CSE 2421 MIDTERM 1 LATEST
EXAM QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS 2026 - 2027
UNIX - ANSWERS--Proprietary
-AT&T, Bell Labs
-Bourne Shell
-Solaris, macOS, HP-UX
-Not portable
Linux - ANSWERS--Open source
-Linus Torvald
-BASH(Bourne Again Shell)
-Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Android
-Portable
What made UNIX different from all other commercially available
software systems when it was initially developed? - ANSWERS-UNIX
was different from other software's at the time because it only needed
one portion of code changed per system called the kernel. Originally,
OSs had to be completely rewritten for every system.
END OF
PAGE
1
, CSE 2421 MIDTERM 1 LATEST
EXAM QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS 2026 - 2027
What was the C programming language initially created? - ANSWERS-
C was originally developed to help create the UNIX OS and its utilities
How is white space (tabs/newlines/returns, spaces, etc.) handled within a
C program file? - ANSWERS-White spaces are generally ignored by the
C compiler. I believe this is a good thing because all white space adds is
readability for humans
What does the command cd cse2421 do? - ANSWERS-Changes the
current working directory to cse2421
What does the command cd ~ do? - ANSWERS-Changes the current
working directory to your home-directory
What does the command wc lab1.c do? - ANSWERS-Counts number of
lines/words/characters in a file
What does the man command allow you to do? - ANSWERS-Reads the
online manual for the current version of a command
END OF
PAGE
2
, CSE 2421 MIDTERM 1 LATEST
EXAM QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS 2026 - 2027
What does the command mv file1 file2 do? - ANSWERS-Changes the
name of file1 to file2
What is the format for the mv command? - ANSWERS-mv [options]
source destination
What does an asterisk(*) specify in a file name? - ANSWERS-The
asterisk specifies all files
Can the second parameter of a mv command legally be a directory
name? - ANSWERS-Yes
If you put an & character at the end of your command, what happens? -
ANSWERS-Linux opens a new command window and launches the
command in that window
Why aren't open source systems always free? - ANSWERS-Corporate
support versions and specially modified versions cost a premium
Free as in freedom, not free
END OF
PAGE
3
, CSE 2421 MIDTERM 1 LATEST
EXAM QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS 2026 - 2027
Differences between C and Java - ANSWERS--C does not support the
notion of classes or objects, in an object-orientated sense
-C does not support encapsulation as all memory is
modifiable/executable
-does not support inheritance
-procedure-orientated, not object-orientated
-compiled, not interpreted like java
-C has functions, java has methods
-C is not portable(platform dependent), where java is portable
-developed in early 70s vs 1995 for java
Compile time errors (static errors) - ANSWERS-Errors found during
compilation
e.g. syntax errors
Run time errors (dynamic errors) - ANSWERS-Errors found while
running the program
END OF
PAGE
4
EXAM QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS 2026 - 2027
UNIX - ANSWERS--Proprietary
-AT&T, Bell Labs
-Bourne Shell
-Solaris, macOS, HP-UX
-Not portable
Linux - ANSWERS--Open source
-Linus Torvald
-BASH(Bourne Again Shell)
-Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Android
-Portable
What made UNIX different from all other commercially available
software systems when it was initially developed? - ANSWERS-UNIX
was different from other software's at the time because it only needed
one portion of code changed per system called the kernel. Originally,
OSs had to be completely rewritten for every system.
END OF
PAGE
1
, CSE 2421 MIDTERM 1 LATEST
EXAM QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS 2026 - 2027
What was the C programming language initially created? - ANSWERS-
C was originally developed to help create the UNIX OS and its utilities
How is white space (tabs/newlines/returns, spaces, etc.) handled within a
C program file? - ANSWERS-White spaces are generally ignored by the
C compiler. I believe this is a good thing because all white space adds is
readability for humans
What does the command cd cse2421 do? - ANSWERS-Changes the
current working directory to cse2421
What does the command cd ~ do? - ANSWERS-Changes the current
working directory to your home-directory
What does the command wc lab1.c do? - ANSWERS-Counts number of
lines/words/characters in a file
What does the man command allow you to do? - ANSWERS-Reads the
online manual for the current version of a command
END OF
PAGE
2
, CSE 2421 MIDTERM 1 LATEST
EXAM QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS 2026 - 2027
What does the command mv file1 file2 do? - ANSWERS-Changes the
name of file1 to file2
What is the format for the mv command? - ANSWERS-mv [options]
source destination
What does an asterisk(*) specify in a file name? - ANSWERS-The
asterisk specifies all files
Can the second parameter of a mv command legally be a directory
name? - ANSWERS-Yes
If you put an & character at the end of your command, what happens? -
ANSWERS-Linux opens a new command window and launches the
command in that window
Why aren't open source systems always free? - ANSWERS-Corporate
support versions and specially modified versions cost a premium
Free as in freedom, not free
END OF
PAGE
3
, CSE 2421 MIDTERM 1 LATEST
EXAM QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS 2026 - 2027
Differences between C and Java - ANSWERS--C does not support the
notion of classes or objects, in an object-orientated sense
-C does not support encapsulation as all memory is
modifiable/executable
-does not support inheritance
-procedure-orientated, not object-orientated
-compiled, not interpreted like java
-C has functions, java has methods
-C is not portable(platform dependent), where java is portable
-developed in early 70s vs 1995 for java
Compile time errors (static errors) - ANSWERS-Errors found during
compilation
e.g. syntax errors
Run time errors (dynamic errors) - ANSWERS-Errors found while
running the program
END OF
PAGE
4
