CSCE 3600 - Exam 1 - Part 1 - Systems
Programming Overview Questions with
Verified Solutions
What is systems programming?
✔✔ The process of designing and implementing system software, such as operating systems and
utilities.
What is the role of an operating system?
✔✔ To manage hardware resources and provide services for application software.
What is a system call?
✔✔ A mechanism that allows user-level programs to request services from the operating system.
What is the difference between user mode and kernel mode?
✔✔ User mode is for running applications, while kernel mode has unrestricted access to
hardware and system resources.
What is the purpose of a linker in systems programming?
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, ✔✔ To combine object files into a single executable and resolve external references.
What is a process in the context of operating systems?
✔✔ An instance of a program in execution, including its code, data, and execution state.
What is a context switch?
✔✔ The process of saving and restoring the state of a process so that execution can be resumed
from the same point later.
What is virtual memory?
✔✔ A memory management technique that provides an application with the illusion of a large,
contiguous memory space.
What is a file descriptor?
✔✔ An integer handle used to identify an open file or other input/output resource in a program.
What is the purpose of a device driver?
✔✔ To facilitate communication between the operating system and hardware devices.
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Programming Overview Questions with
Verified Solutions
What is systems programming?
✔✔ The process of designing and implementing system software, such as operating systems and
utilities.
What is the role of an operating system?
✔✔ To manage hardware resources and provide services for application software.
What is a system call?
✔✔ A mechanism that allows user-level programs to request services from the operating system.
What is the difference between user mode and kernel mode?
✔✔ User mode is for running applications, while kernel mode has unrestricted access to
hardware and system resources.
What is the purpose of a linker in systems programming?
1
, ✔✔ To combine object files into a single executable and resolve external references.
What is a process in the context of operating systems?
✔✔ An instance of a program in execution, including its code, data, and execution state.
What is a context switch?
✔✔ The process of saving and restoring the state of a process so that execution can be resumed
from the same point later.
What is virtual memory?
✔✔ A memory management technique that provides an application with the illusion of a large,
contiguous memory space.
What is a file descriptor?
✔✔ An integer handle used to identify an open file or other input/output resource in a program.
What is the purpose of a device driver?
✔✔ To facilitate communication between the operating system and hardware devices.
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