Saturday 29 June 2013

CS 1632 SOFTWARE QUALITY ASSURANCE


CS 1632 SOFTWARE QUALITY ASSURANCE

2 Marks

Sample Questions and Answers

1. Define quality.

Quality is the degree of goodness of a product or service or perceived by the customer.

Quality concept is the way business organizations perform their business activities that

focuses on two things.

2. What is quality cost?

The expenditure incurred by the producer, by the user and by the community associated

with the product and service quality.

3. What are the building blocks of total quality management?

Management commitment, customer focus, process focus, continuous improvement,

benchmarking, teams, supplier teaming, employee involvement, training of employees,

inventory management, communication.

4. What are the 7 QC tools?

1. Check sheet

2. Graphs

3. Histograms

4. Pareto charts

5. Cause and effect diagrams

6. Scatter charts

7. Control charts

5. What is business process reengineering?

BPR is the search for, and the implementation of, radical change in business process to

achieve breakthrough results Define Quality Function Deployment.

6. Define Quality Function Deployment.

QFD is a systematic and structured planning tool which is used to convert the voice of

the customer into appropriate requirements.

7. Define six sigma.

Six sigma is a highly disciplined process that helps the enterprise to focus on

developing and delivering new perfect products and services.

8. What are the uses of arrow diagram?

Arrow diagrams help in scheduling the activities so that any project can be completed in

the best possible way. It will provide a time sequential action plan for all the tasks that

are to be carried out in a project.

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9. What are the different dimensions of quality?

Performance, features, reliability, conformance, durability, serviceability, aesthetics,

perceived quality and reputation, response.

10. What is external failure?

Costs of correction methods adopted to meet quality standards after reaching the

customers.

11. What are the uses of control charts?.

1. Monitoring the process.

2. Identifying the state of statistical control

3. Finding the reasons for out of control.

4. finding out of mean and variation

5. identifying the randomly occurring variations

12. Steps involved in the bench marking process.

Decide the function to be benchmarked, look into and understand the current

performance, plan, study the other players in the market, learn from the data that you

have collected, implement the findings.

13. What is statistical process control?

Statistical process control procedures are designed to divert attention from individual

data and focus on the system as a whole. SPC is used to measure and control the degree

of variation in material, service, process and product.

14. Define TQM.

Total quality management is customer oriented management philosophy and

strategy. It is centered on quality so as to result in customer delight.

15. What is quality planning?

Quality planning refers to the activities that establish the objectives and requirements

for quality.

16. What is quality improvement?

QM aims at attaining unprecedented levels of performance which are significantly

better than the past level.

17. What is quality management?

Quality management comprises all activities of the overall management function that

determine the quality policy, objectives and responsibilities, and implement them by

means such as other quality planning, quality control, etc.

18. What are the benefits of QFD?

1. Reduces product development time

2. Reduce engineering costs

3. Reduces the time to market.

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4. Improves design quality

5. Improves customer satisfaction.

6. Reduce quality costs. etc.

19. What is internal benchmarking>?

Internal benchmarking compares best practices followed in different departments with

in a company instead of looking other companies.

20. What are the four p’s focused on effective software project management?

1. People, 2. Product, 3. Process, 4. Project

21. Define software configuration management.

SCM is a set of activities that have been developed to manage change throughout

the life cycle of computer software.

23. What are CASE tools?

CASE is the use of computer based support in the S/W development process. Tools

used to assist in this way are known as CASE tools.

24. What are function-oriented metrics?

Function oriented software metrics use a measure of the functionality delivered by the

application as a normalization value. Since functionality can not be measured directly, it

must be derived indirectly using other direct measures.

25. Define white box testing?

White box testing sometimes called as glass box testing is a test case design method

that uses the control of the procedural design to drive test cases.

26. What are the steps implied by statistical quality assurance?

1. Information about s/w defects, 2. An attempt is made to trace each defect to its

underlying cause, 3. Using the pareto principle, 4. Move to correct the problems that have

caused the defects.

27. Define Verification and Validation.

Verification refers to the set of activities that ensure that s/w correctly implements a

specific function. Validation refers to a different set of activities that ensure that the s/w

that has been built is traceable to customer requirements.

28. What is RMM plan?

The risk mitigation, monitoring, and management plan documents all work performed

as part of risk analysis and is used by the project manager as part of the overall project

plan. Once the RMMM has been documented and the project has begun risk mitigation

and monitoring steps commence.

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29. What are the qualities team leaders should posses?

Motivation, organization, ideas and innovation, problem solving, managerial identity,

achievement, and influence and team building.

30. What is an agile team?

Agile software development encourages customer satisfaction and early incremental

delivery. Agile team Is a highly motivated project team which adopts informal methods,

and overall development simplicity.

31. What are the categories of activities connected with measurement process?

Formulation, Collection, Analysis, Interpretation and feedback.

31. What are the different measurable characteristics of an OO design?

Size, complexity, coupling, sufficiency, completeness, cohesion, primitiveness,

similarity, volatility.

32. What are the measures of software quality?

Correctness, maintainability, integrity usability.

33. What is metrics evaluation?

Metrics evaluation focuses on the underlying reasons for the results obtained and

produces a set of indicators that guide the project or process.

34. What is software quality assurance?

Software quality assurance is a planned and systematic pattern of actions that are

required to ensure high quality in software.

35. What is SQA group?

SQA group consists of many different constituencies like software engineers, project

managers, customers, salespeople and the individuals which are having software quality

assurance responsibility.

36. What are the activities associated with SQA group?

Planning, oversight, record keeping, analysis and reporting.

