Chapter 6 - Conditional Processing

Question 1

What flag is set when the result of an operation equals zero?

Answer 1

Zero flag

The Zero flag is set when the destination equals zero.

Question 2

What flag is set when an instruction generates a result that is too large for the destination operand?

Answer 2

Carry flag

The Carry flag is set when an unsigned value is out of range.

Question 3

What flag indicates that the destination operand is negative?

Answer 3

Sign flag

The Sign flag is set if the destination operand is negative and clear if positive.

Question 4

What flag is set when an instruction generates an invalid signed result?

Answer 4

Overflow flag

The Overflow flag is determined by XORing bit 7 carry with bit 6 Carry.

Question 5

What flag is set when an instruction generates an even number of 1 bits in the low byte of the destination operand?

Answer 5

Parity flag

The Parity flag reflects the evenness of 1 bits in the low byte.

Question 6

What flag is set when an operation produces a carry out from bit 3 to bit 4?

Answer 6

Auxiliary Carry flag

This flag indicates a carry between specific bits.

Question 7

What operation does the AND instruction perform?

Answer 7

Boolean AND operation

The AND instruction performs a bitwise AND between two operands.

Question 8

What happens to the Overflow and Carry flags after an AND instruction?

Answer 8

Cleared

The AND instruction always clears the Overflow and Carry flags.

Question 9

What operation does the OR instruction perform?

Answer 9

Boolean OR operation

The OR instruction performs a bitwise OR between two operands.

Question 10

What does the XOR instruction do?

Answer 10

Boolean exclusive-OR operation

The XOR instruction performs a bitwise exclusive OR between two operands.

Question 11

What is the result of the NOT instruction?

Answer 11

One’s complement

The NOT instruction toggles (inverts) all bits in an operand.

Question 12

What type of searches utilize techniques from propositional logic?

Answer 12

Boolean searches

Boolean searches use AND, OR, and NOT to filter search results.

Question 13

What does the AND connective do in Boolean searches?

Answer 13

Matches records containing both search terms

The AND connective is used to find results that include all specified terms.

Question 14

What does the OR connective do in Boolean searches?

Answer 14

Matches one or both search terms

OR is the broadest operator and returns any results containing either term.

Question 15

What does the NOT connective do in Boolean searches?

Answer 15

Excludes a particular search term

The NOT operator filters out unwanted terms from search results.

Question 16

What instruction performs a nondestructive AND operation?

Answer 16

TEST instruction

TEST does not modify the destination operand but affects the Zero flag.

Question 17

What does the CMP instruction do?

Answer 17

Compares destination and source operands

CMP performs nondestructive subtraction of source from destination.

Question 18

What flags does the CMP instruction affect?

Answer 18

Overflow, Sign, Zero, Carry, Auxiliary Carry, Parity flags

These flags indicate the result of the comparison.

Question 19

What does the JC instruction do?

Answer 19

Jump to a label if the Carry flag is set

JC is a conditional jump based on the Carry flag.

Question 20

What does the JZ instruction do?

Answer 20

Jump to a label if the Zero flag is set

JZ is a conditional jump based on the Zero flag.

Question 21

What does the JG instruction do?

Answer 21

Jump if greater (signed comparison)

JG checks if the left operand is greater than the right for signed values.

Question 22

What does the JA instruction do?

Answer 22

Jump if above (unsigned comparison)

JA is used for unsigned comparisons to check if the first operand is greater.

Question 23

What is the purpose of the JNL instruction?

Answer 23

Jump if not less

JNL checks if the left operand is greater than or equal to the right.

Question 24

What is the purpose of the JL instruction?

Answer 24

Jump if less

JL checks if the left operand is less than the right.

Question 25

What instruction is used to compare signed values in assembly?

Answer 25

CMP

Question 26

What does the instruction 'JG' do?

Answer 26

Jump if greater (signed)

Question 27

What does the instruction 'JA' do?

Answer 27

Jump if above (unsigned)

Question 28

What condition must be met for 'JLE' to transfer control?

Answer 28

EAX is less than or equal to Val1 (signed)

Question 29

What condition must be met for 'JBE' to transfer control?

Answer 29

EAX is below or equal to Val1 (unsigned)

Question 30

What does the instruction 'JZ' check for?

Answer 30

Jump if zero (ZF = 1)

Question 31

What does 'JAE' stand for?

Answer 31

Jump if above or equal (unsigned)

Question 32

In the context of conditional jumps, what does 'JE' mean?

Answer 32

Jump if equal

Question 33

What do the instructions 'LOOPZ' and 'LOOPE' have in common?

Answer 33

They both loop if zero (ZF = 1)

Question 34

What is the purpose of the 'LOOPNZ' instruction?

Answer 34

Loop if not zero (ZF = 0)

Question 35

What is the function of the 'CMP' instruction?

