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TERM 1 EXAMINATION - Revision Booklet

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9 views7 pages

TERM 1 EXAMINATION - Revision Booklet

Uploaded by

creeper.boy123478
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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TERM 1 EXAMINATION – REVISION BOOKLET

UNIT 4 : DRILLING DOWN: HOW THE PROCESSOR HANDLES INSTRUCTIONS


Understanding software
Hardware: Physical or touchable parts of a computer.
Software: Set of programs that tells hardware what to do and how to do it.
Types of software

Application software-A software program which enables you to perform a range of useful
tasks.

System Software-System software is a set of programs that allow the computer to function.

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Operating system
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software
resources, and provides common services for computer programs.
• Microsoft Windows.
• Mac OS.
• Android OS.
• Linux.
• Ubuntu.

Functions of operating system:


✓ Manages hardware of the device, including the processor .
✓ Runs applications.
✓ Provides an interface for the user to interact with the device.
✓ Manages the storage and retrieval of files.

Utilities
Utilities are small programs that are used for the upkeep and maintenance of the computer.
Examples are device drivers, security software, and defragmentation programs.
Device Driver: Software program that operates a hardware device connected to the computer.
Security software: Software that secures and protects a digital device.
Examples:
• Firewall
• Antivirus
• Anti-spyware
• Anti-malware
Disk defragmenter: Defragmentation software takes the fragmented files and rearranges the
segments so that they run contiguously.

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Data Storage

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Topic: Computer programming languages

High level language (HLL)


Programming language that uses commands and that are linked to the words or symbols a
human would use when carrying out the same task.
Low level language (LLL)
Programming language that uses commands that are similar to the type of instructions the
processor understands.
Assembly language
Set of codes or symbols that represent each instruction rather than a group of ones and zeros.
Difference between program instructions written in an HLL and an LLL

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Translator: converts program instructions into machine code format so the processor can
carry out the instructions. There are three different types of translators- interpreters,
assemblers, and compilers.
Interpreter: translates each line of high-level language code into machine code.
Compiler: translate an entire computer program into machine code and create a file
containing machine code for the entire program.
Assembler: translates assembly-language instructions into machine code and it creates one
line of machine code for each assembly- language instruction.

THE FETCH DECODE EXECUTE CYCLE


A CPU has three main components, and it uses these components when it is carrying out the
instructions in a computer program.
Arithmetic logic unit (ALU) : carries out the calculations needed during the
execution of a program.
Control unit: issues commands to the other hardware components to ensure that
programs are carried out correctly.
Registers: store data about memory locations instructions and data used during
executions of an instruction.
✓ Accumulator air agister used by the ACLU to store the results of the processing
the ACLU carries out.
✓ Program counter stores the address of the next instruction waiting to be
executed by the CPU.
✓ Current instruction register stores the address of the instruction the CPU is
currently executing.
✓ Memory address register holds the address of the memory location being
accessed either to read data from or write data to.

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✓ Memory data register any data or instructions that pass into or out of main
memory must pass through the MDR.
Fetch decode execute
Computer programs stored in ram are carried out by the CPU one instruction at a time. The
cup CPU operates at an extremely high speed and when it is executing a computer program it
is able to carry out many instructions every second . It does this by going through a set of
steps known as the fetch decode execute cycle.
The fetch-decode-execute cycle has three stages:
• Fetch the CPU fetches an instruction from a location in memory.
• Decode the CPU works out what the instruction means (telling the CPU what to do).
• Execute once the CPU has figured out what it has to do, it carries out that instruction.
The processor will continually fetch instructions from memory, decode them and then
execute those instructions.

Logic circuits

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