0101
6 0110
7 0111
8 1000
9 (highest digit) 1001

2. Excess-3 Code – a code that perform in the same manner as BCD except that 3 is added to each
decimal digit before encoding it in binary.

Decimal Digit BCD Equivalent Excess-3 Code

0 0000 0011
1 0001 0100
2 0010 0101
3 0011 0110
4 0100 0111
5 0101 1000
6 0110 1001
7 0111 1010
8 1000 1011
9 (highest digit) 1001 1100

3. Gray Code – a code that belongs to a class of code called minimum-change codes, in which only
one bit in the code group changes when going from one step to the next. In going from any one
decimal number to the next, only one bit of the Gray code changes.

Decimal Digit BCD Equivalent Gray Code

0 0000 0000
1 0001 0001
2 0010 0011
3 0011 0010
4 0100 0110
5 0101 0111
6 0110 0101
7 0111 0100
8 1000 1100
9 1001 1101

4
Asian Power Systems Review Center

10 1010 1111
11 1011 1110
12 1100 1010
13 1101 1011
14 1110 1001
15 1111 1000

Alphanumeric Code – is a binary code of group of elements consisting of the ten decimal digits, the
26 letters of the alphabet and certain number of special symbols such as dollar sign, etc.

Different types of alphanumeric codes:

1. Baudot code – it is a five-bit character code. This code allows a maximum of 64 characters and
is widely used in Telex teletypewriter communications.
2. ASCII Code – (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) is a 7-bit character code.
This code allows a maximum of 128 or 27 different characters.
3. EBCDIC – (Extended BCD Interchange Code) is an 8-bit character code. This is widely used in
mainframe computers. It allows a maximum of 256 or 28 characters.
4. Card code – a 12-bit character code.
5. Internal code – a 6-bit character code.
6. Hollerith code – a standard method for cooling data on 80-column, 12-row cards.

Number System Used in Digital Technologies:

Number System Radix/Base Symbols Used
Binary 2 0, 1
Octal 8 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Decimal 10 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Hexadecimal 16 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F

Complementation of a Number
1. Radix-Minus-One Complement – a memory code wherein each digit of a decimal number is
converted into its binary equivalent rather than converting the entire decimal value into a pure
binary form.
2. True Complement or Radix Complement – can be obtained by adding 1 to the radix-minus
one complement of the number.

Boolean algebra
Boolean algebra – it is an algebra of logic that uses variables with only two, possible values.

Logical Addition (OR) Logical Multiplication (AND) Complement (NOT)

0+0=0 0•0=0 0 =1
0+1=1 0•1=0 1= 0
1+0=1 1•0=0
1 + 1 = 1 carry 1 1•1=1

Boolean Relations and Theorems

1. A + B = B + A (Commutative Law for ORing)
2. AB = BA (Commutative Law for ANDing)
3. A + (B + C) = (A + B) + C (Associative Law for ORing)

5
Asian Power Systems Review Center

4. A(BC) = (AB)C (Associative Law for ORing)

5. A(B + C) = AB + AC (Distributive Law)
6. A+0=A (OR Operation)
7. A+A=A (OR Operation)
8. A+1=A (OR Operation)
9. A+ A =1 (OR Operation)
10. A•1=A (AND Operation)
11. A•A=A (AND Operation)
12. A•0=0 (AND Operation)
13. A•A =0 (AND Operation)
14. A =A (Double Inversion Rule)
15. A + B = AB (De Morgan Theorem)
16. AB = A + B (De Morgan Theorem)
17. A + AB = A (Duality Theorem)
18. A(A + B) = A (Duality Theorem)
19. A + AB = A + B (Duality Theorem)
20. A( A + B) = AB (Duality Theorem)
21. A + BC = (A + B)(A + C) (Duality Theorem)

