Systems Programming Exam Review
Course Introduction
Systems Programming explores the fundamental concepts and techniques involved in developing software that provides services to the hardware and other software. This course covers topics such as low-level programming with languages like C, memory management, concurrency, input/output processing, process and thread management, as well as interacting with operating system APIs. Emphasis is placed on understanding how software communicates directly with hardware and the operating system, enabling students to design and implement efficient, reliable, and secure system-level applications.
Recommended Textbook
Understanding Operating Systems 5th Edition by Ann McHoes
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16 Chapters
800 Verified Questions
800 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: Introducing Operating Systems
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Sample Questions
Q1) A hybrid system is a combination of the ____ systems.
A) batch and interactive
B) batch and real-time
C) interactive and real-time
D) real-time and general-purpose
Answer: A
Q2) A typical ____ computer houses devices to perform audio, video, and graphic creation and editing.
A) multiprocessor
B) multimedia
C) networked
D) PDA
Answer: B
Q3) Onboard systems are computers placed inside other products to add features and capabilities.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 2: Memory Management: Early Systems
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Sample Questions
Q1) The first step in loading a job in a single-user system is storing the first memory location of program into the base register (for memory protection).
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) Memory is allocated during garbage collection.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) The best-fit allocation method keeps the free/busy lists organized by memory locations, low-order memory to high-order memory.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q4) A single-user system supports multiprogramming.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 3: Memory Management: Virtual Memory
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Sample Questions
Q1) Every time an instruction is executed, or a data value is used, the operating system (or the hardware) must translate the job space address, which is relative, into its physical address, which is absolute.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) A page interrupt is generated when a new page is brought into memory.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) In general, when a job is allocated to the CPU its Page Map Table is loaded into main memory while the Segment Map Tables are loaded only as needed.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q4) Demand paging offers a perfect solution to inefficient memory limitations. A)True
B)False Answer: False
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Chapter 4: Processor Management
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Sample Questions
Q1) The transition from one job or process status to another is initiated by either the Job Scheduler or the Process Scheduler.
A)True
B)False
Q2) When the operating system detects a nonrecoverable error, the following step ____, is performed first by the interrupt handler.
A) state of the interrupted process is saved
B) type of interrupt is described and stored C) interrupt is processed
D) processor resumes operation
Q3) The process state contains all of the data about the job needed by the operating system to manage the processing of the job.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The processor is also known as the CPU.
A)True B)False
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Chapter 5: Process Management
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Sample Questions
Q1) Consider the case of a home construction company with two application programs, purchasing (P1) and sales (P2), which are active at the same time. They each need to access two files, inventory (F1) and suppliers (F2), to update daily transactions. The following series of events will cause a deadlock. Fill in the missing event in the sequence.
1) Purchasing (P1) accesses the supplier file (F2).
2) Sales (P2) accesses the inventory file (F1).
3) Purchasing (P1) doesn't release the supplier file (F2) but requests the inventory file (F1), but P1 is blocked because F1 is being held by P2.
4) Meanwhile, ____
A) sales (P2) doesn't release the inventory file (F1) but requests the supplier file (F2)
B) sales (P2) does release the inventory file (F1) and then requests the supplier file (F2)
C) purchasing (P1) does release the supplier file (F2) which is then requested by sales (P2)
D) purchasing (P1) exits
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7
Chapter 6: Concurrent Processes
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Sample Questions
Q1) The master/slave configuration is an symmetric multiprocessing system.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Threads share the same resources as the process that created them.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The ____ configuration features several complete computer systems, each with its own memory, I/O devices, CPU, and operating system.
A) loosely coupled
B) master processor
C) start/end
D) master/slave
Q4) Test-and-set is a single indivisible machine instruction known simply as TS and was introduced by IBM for its multiprocessing System 360/370 computers.
A)True
B)False
Q5) A semaphore is a negative integer variable that is used as a binary signal.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 7: Device Management
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Sample Questions
Q1) RAID is a set of logical disk drives that is viewed as a single physical unit by the operating system.
A)True
B)False
Q2) DASDs are good for files with low activity (the percent of records accessed) or for users who access records in a random fashion.
A)True
B)False
Q3) When making CDs for sale, such as music or software CDs, data is recorded on a master disc by means of a high-intensity laser beam, which burns indentations, called pits, and flat areas, called ____.
A) lands
B) valleys
C) hills
D) lakes
Q4) Each unit in the I/O subsystem can finish its operation independently from the others.
A)True B)False
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Chapter 8: File Management
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Sample Questions
Q1) As long as users refer to files in the ____ directory, they can access their files without entering the complete name from the highest level to the lowest.