37. What are the different SCM features?

Versioning, dependency tracking and change management, requirements tracing,

configuration management, audit trails.

38. What are reactive risk strategies?

Reactive strategy the software team does nothing about risks until something goes

wrong.

39. What are the characteristics of software risks?

Uncertainty and loss

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40. What is software availability?

Software availability is the probability that a program is operating according to

requirements at a given point in time.

41. What are the management responsibilities regarding ISO 9001 requirements?

Management commitment, Customer focus, Quality policy, Planning, Responsibility,

Authority, Communication, and Management review.

42. Define SPICE.

SPICE (Software Process Improvement and Capability dEvelopement) standard defines

a set of requirements for software process assessment. The intent of the standard is to

assist organizations in developing an objective evaluation of the efficacy of any defined

software process.

43. What is MALCOLM BALDRGE award?

MALCOLM BALDRIGE award is the most prestigious quality award in the United

States. The award is given annually to recognize U.S companies that exceed in quality

management and quality achievement.

44. What are the ISO 9000 series of quality management standards?

ISO 9000, ISO9001, ISO9002, ISO9003, ISO9003, ISO9004

45. Define CMM.

The capability maturity model (CMM) for s/w is a widely accepted set of guidelines for

developing high performance s/w organizations.

46. What are the capability levels defined in SPICE?

Level0: Not performed, 1: Performed informally, 2: Planned and tracked, 3: Well

defined, 4: Quantitatively controlled, 5: Continuously improving.

47. What are the types of accreditation?

First party, Second party, Third party.

48. What are the components of the ISO 9000 series to which SPICE is related?

ISO 9001, ISO 9000-3, ISO 9004-4., ISO DIS.

49. What is and assessment instrument?

An assessment instrument is a tool, or set of tools, used during the performance of an

assessment to assist the assessor in obtaining reliable, consistent and repeatable results.

50. What are the goals of SPICE project?

1. developing a working draft for a standard for software process assessment

2. conducting industry trials of the emerging standards.

3. promoting the technology transfer of software process assessment into the software

industry world wide.

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51. What are the benefits that an international standard will provide to industry?

1. Software suppliers will submit to just one process assessment scheme.

2. Software development organizations will have a tool to initiate and sustain a

continuous process improvement

3. Programme managers will have a means to ensure that their software development is

aligned with, and supports, the business needs of the organization.

52. What are the benefits of ISO 9000 verification?

1. Provides know-how for establishing a quality management system.

2. Certification has become the minimum requirement of quality for any tender.

3. It is a status symbol for the organizations.

4. Improves products and services.

5. Improves employee morale.

53. What are the events associated with quality management?

Establishing, Documenting, Implementing, Maintaining, Continuously improving its

effectiveness.

54. What are the documents required to implement quality management system in an

organization?

1. Quality policy and quality objectives

2. Quality manual

3. Document to ensure the effective planning, operation and control of its processes

4. Records.

55. What are the pre-requisites for employees?

Education, training, skill, experience

56. What are the requirement of internal auditing?

1. Set up an internal audit program

2. Develop an internal audit procedure

3. Plan internal audit procedure.

4. Perform regular internal audits

5. Take corrective action.

57. What are the different organizations to which the Malcolm Balridge award is given?

1. Manufacturing

2. Service

3.Small businesses

58. What are the different process maturity levels?

1. Initial

2. Repeatable

3. Defined

4. Managed

5. Optimizing

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59. Who are the steps organizations has to take to improve their software capabilities??

1. Understand the current status

2. Develop a vision of the desired process

3. Establish a list of process improvement actions.

4. Produce a plan to accomplish the required actions.

5. Commit the resources to execute theplans.

60. What are the requirements of ISO 9001: 2000 standard?

1. Demonstrate ability to consistently provide product that meets customer and

applicable regulatory requirements.

2. Enhance customer satisfaction.

61. What are the different principles of software assessment?

1. Start with a process model

2. Observe strict confidentiality

3. Involve senior management

4. Keep an open mind and a level head

5. Focus on action

62. Who are the different inspection participants?

1. The moderator

2. The producers

3. The reviewers

63. Define software engineering process.

The total set of software engineering activities needed to a user’s requirement into

software.

64. Define software process architecture.

A framework within which project specific software process are defined

65. Define software process model.

One specific embodiment of a software process architecture.

66. Define software process.

The set of activities, methods, and practices that are used in the production and

evolution of software.

67. What are the critical software process issues?

Quality, product technology, Requirement instability and complexity.

68.What are the different process model views?

Organizational view and Control and measurement view.

69. What are the drawbacks of water fall model?

1. It does not adequately address changes.

2. It assumes a relatively uniform and orderly sequence of development steps.

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3. It does not provide for such methods as rapid prototyping or advanced languages.

70. What are the different levels of software process models?

U process models, A process models and U process models

71. What are the different types of software tests?

1. Unit testing

2. Integration testing

3. Function testing

4. Regression testing

5. System test

72. Define testing.

The process of executing a program with the intention of finding errors.

73. Define debugging.

Diagnosing the precise nature of a known error and then correcting it.

74. What are integration tests.

Integration tests verify the interfaces between system parts suchas modules,

components and subsystems.

75. What are regression tests?

Regression tests run a subset of previously executed integration and function tests to

ensure that program changes have not degraded the system.

76. What are installation tests?

Installation tests validate the instability and operability of the user’s system.

77. What are the major test plan elements?

1. Establish objectives for each test phase

2. Establish schedules and responsibilities for each test activity

3. Determine the availability of tools, facilities, and test libraries.

4. Establish the procedure and standards to be used for planning and conducting the

tests and reporting the test results.