II. REVIEW PROBLEMS

1. The number 100101 base 2 is equivalent to octal.
a. 37 b. 54 c. 45 d. 25

2. The number 12 base 8 is equivalent to decimal

a. 20 b. 4 c. 10 d. 12

3. The binary equivalent of A to the base 16 is ?

a. 1111 b. 1000 c. 1010 d. 1110

4. The number 17 base is equivalent to binary

a. 1110 b. 111 c. 1111 d. 10000

5. For the base 10 number of 30, the equivalent binary number is

a. 10111 b. 10011 c. 1111 d. 11110

6. The hexadecimal number B6C7 is equal to the decimal number

a. 46791 b. 47691 c. 49761 d. 49671

7. What is the base 10 equivalent of the binary number 0101110?

a. 18 b. 47 c. 46 d. 30

8. What is the base 10 equivalent of the octal number 567?

a. 185 b. 475 c. 375 d. 305

9. (EE501) base 16 = (______) base 10

a. 925229 b. 994229 c. 952420 d. 976129

6
Asian Power Systems Review Center

10. (101011) base 2 = (______) base 10.

a. 43 b. 46 c. 55 d. 48

11. Convert (11011) base 2 base 8.

a. 31 b. 27 c. 33 d. 29

12. What is the octal equivalent of the hexadecimal number EE?

a. 356 b. 365 c. 376 d. 325

13. (1010) base 10 = (______) base 16

a. 3F2 b. 3E2 c. 3EE d. 3C2

14. (A4) base 16 = (______) base 8

a. 310 b. 342 c. 244 d. 250

15. (111000) base 2 = (______) base 16.

a. 2E b. 2A c. 1C d. 1B

16. What is the octal equivalent of the decimal number 2.168?

a. 2.168 b. 2.126 c. 2.122 d. 2.148

17. What is the decimal equivalent of the binary number 101.1101?

a. 5.8125 b. 5.8021 c. 5.8521 d. 5.8031

18. What is the decimal equivalent of the octal number 45.174?

a. 37.24428 b. 37.23831 c. 37.24218 d. 37.25328

19. (123.ABC) base 16 = (______) base 10.

a. 35.66028 b. 35.67231 c. 35.62418 d. 35.67089

20. (59.625) base 10 = (______) base 8

a. 73.625 b. 73.500 c. 73.516 d. 73.670

21. Convert (DC.935) base 16 to base 2.

a. 101001.1001 b. 101101.1011 c. 101101.1001 d. 101001.1011

22. (25.675) base 8 = (______) base 16

a. 22.4DE5 b. 22.34BE c. 21.DE12 d. 21.DE7F

23. Add (23) base 10 to (45) base 8. Express the answer in decimal.
a. 60 b. 68 c. 65 d. 59

24. Add (10111) base 2 to (12A) base 16. Express the answer in base 10.
a. 316 b. 268 c. 625 d. 321

25. (35) base 8 + (1011) base 2 = (______) base 2

a. 101000 b. 101010 c. 101001 d. 101100

26. (100) base 10 + (111) base 2 = (______) base 8

a. 151 b. 153 c. 145 d. 105

7
Asian Power Systems Review Center

27. If (ABC) base 16 is added to (123) base 8, what is the sum expressed in base 8?
a. 5417 b. 5536 c. 5521 d. 5345

28. Add (10011) base 2 to (25) base 8. Express the answer in base 16.
a. 54 b. 28 c. 24 d. 34

29. Subtract (1010) base 2 from (20) base 8. Express the answer in decimal.
a. 5 b. 6 c. 7 d. 4

30. (AB5) base 16 – (2550) base 10 = (______) base 10

a. 189 b. 210 c. 191 d. 201

31. What is the difference if (255) base 8 is subtracted from (10101111) base 2? Express the answer
in base 2.
a. 110 b. 100 c. 010 d. 001

32. (101) base 16 – (11111) base 2 = (______) base 10.

a. 256 b. 226 c. 216 d. 206

33. (110) base 16 – (110) base 8 = (______) base 8

a. 144 b. 131 c. 100 d. 128

34. Find the product of (F10) base 16 and (101) base 2. Express the answer in base 10.
a. 19990 b. 19280 c. 19850 d. 19200