A) root
B) working
C) home
D) default
Q2) A record is a group of related bytes that can be identified by the user with a name, type, and size.
A)True
B)False
Q3) When a user gives a command to modify the contents of a file, it's actually a command to access folders within the file.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Many systems force users to have their files organized for fixed-length records if the records are to be accessed directly.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 9: Network Organization Concepts
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Sample Questions
Q1) Usually, the term "____" indicates a specific location in a network containing one or more computer systems.
A) site
B) host
C) node
D) remote
Q2) Packet switching is very similar to circuit switching.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Carrier sense multiple access (CSMA) is a ____-based protocol.
A) round robin
B) reservation
C) contention
D) detection
Q4) The physical topology of a network may not reflect its logical topology.
A)True
B)False
Q5) The Internet layer is equivalent to the data link layer of the OSI model.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 10: Management of Network Functions
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Sample Questions
Q1) Under a DO/S, resources are allocated based on negotiation and compromise among equally important peer sites in the distributed system.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Networks were created initially to share data.
A)True
B)False
Q3) To control the demand, the Memory Manager handles requests from the process manager to allocate and deallocate space based on ____.
A) the priority of each process
B) the network's usage patterns
C) the priority of the node generating the request
D) a round robin scheduling algorithm
Q4) Each kernel is operated by the application software which, in turn, is directed by the kernel running on the host computer.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 11: Security and Ethics
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Sample Questions
Q1) The most extreme form of encryption is partial encryption.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Any vulnerability at the operating system level opens the entire system to attack.
A)True
B)False
Q3) A single computer without access to e-mail or the Internet is easy to protect and has a low risk of attack.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Intruders have been known to capture user passwords by using a ____ to replace the standard login program on the computer with an identical fake login that captures keystrokes.
A) worm
B) masquerade program
C) Trojan horse
D) virtual login console
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Chapter 12: System Management
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Network Manager allows a network administrator to monitor the use of individual computers and shared hardware, and ensure compliance with software license agreements.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Blocking increases the number of physical I/O requests.
A)True
B)False
Q3) With reference to batch jobs, response time is called ____ time.
A) turnaround
B) job
C) batch
D) completion
Q4) Bottlenecks tend to develop ____.
A) when the system is underutilized
B) when resources reach their capacity
C) when the system is mismanaged
D) in a deadlocked system
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Chapter 13: Unix Operating System
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Sample Questions
Q1) ____ is a family of IEEE standards that define a portable operating system interface to enhance the portability of programs from one operating system to another.
A) POSIX
B) POSFIX
C) LINUX
D) STD
Q2) The ____ command is used to delete a file or directory.
A) rm
B) mv
C) del
D) erase
Q3) The following command ____ , will copy the contents of chapt1 and chapt2 into a file named sectiona.
A) chapt1, chapt2 < sectiona
B) cp chapt1 sectiona, cp chapt2 sectiona
C) cat chapt1 chapt2 > sectiona
D) ls chapt1, chapt2, sectiona
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Chapter 14: Ms-Dos Operating System
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Sample Questions
Q1) A commonly used filter is SORT, which accepts input from the keyboard, sorts that data, and displays it on the screen.
A)True
B)False
Q2) When the user is working in a directory or subdirectory, it is called the working directory and any file in that directory can be accessed by its relative name.
A)True
B)False
Q3) A personal computer has ____ interrupts and interrupt handlers.
A) 56
B) 128
C) 256
D) 1024
Q4) The DIR command displays directories and subdirectories in a hierarchical and indented list.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 15: Windows Operating Systems
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Sample Questions
Q1) The first Windows application was not a true operating system.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The ____ version of Windows introduced X.500-style directory services, Kerberos security, and improved Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM).
A) Windows NT Server version 4.0
B) Windows 2000 Server
C) Windows Server 2003
D) Windows Server 2005
Q3) Active Directory groups machines into administrative units called ____.
A) domains
B) sites
C) networks
D) nodes
Q4) The lower half of the virtual address space is accessible only to kernel-mode processes.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 16: Linux Operating System
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Sample Questions
Q1) In the Linux processor management system, SCHED_OTHER has the highest priority.
A)True
B)False
Q2) A file containing data or programs belonging to users is known as a(n) ____.
A) symbolic link
B) ordinary file
C) special file
D) named pipe
Q3) Filenames that begin with one or two periods are considered ____ files.
A) hidden
B) open
C) closed
D) public
Q4) When Linux allocates memory space, it allocates one GB of high-order memory to the kernel and three GB of memory to executing processes.
A)True
B)False
Q5) When a process requests pages, Linux loads them into disk.
A)True
B)False
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