5. Set the criteria for test completion as well as for the success of each test.

78. What should be the qualities of assessment team members?

The assessment team members should all be experienced software developers, and one

or more should have experience in each phase of the software process.

79. What are the different risks associated with a software process?

Schedule conflict, inadequate support and lack of follow through.

80. What are the basic objectives of inspections?

1. To find errors at the earliest

2. To ensure that the appropriate parties technically agree on the work.

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3. To verify that the work meets predefined criteria.

4. To formally complete a technical task

5. To provide data on the product and the inspection process.

81. Why defect prevention is crucial to the software process?

Finding and fixing errors accounts for much of the cost of software development and

maintenance. Also the process of fixing defects is even more error prone than original

software creation.

82. What are the principles of software defect prevention?

1. The programmers must evaluate their own errors

2. Feedback is essential part of defect prevention

3. There is no single cure – all that will solve all the problems.

4. Process improvement must be an integral part of the process.

5. Process improvement takes time to learn.

83. What are the different steps of software defect prevention?

Defect reporting, Cause analysis, action plan development, action implementation,

performance tracking and starting over.

84. What are the different errors for which defect prevention analysis is required?

Technological, Organizational, Historic, Group dynamic, Individual and others.

85. What are the different ways in which CMMI represents a process meta model?

As a Continuous model and as a staged model

86. What is PSP?

The personal software process emphasizes personal measurement of both the work

product that is produced and the resultant quality of the work product.

87. What are the different framework activities defined by PSP model?

Planning, High-level design, High level design-review, development and

postmortem.

88. What is postmortem in PSP?

Determining the effectiveness of the process using the measures and metrics is defined

as postmortem.

89. What are the objectives of TSP?

1. Build self-directed teams that plan and track their work.

2. Show managers how to coach and motivate their teams.

3. Accelerate software process improvement

4. Provide improvement guidance to high maturity organizations.

5. Facilitate university teaching of industrial – grade team skills.

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90. What are the framework activities defined by TSP?

Launch, high – level design, implementation, integration, and test and postmortem.

91. What is cleanroom software engineering?

The clean room process emphasizes rigor in specification and design, and formal

verification of each design element using correctness proofs that are mathematical based.

It also emphasizes statistical quality control. Cleanroom software engineering is a process

model that removes defects before they can precipitate serious hazards.

92. What are the tasks associated with cleanroom strategy?

Increment planning, Requirements gathering, Box structure specification, Formal

design, and Correctness verification. Code generation, inspection and verification,

statistical test planning, Statistical use testing and certification.

93. What are the different boxed used in cleanroom software engineering?

Black box, State box and Clear box

94. What is state box?

The state box is a simple generalization of a state machine. The state box uses a data

abstraction to determine the transition to the next state and the action that will occur as a

consequence of the transition.

95. What are the different models require for cleanroom software engineering

certification?

1. Sampling model

2. Component model

3. Certification model

96. What is object – oriented systems development methodology?

Object – oriented systems development is a way to develop software by building self

contained modules or objects that can be easily replaced, modified and reused.

Furthermore, it encourages a view of the world as a system of cooperative and

collaborating systems.

97. What are the reasons for the necessity of object – orientation?

1. Higher level abstraction

2. Seamless transition among different phases of software development.

3. Encouragement of good programming technique.

4. Promotion of reusability

98. What is UML?

Unified modeling language (UML) is intended to be a universal language for

modeling systems, meaning that it can express models of many different kinds and

purposes, just as a programming language or a natural language can be used in many

different ways.

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99. What are the different diagrams defined in UML?

Class diagram, Use-case diagram, Behavior diagram, interaction diagram, sequence

diagram, collaborative diagram, statechart diagram, activity diagram, implementation

diagram, component diagram, deployment diagram.

100. What is classification?

Classification is the process of checking to see if an object belongs to a category or a

class.

16 – MARKS

1. Explain Quality Function Deployment in detail.

Introduction – what is QFD? – QFD team – Benefits of QFD – customer

satisfaction, reduce implementation time, promotes team work, provides

documentation– House of quality – effectiveness, advantages, importance to

customer, target value, scale up factor, sales point – QFD process – Conclusion.

2. Describe in detail the standardization procedure of benchmarking.

Introduction – Definitions - Reasons for benchmarking – Process – function,

understanding performance, planning, internal benchmarking, competitive

benchmarking, process benchmarking, learning from data, using the findings,–

Advantages of benchmarking – Conclusion.

3. Explain how software quality assurance is ensured in a software firm.

Quality concepts – quality, quality control, quality assurance, cost of quality –

Software quality assurance- background issues, SQA activities – Software

reviews – Cost impact of software defects, defect amplification and removal –

Formal technical reviews – the review meeting, review reporting and record

keeping, review guidelines, sample-driven reviews- Formal approaches to SQA –

Statistical SQA, Software reliability.

4. Explain the seven basic quality control tools in detail.

Statistical process control- 7QC tools- check sheet – graphs – Histograms – bar

charts – cause and effect diagrams – Inter relationship diagrams – control charts –

Definition, steps example and applications.

5. Explain software project management in detail.

The management spectrum – Effective project management focuses on 4 P’s the

people, the product, the process, the project- people- the players, team leaders, the

software team, coordination and communication issues – the product – Software

scope, problem decomposition – The process- melding the product and the

process, problem decomposition – The project – W5HH Principle – Critical

Practices – risk management, empirical cost and schedule estimation, metric

based project management, eaned value tracking, defect tracking, People aware

program management.

