After completing the reading Chapter 1, please reflect on ONE of the following questions:
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a) Pick one of the protocols listed below and report on its origin, purpose and supporting organization. When using the Internet for research purposes, be sure to give the Author (if available), date of the article (if available), name or title of the webpage, URL and the date accessed.
Protocol: PNG, HTML, XML, PDF, MPEG, MP3, HTTP, DVD-ROM
b) List five specific skills or abilities required of information technology (IT) systems architect or system analyst? (There are a lot of responsibilities listed in the text. Here is an example:
b-1) Design and implement systems that meet an organization’s information technology (IT) needs.
b-2) Compare the features of OS/X, Windows, and Linux knowledgeable and decide which ones are important.
2. What is the difference between machine language and assembly language?
3. Why is assembly language considered easier for humans to program in than machine language?
4. Why are self-modifying programs less common today than they were on early computers?
5. Explain briefly why the quality of a compiler has more impact on the execution time of the program developed using the compiler than the quality of an assembler has on programs developed using the assembler.
6. What are the differences between RAM and ROM?
7. How does a multiprogrammed system present the illusion that multiple programs are running on the machine simultaneously? What factors can cause this illusion to break down?
8. Give one example of a problem that could occur if a computer allowed user programs to access I/O devices directly, rather than requiring them to go through the operating system.
9. Why is it necessary for a computer system to provide a privileged mode and a user-mode for programs?
10. Suppose that a computers memory system did not have the random-access property-that is, that memory references took different amounts of time to complete depending on which address they referenced. How would this complicate the process or program development?
11. Almost all computers in use today are stored-program computers that represent programs as a number stored in the same address space as data. The stored-program abstraction (representing instructions as numbers stored in memory) was one of the major breakthroughs in early computer architecture. Prior to this breakthrough, many computers were programmed by setting switches or rewiring circuit boards to define the new program. The stored-program abstraction provides two major advantages over previous approaches. Please describe these advantages. .Most computer systems can be divided into three subsystems. Please draw the diagram showing these subsystems (you may attach the picture of your diagram).
12. Please describe the basic building blocks that make up conventional systems: processors, memory, and I/O
13. What is the machine instruction?
14. What is the self-modifying program?
15. Please draw the processor block diagram which is made up of several building blocks: execution units, register files, and control logic (you may attach the picture of your diagram). Please remember that many processors contain separate execution units for integer and floating-point computations because very different hardware is required to handle these two data types.
16. Explain briefly why the quality of a compiler has more impact on the execution time of a program developed using the compiler that the quality of an assembler has on programs developed using the assembler.
Provide specific examples from the textbook or other sources to support your answer).
