According to Hailperin, an operating system is software that...
A allows users to interact easily with the computer hardware to run programs.
B uses the hardware resources of a computer system to provide support for the execution of other
software.
C regulates the sharing of limited computer resources, like the CPU, disk drive, RAM, etc.
D allows users to run applications, such as compilers, IDEs, etc.
All computers require an operating system to be useful.
A True
B False
Middleware is...
A software that runs on devices such as disk drive controllers or network interfaces to translate
requests from an operating system into instructions for that device.
B software that runs between the user and applications, e.g., the software that displays the Start
menu in Windows or the software executing in a Terminal to allow you to run programs.
C a layer of software that sits between a large program (such as a database) and the hardware the
program uses (such as the disk drive).
D software that sits between an operating system and applications, providing higher-level
services than the operating system itself provides.
A thread is...
A the fundamental unit of concurrency in a computer.
B a program executing on the CPU.
C the flow of execution of a program, line by line, and jumping into called functions, etc.
D a subsystem of a CPU that executes arithmetic computations.
A process can have no threads associated with it.
A True
B False
Virtual memory refers to ...
A the technique of translating every memory access from one address to another one.
B memory that a program can access, but actually only exists in disk blocks on secondary
storage.
C memory that can be added dynamically to an operating system, such as memory on a flash
drive or in the cloud.
D None of the above.
In the section "Supporting Interaction Across Time", the author talks about OS support
for...
A writing programs and data to persistent storage.
B executing programs at later times.
C supporting the interleaving of threads across time on a CPU.
D sending data from one program to another program on a remote computer.
Most operating systems support networking because...
A most operating systems must write data to remote file systems to save the data permanently.
B most operating systems cannot function without receiving data from remote servers, such as
web servers.
C users of computers need access to remote data served to them over networks.
D what good is a computer without the Internet?
Almost all parts of an operating system have security considerations.
A True
B False
A program contains __________________, whereas a thread consists of
_________________________.
A threads; tasks
B functions; instructions
C executing threads; a series of instructions
D instructions; the execution of those instructions
Most uses for concurrent threads serve one of two goals:
A Efficiency and allowing a user to run multiple programs simultaneously
B Efficiency and resource utilization
C Optimization and security
D Responsiveness and resource utilization
All threads come from user programs.
A True
B False
Thread switching is the most common form of ______________________ a thread.
A dispatching
B preempting
C interrupting
D terminating
When an OS requires the yield() call be inserted into code in order for multitasking to
occur, this is called ...
A iterative multitasking.
B cooperative multitasking.
C imperative multitasking.
D preemptive multitasking.
Preemptive multitasking requires the existence of a hardware interrupt mechanism.
A True
B False
Our class notes have a process/thread state called "Ready" state. Hailperin calls this state
...
A Executable
B Available
C Runnable
D Scheduled
The main source of context-switching overhead is
A the selection of the next thread to execute.
B execution of the code to save the old thread's state and "install" the new thread's state.
C entering and exiting kernel mode from user mode.
D the cost of accessing RAM that is not cached.
A thread in the Ready queue waiting to be run is said to be "busy waiting".
A True
B False