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6. Explain how software quality assurance is ensured in a software firm

Quality concepts – quality, quality control, quality assurance, cost of quality –

Software quality assurance- background issues, SQA activities – Software

reviews – Cost impact of software defects, defect amplification and removal –

Formal technical reviews – the review meeting, review reporting and record

keeping, review guidelines, sample-driven reviews- Formal approaches to SQA –

Statistical SQA, Software reliability.

7. What are the different software testing tactics? Explain.

Testing fundamentals - Basis path testing – flow graph notation, independent

program paths, deriving test cases, graph matrices – Control structure testing –

Black box testing – Graph based testing method, equivalence partitioning,

Boundary value analysis, Orthogonal array testing – Object oriented testing

methods – White box testing – Testing methods applicable at the class level –

Interclass test case design – Testing for specialized environments, architectures,

and applications _ Testing patterns.

8. Write detail notes on risk management.

Reactive and proactive risk strategies – software risks – risk identification –

assessing overall project risks – risk components and diagrams – risk projection –

developing a risk table – assessing risk impact – risk refinement – risk mitigation

– monitoring and management.

9. Write detail notes on ISO9000 series of quality management standards.

The purpose of standards – The ISO9000 series – The contents of the standard

– seeking accreditation – An assessment of the ISO9001 standard- ISO9000-

3:notes for guidance on the application of ISO9001 to software development –

ISO9000-3 – The impact of ISO9000 and TickIT- survey design – Questionnaire

format – Impact of organization size upon uptake of third party accreditation –

Historical development of third party accreditation – Reasons for not having

external accreditation – The effect of business type and size for organizations

using QA procedures – Reasons for developers seeking or not seeking an external

QA standard

10. Account on CMM in detail.

Introducing Software Process Maturity - The Evolution of the CMM, Immature

versus Mature Software Organizations, Fundamental Concepts Underlying

Process Maturity, Total Quality Management and the CMM, Customer

Satisfaction, Benefits and Risks of Model-Based Improvement - The Software

Process Maturity Framework - The Structure of the Capability Maturity Model -

Interpreting the CMM - Using the CMM - The Key Areas for Level 2: Repeatable

- Process Areas for Level 3: Defined - The Key Process Areas for Level 4:

Managed - The Key Process Areas for Level 5:Optimizing..

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11. Give a detail note on SPICE in detail.

Principal goals – SPICE document – Capability levels – not performed,

performed informally, planned and tracked, well defined, quantitatively

controlled, continuously improving – Award categories – leadership, strategic

planning, customer and market focus, information and analysis, human source

focus, process management, business results – Overview of award process –

Relationship to other international standards.

12. Write detailed notes on Malcolm Baldrige award.

Categories of organizations – Quality award – Award criteria

13. Explain how software process assessment helps software organizations to improve

themselves.

Assessment overview – Assessment phases – Five assessment principles – Start

with a process model, observe strict confidentiality, involve senior management,

keep an open mind and level head, focus on action– The assessment process –

forming an assessment team, self – assessment considerations, assessment ground

rules, assessment team training, the on-site period– Assessment conduct –

implementation consideration.

14. Explain the testing phase of software development in detail.

Definitions – testing, verification, validation, debugging – The seven types of

software tests – Testing methods – Software testing principles – The axioms of

testing – The proper role of testing – Types of software tests – Unit testing –

Integration testing – Function testing – Regression testing – System test – Test

planning – The test files – The success criteria –Test development –Test coverage

techniques – Test execution and reporting – Test tools and methods – Real-time

testing – The test organization.

15. Give detailed description about software process assessment.

Assessment overview – assessment phases – Five assessment principles – the

assignment process – assessment conduct – implementation considerations.

16. Explain software inspections in detail.

Types of reviews – Inspection objectives – basic inspection principles – the

conduct of inspections – inspection training – reports and tracking – other

considerations – initiating an inspection program – future directions.

17. Explain OO methodology in detail.

OO system development – Object basics – OO system development life cycle –

Rumbaugh, Booch, Jacobson methodologies – Patterns – Frameworks – OO

analysis – classification, identifying object relationships, attributes, and methods

– OO design – designing classes, access layer, view layer – Quality assurance –

system usability and measuring user satisfaction

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18. Write detailed notes on the techniques for error cause analysis and defect prevention.

Defect prevention not a new idea – Why defect prevention is crucial to the

software process – The principles of software defect prevention – The steps of

software defect prevention - defect reporting – error cause categories – cause

analysis – The cause analysis meeting – The action team – Tracking action

progress – Prevention feedback - Process changes for defect prevention – Defect

prevention considerations –The role of tools and technology – The costs and

benefits of defect prevention - Management’s role.

19. Account on clean-room software engineering.

The clean-room approach – The clean-room strategy – functional specification –

black-box, state-box and clear-box specifications – clean-room design – design

refinement and verification – advantages of design verification – clean-room

testing – statistical use testing – certification.

20. Write notes on TSP and PSP.

Personal software process – framework activities – planning – high-level

design – high-level design view – development –postmortem.

Team software process – framework activities – launch – High-level design –

implementation – integration – test – postmortem.

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cs2304 system software 2 marks and 16 marks with answer


cs2304 system software 2 marks and 16 marks with answer


UNIT I - INTRODUCTION
1.
Define system software.


It consists of variety of programs that supports the operation of the computer. This software makes it possible for the user to focus on the other problems to be solved without needing to know how the machine works internally.
Eg: operating system, assembler, and loader.
2.
Give some applications of operating system.