35. Find the product of (213) base 8 and (10) base 10. Express the answer in base 16.
a. 5C0 b. 4E9 c. D98 d. 56E

36. (1011) base 2 x (1001) base 2 = (______) base 8

a. 125 b. 143 c. 163 d. 108

37. (E) base 16 x (4) base 8 = (______) base 2

a. 111001 b. 100111 c. 110110 d. 111000

38. Multiply (12) base 8 and (111) base 2. Express the answer in base 16.
a. 46 b. 5A c. 4C d. 54

39. The division 11000 sub 2 / 100 sub 2, gives ____?

a. 90 b. 108 c. 110 d. 120

40. Divide (120) base 10 by (14) base 8. Express the answer in base 2.
a. 1010 b. 1011 c. 1001 d. 1100

41. Divide (15) base 16 by (011) base 2. Express the answer in base 10.
a. 5 b. 4 c. 6 d. 7

42. Divide (1111) base 2 by (101) base 2. Express the answer in base 2.
a. 011 b. 010 c. 001 d. 100

43. Divide (1111) base 2 by (100) base 2. Express the answer in base 10.
a. 11.101 b. 11.110 c. 11.011 d. 11.010

8
Asian Power Systems Review Center

44. Decimal number 5436 when converted to 9’s compliment will become
a. 4555 b. 4356 c. 4563 d. 4653

45. What is the one’s complement of (10101)?

a. 10001 b. 01010 c. 00010 d. 00010

46. What is the 7’s complement of (1234) base 8?

a. 7654 b. 4567 c. 5476 d. 6543

47. Determine the 2’s complement of (1011) base 2

a. 0011 b. 0100 c. 0111 d. 0101

48. What is the true complement of (25) base 8?

a. 52 b. 53 c. 51 d. 63

49. What is the radix minus one complement of (BABE) base 16?
a. 4521 b. 4541 c. 4522 d. 4542

50. Determine the 10’s complement of (238) base 10.

a. 761 b. 650 c. 762 d. 651

III. SELF-TEST
1. Most of the inexpensive personal computers do not have any disk or diskette drive. What is the
name of such computers?
a. Home computers c. Dedicated computers
b. Diskless computers d. General-purpose computer

2. What type of memory the computer utilizes first during data processing?
a. Hard disk memory c. Floppy disk
b. ROM d. Cache memory

3. Pick out the item that does not belong to computers.

a. Mouse b. MICR c. OCR d. Plotter

4. The following equipment are serially interface with a PC except

a. Mouse b. Modem c. Joystick d. Printer

5. Select the factor which would strongly influence a business person to adopt a computer.
a. Accuracy b. Reliability c. Speed d. All of the above

6. Processors of all computers, whether micro, mini or mainframe must have

a. Primary storage c. ALU
b. Control unit d. All of these

7. The basic components of a modern digital computer

a. Central processor c. Input device
b. Output device d. All of these

9
Asian Power Systems Review Center

8. Which of the following terms is related to a monitor?

a. Screen c. Monochrome monitor
b. RGB monitor d. Video display

9. Fifth generations of a computer are likely to exhibit ____.

a. artificial intelligence c. heuristic behavior
b. advanced parallel interfacing d. all of the above

10. Select the nickname of the computer used by the Americans in 1952 for their H-bomb project.
a. ENIAC b. EDSAC c. MANIAC d. UNIVAC

11. Which kind of storage can be carried around?

a. Hard disk b. Diskette c. System cabinet d. Main memory

12. Which of the following devices allows user to add components and capabilities to a computer
system?
a. Keyboards b. System boards c. Diskettes d. Expansion slots

13. Most of the inexpensive personal computers do not have a disk or diskette drive. What is the
name of such computers?
a. home computers c. diskless computers
b. dedicated computers d. general purpose computers

