Chapter 1 checkpoint questions Flashcards
What is a program?
A program is a set of instructions that a computer follows to perform a task.
What is hardware?
Hardware is all the physical devices, or components, of which a computer is made.
List the five major components of a computer system.
The cpu, main memory, secondary storage devices, input devices, output devices
What part of the computer actually runs programs?
The CPU
What part of the computer serves as a work area to store a program and its data while the program is running?
Main memory
What part of the computer holds data for long periods of time, even when there is no power to the computer?
Secondary storage
What part of the computer collects data from people and from other devices?
Input device
What part of the computer formats and presents data for people or other devices?
Output device
What fundamental set of programs control the internal operations of the computer’s hardware?
The operating system
What do you call a program that performs a specialized task, such as a virus scanner, a file compression program, or a data backup program?
Utility program
Word processing programs, spreadsheet programs, email programs, web browsers, and game programs belong to what category of software?
Application software
What amount of memory is enough to store a letter of the alphabet or a small number?
A bit
In what numbering system are all numeric values written as sequences of 0s and 1s?
The binary numbering system
What encoding scheme is extensive enough to represent the characters of many of the languages in the world?
Unicode
A CPU understands instructions that are written only in what language?
Machine language