To make the computer easier to use
To manage the resources in computer
Process management
Data and memory management
To provide security to the user.
Operating system acts as an interface between the user and the system
Eg:windows,linux,unix,dos
3.
Define compiler and interpreter.


Compiler is a set of program which converts the whole high level language program to machine language program.
Interpreter is a set of programs which converts high level language program to machine language program line by line.
4.
Define loader.


Loader is a set of program that loads the machine language translated by the translator into the main memory and makes it ready for execution.
5.
What is the need of MAR register?


MAR (memory address register) is used to store the address of the memory from which the data is to be read or to which the data is to be written.
6.
Draw SS instruction format.



opcode
L
B1
D1
B2
D2
0 78 15 16 19 20 31 32 35 36 47

It is a 6 byte instruction used to move L+I bytes data from the storage location1 to the storage location2.
Storage location1 = D1+ [B1]
Storage location2 = D2+ [B2] Eg: MOV 60,400(3),500(4)
7.
Give any two differences between base relative addressing and program counter relative addressing used in SIC/XE.



Base relative addressing
PC relative addressing
Target address is calculated using the The formula
Target address is calculated using the
formula
Target address = Displacement + [B]
B-base register
Target address = Displacement + [PC]
PC-program counter
Displacement lies between 0 to 4095
Displacement lies between –2048 to 2047

8.
Define indirect addressing


In the case of immediate addressing the operand field gives the memory location.The word from the given address is fetched and it gives the address of the operand.
Eg:ADD R5, [600]
Here the second operand is given in indirect addressing mode. First the word in memory location 600 is fetched and which will give the address of the operand.
9.
Define immediate addressing.


In this addressing mode the operand value is given directly. There is no need to refer memory. The immediate addressing is indicated by the prefix „#".
Eg: ADD #5
In this instruction one operand is in accumulator and the second operand is a immediate value the value 5 is directly added with the accumulator content and the result is stored in accumulator.
10.
List out any two CISC and RISC machine.


CISC –Power PC, Cray T3E
RISC – VAX, Pentium Pro architecture
11.
Following is a memory configuration:


Address Value Register R

1 5 5

5 7

6 5

What is the result of the following statement?

ADD 6(immediate) to R (indirect)
Here 6 is the immediate data and the next value is indirect data. ie the register contains the address of the operand. Here the address of the operand is 5 and its corresponding value is 7.
6 + [R] = 6+ [5] = 6+ 7 =13
12.
Following is a memory configuration:


Address Value Register R

4 9 6

5 7

6 2

What is the result of the following statement?

SUB 4(direct) to R (direct)
Here one operand is in the address location 4(direct addressing) and the next operand is
in the register (register direct).
The resultant value is 9 –6 =3.
13.
What is the name of X and L register in SIC machine and also specify its use.


A-accumulator
Used for arithmetic operation.ie in the case of arithmetic operations one operand is in the accumulator, and other operand may be an immediate value, register operand or memory content. The operation given in the instruction is performed and the result is stored in the accumulator register.
L-linkage register
It is used to store the return address in the case of jump to subroutine (JSUB) instructions.
14.
What are the instruction formats used in SIC/XE architecture? Give any one format.


Format 1 (1 byte), Format 2 (2 bytes), Format 3 (3 bytes) & Format 4(4 bytes) Are the different instructions used in SIC/XE architecture?

Format 2:

8 4 4

OPCODE
R1
R1
15.
Consider the instructions in SIC/ XE programming


10 1000 LENGTH RESW 4

20 ----- NEW WORD 3

What is the value assign to the symbol NEW?

In the line 10 the address is 1000 and the instruction is RESW 4. It reserves 4 word (3 x 4 =12) areas for the symbol LENGTH. Hence 12 is added to the LOCCTR.
Thus the value of the symbol NEW is 1000+12 =100C.
16.
What is the difference between the instructions LDA # 3 and LDA THREE?


In the first instruction immediate addressing is used. Here the value 3 is directly loaded into the accumulator register.

In the second instruction the memory reference is used. Here the address (address assigned for the symbol THREE) is loaded into the accumulator register.
17.
Differentiate trailing numeric and leading separate numeric.


The numeric format is used to represent numeric values with one digit per byte. In the numeric format if the sign appears in the last byte it is known as the trailing numeric. If the sign appears in a separate byte preceding the first digit then it is called as leading separate numeric.
18.
What are the addressing modes used in VAX architecture?


Register direct, register deferred, auto increment and decrement, program counter relative, base relative, index register mode and indirect addressing are the various addressing modes in VAX architecture.
19.
How do you calculate the actual address in the case of register indirect with immediate index mode?


Here the target address is calculated using the formula T.A = (register) + displacement.
20.
Write the sequence of instructions to perform the operation BETA = ALPHA + 1 using SIC instructions.


LDA ALPHA

ADD ONE

STA BETA

.... ....

ALPHA RESW 1

BETA RESW 1

ONE RESW 1

21.
Write the sequence of instructions to perform the operation BETA = ALPHA+5 using SIC/XE instructions.


LDA ALPHA

ADD #1

STA BETA

.... ....

ALPHA RESW 1

BETA RESW 1

22.
What is the use of TD instruction in SIC architecture?


The test device (TD) instruction tests whether the addressed device is ready to send or receive a byte of data. The condition code is set to indicate the result of this test. Setting of < means the device is ready to send or receive, and = means the device is not ready.





PART - B
1.
Explain about the SIC architecture


Memory
Registers
Data Format
Instruction format
Addressing modes
Instruction sets
I/O devices
2.
Write in detail about SIC / XE Architecture.