14. Where does a computer add, compare and shuffle its data?
a. Memory chip b. Floppy disk c. CPU chip d. Hard disk

15. The pieces of equipment that are attached to the CPU of computer and which it can access are
known as:
a. Output devices b. Peripherals c. Control units d. ALU

16. No computer can do anything without

a. Program b. Memory c. Chip d. Output device

17. The central processor of a modern digital computer consists of:

a. Control unit b. Primary memory c. All of these d. None of these

18. Which of the following is a part of the Central Processing Unit?

a. Keyboard b. Tape c. Printer d. ALU

19. A collection of eight bits is known as

a. Byte b. Record c. Word d. File

20. Computer memory

a. perform all calculations c. reverse input data
b. is externally limited d. is better than human memory

21. Data management systems may be implemented as

a. System software c. Application programs
b. Computer programs d. All of these

10
Asian Power Systems Review Center

22. A collection of 8 bits is known as

a. Byte b. word c. record d. file

23. Select the one that did not become popular during the fourth generation computers.
a. CRT terminals c. semi-conductors
b. Mini-computers d. personal computers

24. Which unit of hardware an operator uses to monitor computer processing?

a. Card reader b. Line printer c. CPU d. Console

25. The first mechanical computer designed by Charles Babbage was known as
a. Analytical engine c. Abacus
b. Calculator d. Processor

26. Which of the following can read data and convert them to a form that a computer can use?
a. Logic b. Control c. Storage d. Input devices

27. When was the first mini-computer built?

a. 1965 b. 1969 c. 1971 d. 1975

28. Which of the following pieces of hardware is used the most in the input phase of a computer-
based information system?
a. Printer b. Diskette c. Computer programs d. Keyboard

29. List of detailed instructions that direct a computer is called which one of the following?
a. Logic b. Memory c. Storage d. Program

30. What hardware as used by the first generation outputs?

a. Transistors b. IC’s c. valves d. SSI

31. Who is known as the “Father” of the computer?

a. Herman Hollerith c. Blaise Pascal
b. Charles Babbage d. Joseph Jacquard

32. Who first developed the integrated chip circuit chip?

a. C.V. Raman b. W.H. Brittain c. J.S. Kilby d. Robert Noyce

33. Which of the following is used interchangeably with diskette?

a. Diskette cartridge c. Disk pack
b. Floppy disk d. Packette disk

34. An IC is ____.
a. a complicated circuit c. an integrating device
b. much costlier than a single transistor d. fabricated on a tiny silicon chip

35. What is the most important advantage of an IC?

a. it’s easy replacement in case of circuit failure
b. extremely high reliability
c. reduce cost
d. lower power consumption

11
Asian Power Systems Review Center

36. The physical equipment made up of various metals, silicon and plastic component that make up
the parts of a computer is known as
a. Micro b. Peripherals c. Hardware d. Disc drive

37. ROM is made up of:

a. Magnetic cores c. Micro processors
b. Photo-electric cells d. Floppy disks

38. Transistorized computer circuits are introduced in the

a. first generation c. third generation
b. second generation d. fourth generation

39. Which was the first electronic computer that belonged to the first generation computer?
a. Mark 1 c. Attanasoff-Berry Computer
b. ENIAC d. UNIVAC - 1

40. Select the one that was not associated with second-generation computers.
a. high procedural language c. operating system
b. transistor d. all of the above

41. Which peripheral device is used in a word processing system?

a. Floppy disk c. Magnetic card reader
b. CRT d. All of these

42. Binary number 101010 is equivalent to decimal number

a. 26 b. 45 c. 42 d. 60

43. How many different binary numbers can be stored in a register consisting of six switches?
a. 16 b. 64 c. 32 d. 128

44. A binary system has radix of

a. 0 b. 2 c. 1 d. None of these

45. Give the number of bytes present in a 48 K computer memory.

a. 17256 b. 48512 c. 48000 d. 48152

46. Which of the following is generally used where lowest power consumption is essential?
a. CMOS b. PMOS c. NMOS d. Any of these