Answer 35

Compare two values

Question 36

Fill in the blank: The instruction '______' is used to compare two unsigned values.

Answer 36

CMP

Question 37

What is a key characteristic of the 'JNE' instruction?

Answer 37

Jump if not equal

Question 38

What does the instruction 'TEST' do?

Answer 38

Logical AND operation with setting flags

Question 39

True or False: The 'CMP' instruction can only compare signed integers.

Answer 39

False

Question 40

What is the purpose of the XOR instruction in the encryption example?

Answer 40

To transform every character in a string into a new value

Question 41

What is required for a 'WHILE' loop to execute?

Answer 41

The loop condition must be true

Question 42

What does 'JA' check for in conditional structures?

Answer 42

Jump if op1 > op2 (unsigned)

Question 43

What is the syntax for the 'LOOPZ' instruction?

Answer 43

LOOPZ destination

Question 44

What is the result of using 'XOR' for encryption?

Answer 44

Encrypts a message by transforming its characters

Question 45

What does 'JAE' check for?

Answer 45

Jump if op1 >= op2 (unsigned)

Question 46

What happens if the condition for 'JNG' is not met?

Answer 46

The jump is not taken

Question 47

What is the effect of the 'MOV' instruction?

Answer 47

Copies data from one location to another

Question 48

What kind of values do the instructions 'JBE' and 'JAE' deal with?

Answer 48

Unsigned values

Question 49

What is the purpose of the 'CMP' instruction in the lottery example?

Answer 49

To check if the user's number matches any winning number

Question 50

What does the 'JGE' instruction check?

Answer 50

Jump if greater or equal (signed)

Question 51

What does 'JNL' do?

Answer 51

Jump if not less (signed)

Question 52

What is the significance of the Zero flag (ZF)?

Answer 52

Indicates whether the last operation resulted in zero

Question 53

True or False: 'LOOP' decrements the ECX register.

Answer 53

True

Question 54

What does the instruction 'JAE' do?

Answer 54

Jump if above or equal (unsigned)

Question 55

Fill in the blank: The '______' instruction is used to check for even parity.

Answer 55

TEST

Question 56

What does 'JLE' check for?

Answer 56

Jump if less than or equal (signed)

Question 57

What is a common use for the 'CMP' instruction?

Answer 57

To compare two operands before a conditional jump

Question 58

What is a finite-state machine (FSM)?

Answer 58

A graph structure that changes state based on some input ## Footnote Also called a state-transition diagram

Question 59

What are the components of a graph representing an FSM?

Answer 59

Nodes and edges ## Footnote Nodes are squares or circles, edges are lines with arrows between the circles

Question 60

What is a directed graph in relation to FSM?

Answer 60

A more general structure of which FSM is a specific instance

Question 61

What are the three basic states represented by nodes in an FSM?

Answer 61

* Start state * Terminal state(s) * Nonterminal state(s)

Question 62

What does an FSM accept?

Answer 62

Any sequence of symbols that puts it into an accepting (final) state

Question 63

What can an FSM be used to recognize?

Answer 63

A sequence of characters governed by language rules (called a regular expression)

Question 64

What are the advantages of using a finite-state machine?

Answer 64

* Provides visual tracking of program's flow of control * Easy to modify * Easily implemented in assembly language

Question 65

What does JE stand for in assembly language?

Answer 65

Jump if equal

Question 66

What does JZ indicate in assembly language?

Answer 66

Jump if zero flag = 1

Question 67

What are some high-level conditional control flow directives in MASM?

Answer 67

* JE * JNE * JC * JZ * JNC * JP * JG * JL * JNG * JA * JB * JNA

Question 68

What is the purpose of CMP in assembly language?

Answer 68

Compares operands using implied subtraction and sets condition flags

Question 69

What are bitwise instructions used for?

Answer 69

Manipulating individual bits in operands ## Footnote Examples include AND, OR, XOR, NOT, TEST

Question 70

What is the function of conditional jumps in assembly?

Answer 70

Control the flow of execution based on the evaluation of conditions

Question 71

Fill in the blank: The flowchart is a ______ tool.

Answer 71

logic diagramming

Question 72

True or False: High-level conditional control flow directives in MASM can be used in 64-bit mode.

Answer 72

False

Question 73

What does LOOPZ do in assembly language?

Answer 73

Loops while zero flag is set

Question 74

What does LOOPNZ do in assembly language?

Answer 74

Loops while zero flag is not set

Question 75

What does the instruction call DisplayErrorMsg do?

Answer 75

Displays an error message for invalid input found

Question 76

What is the purpose of a state-transition diagram?

Answer 76

To visually represent the state changes in a finite-state machine

Question 77

What is the significance of the leading + or - sign in the FSM for signed integers?

Answer 77

Indicates whether the integer is positive or negative