Memory
Registers
Data Format
Instruction format
Addressing modes
Instruction sets
3.
Mention the differences between SIC and SIC/XE.



SIC
SIC/XE
Here only five registers are used. A,X,L,SW and PC
Here there are nine registers.
A, X, L, SW, PC, B, S, T and F
Floating point hardware is used
There is no floating point hardware
Four different type of instruction
Only one instruction format is used formats
Two different addressing modes are used
Here there are many addressing modes

4.
Discuss about Instruction sets in SIC and SIC / XE.





UNIT II-ASSEMBLERS
1.
Define the basic functions of assembler.



? Translating mnemonic operation codes to their machine language equivalents.

? Assigning machine addresses to symbolic labels used by the programmer.

2.
What is meant by assembler directives? Give example.


These are the statements that are not translated into machine instructions, but they
provide instructions to assembler itself.

Example: START, END, BYTE, WORD, RESW and RESB.

3.
What is a forward reference?


It is a reference to a label that is defined later in a program.

Consider the statement

10 1000 STL RETADR

. . . .

. . . .

80 1036 RETADR RESW 1


The first instruction contains a forward reference RETADR. If we attempt to
translate the program line by line, we will unable to process the statement in line10 because
we do not know the address that will be assigned to RETADR .The address is assigned
later(in line 80) in the program.

4.
What are the three different records used in object program?


The header record, text record and the end record are the three different records used

in object program.

  • The header record contains the program name, starting address and length of the
  • program.
  • Text record contains the translated instructions and data of the program.
  • End record marks the end of the object program and specifies the address in the
  • program where execution is to begin.
  • 5.
What is the need of SYMTAB (symbol table) in assembler?


The symbol table includes the name and value for each symbol in the source
program, together with flags to indicate error conditions. Sometimes it may contain details
about the data area.

SYMTAB is usually organized as a hash table for efficiency of insertion and
retrieval.

6.
What is the need of OPTAB (operation code table) in assembler?


The operation code table contains the mnemonic operation code and its machine
language equivalent. Some assemblers it may also contain information about instruction
format and length. OPTAB is usually organized as a hash table, with mnemonic operation
code as the key.

7.
What are the symbols defining statements generally used in assemblers?


* ‘EQU’-it allows the programmer to define symbols and specify their values directly.
The general format is

Symbol EQU value

* ‘ORG’-it is used to indirectly assign values to symbols. When this statement is
encountered the assembler resets its location counter to the specified value.

The general format is

ORG value

In the above two statements value is a constant or an expression involving constants
and previously defined symbols.

8.
Define relocatable program.


An object program that contains the information necessary to perform required
modification in the object code depends on the starting location of the program during load
time is known as relocatable program.

9.
Differentiate absolute expression and relative expression.


If the result of the expression is an absolute value (constant) then it is known as
absolute expression.,

Eg : BUFEND – BUFFER

If the result of the expression is relative to the beginning of the program then it is
known as relative expression. Label on instructions and data areas and references to the
location counter values are relative terms.

Eg: BUFEND + BUFFER

10.
Write the steps required to translate the source program to object program.


  • Convert mnemonic operation codes to their machine language equivalents.
  • Convert symbolic operands to their equivalent machine addresses
  • Build the machine instruction in the proper format.
  • Convert the data constants specified in the source program into their internal
  • Machine representation
  • Write the object program and assembly listing.
  • 11.
What is the use of the variable LOCCTR (location counter) in assembler?



This variable is used to assign addresses to the symbols. LOCCTR is initialized to
the beginning address specified in the START statement. After each source statement is
processed the length of the assembled instruction or data area to be generated is added to
LOCCTR and hence whenever we reach a label in the source program the current value of
LOCCTR gives the address associated with the label.

12.
Define load and go assembler.


One pass assembler that generates their object code in memory for immediate
execution is known as load and go assembler. Here no object programmer is written out and
hence no need for loader.

13.
What are the two different types of jump statements used in MASM assembler?


Near jump

A near jump is a jump to a target in the same segment and it is assembled by
using a current code segment CS.

Far jump

A far jump is a jump to a target in a different code segment and it is assembled
by using different segment registers.

14.
What are the uses of base register table in AIX assembler?



A base register table is used to remember which of the general purpose registers are
currently available as base registers and also the base addresses they contain. USING
statement causes entry to the table and. DROP statement removes the corresponding table
entry.

15.
Differentiate the assembler directives RESW and RESB.


RESW –It reserves the indicated number of words for data area.

Eg: 10 1003 THREE RESW 1

In this instruction one word area (3 bytes) is reserved for the symbol THREE. If the
memory is byte addressable then the address assigned for the next symbol is 1006.

RESB –It reserves the indicated number of bytes for data area.

Eg: 10 1008 INPUT RESB 1

In this instruction one byte area is reserved for the symbol INPUT .Hence the address
assigned for the next symbol is 1009.

16.
Define modification record and give its format


This record contains the information about the modification in the object code

during program relocation. The general format is

Col 1 M

Col 2-7 starting location of the address field to be modified relative to the

beginning of the program

Col 8-9 length of the address field to be modified in half bytes.

17.
Write down the pass numbers(PASS 1/ PASS 2) of the following activities that
occur in a two pass assembler:



a. Object code generation b. Literals added to literal table

c. Listing printed d. Address location of local symbols


Answer:

a. Object code generation - PASS 2

b. Literals added to literal table – PASS 1

c. Listing printed – PASS2

d. Address location of local symbols – PASS1

18.
What is meant by machine independent assembler features?


The assembler feature that does not depend upon the machine architecture is known

as machine independent assembler features.