47. Which of the following logic gate is similar to the function of two parallel switches?
a. AND b. OR c. NAND d. NOR

48. In PASCAL, free identifier occurrences are bound in the environment of the abstract. This is
called
a. Static binding c. Auxiliary binding
b. Secondary binding d. Dynamic binding

49. In PASCAL, actual parameters are always evaluated ____ the procedure is invoked.
a. After b. With c. Before d. Simultaneously With

12
Asian Power Systems Review Center

50. Which of the following is application program?

a. LAMBDA b. COBOL c. PASCAL d. FORTRAN

51. Which of the following is not a HIGH LEVEL computer programming language?
a. FORTRAN b. COBOL c. MODEM d. ALGOL

52. Which of the following is a low level language?

a. FORTRAN language c. machine language
b. Basic language d. None of these

53. Which of the following is a high level language?

a. BASIC b. PASCAL c. COBOL d. None of these

54. Syntax is concerned with

a. The format c. Well formed-ness
b. Compositional structure d. All of these

55. The process of determining the phrase structure of text is known as

a. Branching b. Syntacting c. Pasing d. Any of these

56. Syntactic classes

a. Commands b. Sequence c. Definitions d. All of these

57. In PASCAL the Boolean values

a. Are not expressible by literals c. Both (a) and (b) above
b. Are defined by symbols true and false d. None of these

58. The decimal equivalent of the hexadecimal number E5 is

a. 279 b. 229 c. 325 d. 295

59. For the following decimal numbers, 9’s complement is given. Point out the incorrect relation.
Decimal 1’s Complement Decimal 1’s Complement
a. 5436 4652 c. 45.15 54.84
b. 1932 8067 d. 18.293 61.706

60. The hexadecimal number is equal to the decimal number

a. 49761 b. 46791 c. 47691 d. 49671

61. How many different BCD numbers can be stored in a register containing 12 switches can using an
8, 4, 2, 1 code?
a. 99 b. 100 c. 999 d. 1000

62. Decimal number 5436 when converted to 9’s complement will become
a. 4356 b. 4653 c. 4563 d. 4655

63. Which of the following binary numbers is equal to octal number 66.3?
a. 101110.100 b. 111111.111 c. 100111.111 d. 110110.011

64. Which of the following octal number is equal to the decimal number 545.375?
a. 5000 b. 1640 c. 1041.3 d. 1170.7

13
Asian Power Systems Review Center

65. 10 in BCD code is represented as

a. 10100 b. 010111 c. 1100 d. None of these

66. If each address represents one byte of storage space, how many address lines are required to
access RAM chips arranged in a 4 x 6 array, where each chip is 8K x 4 bits?
a. 13 b. 15 c. 16 d. 17

67. In digital computer the number 127 is stored as

a. 1111111 b. 10001 c. 11000111 d. 00010010011

68. What will be the simplified complements of the function CD + BD?

a. B + CD b. CD + BD c. D + BC d. BCD

69. In case of OR gate, no matter what the number of inputs, a?

a. 1 at any input causes the output to be at logic 1
b. 1 at any input causes the output to be at logic 0
c. 0 at any input causes the output to be at logic 0
d. 0 at any input causes the output to be at logic 1

70. (A + B + AB) is the same as that of

a. 0 b. 1 c. C d. C

71. In BASIC which of the following GOTO statement is NOT correctly written?
a. 10 GOTO 50 b. 110 GOTO N c. 70 GOTO 35 d. None of these

72. Which of the following BASIC string has not been correctly written?
a. TWENTY SEVEN c. SYMBOL IS ‘X’
b. 2 + 7 = 9 d. 84.56

73. Select incorrect GOTO statement.

a. 75 GOTO K + 1 c. 55 GOTO 400
b. 100 GOTO 12 d. None of these

74. Which of the following is not correctly written in Pascal?

a. 123, 765 b. 137 c. 11 22 33 d. All of these

75. Which of the following is not a reversed word in PASCAL?

a. WHILE b. PLAY c. REPEAT d. FILE

14