Deck 6: Low-Level Programming Languages and Pseudocode

Question 1

Which of the following best describes a virtual computer?

A) A hypothetical computer with unlimited memory
B) A hypothetical computer with an unlimited instruction set
C) A hypothetical computer used to illustrate the features of a real machine
D) A programmed simulator for a real CPU like a Pentium 4
E) A programmed simulator of multiple CPUs

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which part of the Pep/9 instruction specifier indicates which instruction is to be carried out?

A) Operation code
B) Register specifier
C) Addressing mode specifier
D) Status bit
E) Accumulator

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which of the following is not an operation that can be performed by a Pep/9 machine instruction?

A) Stop execution
B) Load the operand into the accumulator
C) Store the contents of the accumulator into the operand
D) Add the contents of the program counter to the accumulator
E) Read character input and store into the operand

Answer 3

D

Question 4

What is an assembler directive?

A) An assembly language instruction
B) An instruction to the assembler program
C) A human-readable comment
D) An alternative way to specify the operand
E) An instruction that begins the assembly language translation

Question 5

Given that the word length in the Pep/9 virtual computer is 2 bytes, how long is the information that flows into and out of the arithmetic/logic unit (ALU) of the PEP/9's CPU?

A) 16 bits
B) 8 bits
C) 32 bits
D) 64 bits
E) 128 bits

Question 6

Machine language is the set of binary-coded instructions that are executed directly by a computer.

Question 7

The Pep/9 character input instruction specifies the register into which a character is to be stored.

Question 8

An assembler directive is an instruction to the assembler itself.

Question 9

Assembly language is an abstraction, hiding some of the details that occur at the machine language level.

Question 10

A(n) _______________ is a hypothetical machine used to illustrate the features of a real machine.

Question 11

A(n) _______________ is a program that puts a machine-language program into memory so that it can be executed.

Question 12

An assembly-language program uses _______________ to represent instructions.

Question 13

In _______________ testing, tests are designed based on the logic of the code.

Question 14

How many hexadecimal digits are needed to describe the bit pattern in a byte? Why?

Question 15

What is the word length of the Pep/9 machine?

Question 16

What does an assembler accept as input and what does it produce as output?

Question 17

Where is the operand if the address mode specifier is 001?

Question 18

What is a memory address?

Question 19

What is an assembler directive?

Question 20

Which language is actually executed by the central processing unit of a computer?

A) High-level language
B) Assembly language
C) Machine language
D) Virtual language
E) Accumulator language

Question 21

Which of the following is not a valid mnemonic in the Pep/9 assembly language?

A) STOP
B) LDWA
C) ADDA
D) STWA
E) REPEAT

Question 22

Which of the following is true about black-box testing?

A) The test cases are based on the code.
B) The test cases are based on the input.
C) The test cases are based on the output.
D) The testing is performed by dedicated testers.
E) The testing is performed each time the program changes.

Question 23

Which of the following is part of a Pep/9 program instruction?

A) Accumulator
B) Simulator
C) Program counter
D) Specifier
E) Register

Question 24

In which of the following are tests designed based only on possible input data (rather than code)?

A) Clear-box testing
B) Code-coverage approach
C) Black-box testing
D) Test plan implementation

Question 25

Each machine language instruction performs a single complex task, such as sorting a list of numbers.

Question 26

Very few programs are written in machine language today.

Question 27

The Pep/9 system includes a simulator that can be used to input and run programs.

Question 28

Machine language programs are loaded into the Pep/9 simulator by specifying the instructions in hexadecimal.

Question 29

Assembly language allows program instructions to be specified using mnemonics that correspond to machine language instructions.

Question 30

In Pep/9 assembly language, decisions can be made using instructions that check the status of the accumulator.

Question 31

The data-coverage testing approach tests the limits of the program's data.

Question 32

Assembly language instructions are executed directly by the hardware of a particular computer.

Question 33

The input to an assembler is an assembly language program.

Question 34

A test case is a document that specifies how a program is to be tested.

Question 35

Which register contains the address of the next instruction to be executed?

A) Program counter
B) Instruction register
C) Index register
D) Accumulator
E) Status register

Question 36

Which Pep/9 addressing mode indicates that the operand contains the location of data rather than the data itself?

A) Accumulator
B) Direct
C) Immediate
D) Virtual
E) Status

Question 37

Which of the following does not represent a function of the accumulator (A register)?

A) Data loaded from main memory is stored in the accumulator.
B) Results of ALU operations are stored in the accumulator.
C) The contents of an instruction's operand specifier can be stored in the accumulator.
D) The contents of the accumulator can be subtracted from the instruction register.
E) The contents of the accumulator can be stored to main memory.

Question 38

A virtual computer is a hypothetical machine in which there are no limits on memory use.

Question 39

True or False? Character input and output in Pep/9 uses a principle called memory-mapped I/O.

Question 40

An assembler is used to execute an assembly language program directly on the central processing unit.

Question 41

In the Pep/9 machine, the contents of the A register can be compared to the contents of a place in memory.

Question 42

The code-coverage testing approach eliminates the need to test some of the code by covering it with a theoretical "black box."

Question 43

Konrad Zuse's 1936 patent application for the Z1 computer, with program and data modifiable in storage, anticipated the von Neumann architecture by nine years.

Question 44

The _______________ is a register used to hold the address of the next instruction to be executed.

Question 45

A(n) _______________ is a program that translates an assembly-language program into machine code.

Question 46

A(n) _______________ is an instruction for the translating program.

Question 47

___________________ is an approach to computer program testing that designs tests cases to ensure that each statement in the program is executed properly.

Question 48

____________________ is an approach to computer program testing that involves designing tests to ensure that the limits of the permissible data are covered.

Question 49

A(n) ______________________ is a section of code that repeats.