cse 230 exam 1 Question and answers already
passed 2025/2026
Computer Architecture - correct answer Encompasses those aspects of a computing system that are
visible or important to the programmer
Instruction set - correct answer Assembly language instructions that can be executed by the processor
CPU registers - correct answer Storage within the processor; how many, names, sizes, usage limitations
Data representation - correct answer Signed and unsigned integers, characters, real
numbers, etc; sizes
I/O - correct answer Memory mapped (devices accessed by reading and writing
memory), ports (special instructions)
Memory - correct answer How much, address space, segmentation, cache levels
Instruction addressing modes - correct answer Where does data come from and where
does it go when an instruction is executed
Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) - correct answer a specification of the underlying
computer architecture. Every type of microprocessor has its own ISA
Computer Organization - correct answer Encompasses how to design and build the hardware to
implement the architecture (architecture comes first)
, machine language - correct answer all instructions and data are encoded in binary
Assembler - correct answer Symbolic representation of instructions that maps directly to the
architecture and machine language of the processor
mnemonics - correct answer represents machine language instructions
situations that warrant assembly language - correct answer trying to optimize a piece of code for speed
or space purposes
what does processor executes? - correct answer binary machine language instructions
in machine language, how are all instructions and data encoded - correct answer in binary
why do we prefer to use HLL - correct answer the programmer normally does not need to understand
the underlying instruction set architecture and HLL's are generally hardware-independent
Storage devices - correct answer DRAM memory, hard drive, SSD
Datapath - correct answer Processor hardware components that manipulate bits to execute
instructions.
Control - correct answer Processor hardware components that coordinate the activities taking place in
the datapath as instructions are being executed.
Central Processing Unit (CPU) - correct answer datapath and control
passed 2025/2026
Computer Architecture - correct answer Encompasses those aspects of a computing system that are
visible or important to the programmer
Instruction set - correct answer Assembly language instructions that can be executed by the processor
CPU registers - correct answer Storage within the processor; how many, names, sizes, usage limitations
Data representation - correct answer Signed and unsigned integers, characters, real
numbers, etc; sizes
I/O - correct answer Memory mapped (devices accessed by reading and writing
memory), ports (special instructions)
Memory - correct answer How much, address space, segmentation, cache levels
Instruction addressing modes - correct answer Where does data come from and where
does it go when an instruction is executed
Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) - correct answer a specification of the underlying
computer architecture. Every type of microprocessor has its own ISA
Computer Organization - correct answer Encompasses how to design and build the hardware to
implement the architecture (architecture comes first)
, machine language - correct answer all instructions and data are encoded in binary
Assembler - correct answer Symbolic representation of instructions that maps directly to the
architecture and machine language of the processor
mnemonics - correct answer represents machine language instructions
situations that warrant assembly language - correct answer trying to optimize a piece of code for speed
or space purposes
what does processor executes? - correct answer binary machine language instructions
in machine language, how are all instructions and data encoded - correct answer in binary
why do we prefer to use HLL - correct answer the programmer normally does not need to understand
the underlying instruction set architecture and HLL's are generally hardware-independent
Storage devices - correct answer DRAM memory, hard drive, SSD
Datapath - correct answer Processor hardware components that manipulate bits to execute
instructions.
Control - correct answer Processor hardware components that coordinate the activities taking place in
the datapath as instructions are being executed.
Central Processing Unit (CPU) - correct answer datapath and control