Eg: program blocks, Literals.

19.
How the register to register instructions are translated in assembler?


In the case of register to register instructions the operand field contains the register
name. During the translation first the object code is converted into its corresponding
machine language equivalent with the help of OPTAB. Then the SYMTAB is searched for
the numeric equivalent of register and that value is inserted into the operand field.

Eg: 125 1036 RDREC CLEAR X B410

B4-macine equivalent of the opcode CLEAR

10-numeric equivalent of the register X.

20.
What is meant by external references?


Assembler program can be divided into many sections known as control sections and
each control section can be loaded and relocated independently of the others. If the
instruction in one control section need to refer instruction or data in another control section
.the assembler is unable to process these references in normal way. Such references between
controls are called external references.

21.
Define control section.


A control section is a part of the program that maintains its identity after assembly;
each control section can be loaded and relocated independently of the others.

Control sections are most often used for subroutines. The major benefit of using
control sections is to increase flexibility.

22.
What is the difference between the assembler directive EXTREF and EXTDEF.


EXTDEF names external symbols that are defined in a particular control section and may be
used by other sections. EXTREF names external symbols that are referred in a particular
control section and defined in another control section.

23.
Give the general format of define record.


This record gives information about external symbols that are defined in a
particular control section. The format is

Col 1 D

Col 2-7 name of external symbol defined in this control section

Col 8-13 relative address of the symbol with in this control section

Col 14-73 name and relative address for other external symbols.

24.
Give the use of assembler directive CSECT and USE


CSECT - used to divide the program into many control sections

USE – used to divide the program in to many blocks called program blocks

25.
What is the use of the assembler directive START?


The assembler directive START gives the name and starting address of the program.

The format is

PN START 1000

Here PN –name of the program

1000-starting address of the program.






PART - B
1.
Explain in detail about basic assembler functions.


A simple SIC assembler

Assembler Algorithm

Data structures

2.
Explain about the machine-Dependent Assembler features.


Instruction formats

Addressing modes

Program Relocation

3.
Discuss in detail about the machine-Independent Assembler features.



Literals

Symbol-Defining Statements

Expressions

Program blocks

Control sections and Program Linking

4.
Explain in detail about the assembler Design options.



One-pass Assembler

Multi-pass Assembler

5.
Discuss in detail about MASM Assembler


Classes

Data Segments

Near jump

Far jump problem

Segments

MASM directives






UNIT III (LOADERS AND LINKERS)
1.
What are the basic functions of loaders



Loading – brings the object program into memory for execution

Relocation – modifies the object program so that it can be loaded at an address
different from the location originally specified

Linking – combines two or more separate object programs and also supplies the
information needed to reference them.

2.
Define absolute loader



The loader, which is used only for loading, is known as absolute loader.

e.g. Bootstrap loader

3.
What is meant by bootstrap loader?


This is a special type of absolute loader which loads the first program to be run by
the computer. (Usually an operating system)

4.
What are relative (relocative) loaders?


Loaders that allow for program relocation are called relocating (relocative) loaders.
5.
What is the use of modification record?


Modification record is used for program relocation. Each modification record
specifies the starting address and the length of the field whose value is to be altered and
also describes the modification to be performed.

6.
What are the 2 different techniques used for relocation?


Modification record method and relocation bit method.
7.
Relocation bit method


If the relocation bit corresponding to a word of object code is set to 1, the program"s
starting address is to be added to this word when the program is relocated. Bit value 0
indicates no modification is required.

8.
Define bit mask


The relocation bits are gathered together following the length indicator in each text
record and which is called as bit mask. For e.g. the bit mask FFC (111111111100)
specifies that the first 10 words of object code are to be modified during relocation.

9.
What is the need of ESTAB?


It is used to store the name and address of the each external symbol. It also indicates
in which control section the symbol is defined.

10.
What is the use of the variable PROGADDR?


It gives the beginning address in memory where the linked program is to be loaded.
The starting address is obtained from the operating system.

11.
Write the two passes of a linking loader.



Pass1: assigns address to all external symbols

Pass2: it performs actual loading, relocation and linking.

12.
Define automatic library search.


In many linking loaders the subroutines called by the program being loaded are
automatically fetched from the library, linked with the main program and loaded. This
feature is referred to as automatic library search.

13.
List the loader options INCLUDE &DELETE.


The general format of INCLUDE is

  • INCLUDE program name (library name)
  • This command directs the loader to read the designated object program from a library
  • and treat it as the primary loader input.
  • The general format of DELETE command is
  • DELETE Csect-name
  • It instructs the loader to delete the named control sections from the sets of programs
  • loaded.
  • 14.
Give the functions of the linking loader.


The linking loader performs the process of linking and relocation. It includes the
operation of automatic library search and the linked programs are directly loaded into the
memory.

15.
Give the difference between linking loader and linkage editors.


Linking loader
Linkage editor
The relocation and linking is performed each time the program is loaded

It produces a linked version of a program
and which is written in a file for later execution two passes are required

Here the loading can be accomplished in
a single



16.
Define dynamic linking.


If the subroutine is loaded and linked to the program during its first call (run
time), then it is called as dynamic loading or dynamic linking.

17.
Write the advantage of dynamic linking.


a) It has the ability to load the routine only when they are needed

b) The dynamic linking avoids the loading of entire library for each execution

18.
What is meant by static executable and dynamic executable?


In static executable, all external symbols are bound and ready to run. In dynamic
executables some symbols are bound at run time.

19.
What is shared and private data?


The data divided among processing element is called shared data. If the data is
not shared among processing elements then it is called private data.

