WGU D444 CERTIFICATION SCRIPT 2026
QUESTIONS WITH SOLUTIONS GRADED A+
◍ Application binary interface (ABI).
Answer: The user portion of the instruction set plus the operating system
interfaces used by application programmers. It defines a standard for binary
portability across computers.
◍ Register File.
Answer: A state element that consists of a set of registers that can be read
and written by supplying a register number to be accessed.provides 1024
scalar 32-bit registers for up to 64 threads.
◍ Memory hierarchy.
Answer: A structure that uses multiple levels of memories; as the distance
from the processor increases, the size of the memories and the access time
both increase.
◍ CDC 6600.
Answer: This system is widely considered to have been the first
supercomputer. Also first load-store architecture
◍ SDIV.
Answer: Signed divide
◍ SUBI.
Answer: subtract immediate
◍ Stack Architecture.
Answer: no registerIn the 1960s, believing that compilers were not good at
register allocation, some companies eliminated registers and instead
transferred operands onto and off of the stack, similar to what was done in
Hewlett-Packard calculators.
,◍ Accumulator Architecture.
Answer: One operand of a binary operation is implicitly in the
accumulatorThe earliest computers had only one register to perform
arithmetic operations. All operations would accumulate in the single
register, called the accumulator.
◍ Physically addressed cache.
Answer: A cache that is addressed by a physical address.
◍ output.
Answer: The results of the operation of any system.
◍ Instruction Set Architecture (ISA).
Answer: Also called architecture. An abstract interface between the
hardware and the lowest-level software that encompasses all the information
necessary to write a machine language program that will run correctly,
including instructions, registers, memory access, I/O, and so on
◍ Return address.
Answer: A link to the calling site that allows a procedure to return to the
proper address; in MIPS it is stored in registerLR (X30)
◍ RAID 4.
Answer: Block-level striping with dedicated parity. Not often used, replaced
with RAID 5.
◍ Blocking.
Answer: a failure to retrieve information that is available in memory even
though you are trying to produce itcan help reduce cache miss rate
◍ RISC Architecture.
Answer: Reduced instruction set computer architectureRelies on small and
simple instructions instead of more complex and specialized instructions.
Most current instruction set employ the architecture model
◍ Secondary memory.
Answer: Nonvolatile memory used to store programs and data between runs;
, typically consists of flash memory in PMDs and magnetic disks in servers.
◍ Pipelining.
Answer: Technique that allows the CPU to work on more than one
instruction at a timeFormulatotal process time = [longest task * (total load
-1)] + total load time
◍ Nonvolatile Memory.
Answer: A form of memory that retains data even in the absence of a power
source and that is used to store programs between runs. A DVD disk is
nonvolatile.
◍ FCMPS, FCMPD.
Answer: Single- and double-precision comparison
◍ system software.
Answer: The set of programs that enables a computer's hardware devices
and application software to work together; it includes the operating system
and utility programs.
◍ Smaller is faster.
Answer: A very large number of registers may increase the clock cycle time
simply because it takes electronic signals longer when they must travel
farther.Guidelines such as "smaller is faster" are not absolutes; 31 registers
may not be faster than 32. Even so, the truth behind such observations
causes computer designers to take them seriously. In this case, the designer
must balance the craving of programs for more registers with the designer's
desire to keep the clock cycle fast. Another reason for not using more than
32 is the number of bits it would take in the instruction format.
◍ Multithreading.
Answer: allows multiple commands, or threads to run simultaneously
◍ Uniform Memory Access (UMA).
Answer: A multiprocessor in which latency to any word in main memory is
about the same no matter which processor requests the access.
QUESTIONS WITH SOLUTIONS GRADED A+
◍ Application binary interface (ABI).
Answer: The user portion of the instruction set plus the operating system
interfaces used by application programmers. It defines a standard for binary
portability across computers.
◍ Register File.
Answer: A state element that consists of a set of registers that can be read
and written by supplying a register number to be accessed.provides 1024
scalar 32-bit registers for up to 64 threads.
◍ Memory hierarchy.
Answer: A structure that uses multiple levels of memories; as the distance
from the processor increases, the size of the memories and the access time
both increase.
◍ CDC 6600.
Answer: This system is widely considered to have been the first
supercomputer. Also first load-store architecture
◍ SDIV.
Answer: Signed divide
◍ SUBI.
Answer: subtract immediate
◍ Stack Architecture.
Answer: no registerIn the 1960s, believing that compilers were not good at
register allocation, some companies eliminated registers and instead
transferred operands onto and off of the stack, similar to what was done in
Hewlett-Packard calculators.
,◍ Accumulator Architecture.
Answer: One operand of a binary operation is implicitly in the
accumulatorThe earliest computers had only one register to perform
arithmetic operations. All operations would accumulate in the single
register, called the accumulator.
◍ Physically addressed cache.
Answer: A cache that is addressed by a physical address.
◍ output.
Answer: The results of the operation of any system.
◍ Instruction Set Architecture (ISA).
Answer: Also called architecture. An abstract interface between the
hardware and the lowest-level software that encompasses all the information
necessary to write a machine language program that will run correctly,
including instructions, registers, memory access, I/O, and so on
◍ Return address.
Answer: A link to the calling site that allows a procedure to return to the
proper address; in MIPS it is stored in registerLR (X30)
◍ RAID 4.
Answer: Block-level striping with dedicated parity. Not often used, replaced
with RAID 5.
◍ Blocking.
Answer: a failure to retrieve information that is available in memory even
though you are trying to produce itcan help reduce cache miss rate
◍ RISC Architecture.
Answer: Reduced instruction set computer architectureRelies on small and
simple instructions instead of more complex and specialized instructions.
Most current instruction set employ the architecture model
◍ Secondary memory.
Answer: Nonvolatile memory used to store programs and data between runs;
, typically consists of flash memory in PMDs and magnetic disks in servers.
◍ Pipelining.
Answer: Technique that allows the CPU to work on more than one
instruction at a timeFormulatotal process time = [longest task * (total load
-1)] + total load time
◍ Nonvolatile Memory.
Answer: A form of memory that retains data even in the absence of a power
source and that is used to store programs between runs. A DVD disk is
nonvolatile.
◍ FCMPS, FCMPD.
Answer: Single- and double-precision comparison
◍ system software.
Answer: The set of programs that enables a computer's hardware devices
and application software to work together; it includes the operating system
and utility programs.
◍ Smaller is faster.
Answer: A very large number of registers may increase the clock cycle time
simply because it takes electronic signals longer when they must travel
farther.Guidelines such as "smaller is faster" are not absolutes; 31 registers
may not be faster than 32. Even so, the truth behind such observations
causes computer designers to take them seriously. In this case, the designer
must balance the craving of programs for more registers with the designer's
desire to keep the clock cycle fast. Another reason for not using more than
32 is the number of bits it would take in the instruction format.
◍ Multithreading.
Answer: allows multiple commands, or threads to run simultaneously
◍ Uniform Memory Access (UMA).
Answer: A multiprocessor in which latency to any word in main memory is
about the same no matter which processor requests the access.