20.
Write the absolute loader algorithm.


Begin

Read Header record

Verify program name and length

Read first text record

While record type != „E" do

Begin

Moved object code to specified location in memory

Read next object program record

End

Jump to address specified in End record






PART - B
1.
Explain in detail about basic loader functions.


Design of an Absolute Loader

A simple Bootstrap loader

2.
Explain about Machine-Dependent Loader Features.


Relocation

Program Linking

Algorithm

Data structures

3.
Discuss in detail about Machine-independent Load er features


Automatic Library Search

Loader Options

4.
Explain about the Loader Design Options.


Linkage Editor

Dynamic linking

Bootstrap loaders

5.
Explain in detail about MS-DOS Linker


MS-DOS Assemblers and Compilers

MS-DOS LINK

MS-DOS Object modules






UNIT IV (MACRO PROCESSORS)
1.
Define macro processor.


Macro processor is system software that replaces each macro instruction with the
corresponding group of source language statements. This is also called as expanding of
macros.

2.
What do macro expansion statements mean?


These statements give the name of the macro instruction being invoked and the
arguments to be used in expanding the macros. These statements are also known as
macro call.

3.
What are the directives used in macro definition?


MACRO - it identifies the beginning of the macro definition

MEND - it marks the end of the macro definition

4.
What are the data structures used in macro processor?


DEFTAB – the macro definitions are stored in a definition table ie it contains a macro

prototype and the statements that make up the macro body.

NAMTAB – it is used to store the macro names and it contains two pointers for each

macro instruction which indicate the starting and end location of macro definition in

DEFTAB. It also serves as an index to DEFTAB

ARGTAB – it is used to store the arguments during the expansion of macro

invocations.

5.
Define conditional macro expansion.


If the macro is expanded depends upon some conditions in macro definition
(depending on the arguments supplied in the macro expansion) then it is called as
conditional macro expansion.

6.
What is the use of macro time variable?


Macro time variable can be used to store working values during the macro
expansion. Any symbol that begins with the character & and then is not a macro
instruction parameter is assumed to be a macro time variable.

7.
What are the statements used for conditional macro expansion?


IF-ELSE-ENDIF statement

WHILE-ENDW statement

8.
What is meant by positional parameters?


If the parameters and arguments were associated with each other according to
their positions in the macro prototype and the macro invocation statement, then these
parameters in macro definitions are called as positional parameters.

9.
Consider the macro definition


#Define DISPLAY(EXPR) Printf (“EXPR = %d\n”,EXPR)

Expand the macro instruction DISPLAY (ANS)

Ans.: Printf (“EXPR = %d\n”, ANS)

10.
What are known as nested macro call?


The statement, in which a macro calls on another macro, is called nested macro
call. In the nested macro call, the call is done by outer macro and the macro called is the
inner macro.

11.
How the macro is processed using two passes?


Pass1: processing of definitions

Pass 2: actual-macro expansion.

12.
Give the advantage of line by line processors.


It avoids the extra pass over the source program during assembling

It may use some of the utility that can be used by language translators so that can be

loaded once.

13.
What is meant by line by line processor


This macro processor reads the source program statements, process the
statements and then the output lines are passed to the language translators as they are
generated, instead of being written in an expanded file.

14.
Give the advantages of general-purpose macro processors.


The programmer does not need to learn about a macro facility for each compiler.

Overall saving in software development cost and a maintenance cost

15.
What is meant by general-purpose macro processors?


he macro processors that are not dependent on any particular programming
language, but can be used with a variety of different languages are known as general
purpose macro processors.

Eg. The ELENA macro processor.

16.
What are the important factors considered while designing a general purpose

macro processors?



  • Comments
  • Grouping of statements
  • Tokens
  • Syntax used for macro definitions
  • 17.
What is the symbol used to generate unique labels?


$ Symbol is used in macro definition to generate unique symbols. Each macro expansion the $ symbol is replaced by $XX, where XX is the alpha numeric character.
18.
How the nested macro calls are executed?


The execution of nested macro call follows the LIFO rule. In case of nested macro calls the expansion of the latest macro call is completed first.
19.
Mention the tasks involved in macro expansion.


  • Identify the macro calls in the program
  • The values of formal parameters are identified
  • Maintain the values of expansion time variables declared in a macro
  • Expansion time control flow is organized
  • Determining the values of sequencing symbols
  • Expansion of a model statement is performed
  • 20.
How to design the pass structure of a macro assembler?


To design the structure of macro-assembler, the functions of macro preprocessor and the conventional assembler are merged. After merging, the functions are structured into passes of the macro assembler.





PART - B
1.
Explain in detail about the basic Macro Processor functions.


Macro Definition
Macro expansion
Algorithm
Data Structures
2.
Discuss in detail about the Machine-independent macro processor features.


Concatenation of Macro parameters
Generation of unique labels
Conditional macro Expansion
Keyword macro parameters
3.
Explain about Macro Processor Design options


Recursive Macro Expansion
General purpose Macro Procesors
Macro processing within Language Translators
4.
Explain in detail about MASM Macro Processor


Conditional assembly statements
MASM macro
Conditional statements
5.
Explain in detail about ANSI C macro Language


Macro definitions with parenthesis
Macro expansion with parenthesis
Conditional compilation statements
Debugging statements





UNIT V (TEXT EDITORS) SYSTEM SOFTWARE TOOLS
1.
Define interactive editor?


An interactive editor is a computer program that allows a user to create and revise a target document. The term document includes objects such as computer programs, text, equations, tables, diagrams, line art, and photographs anything that one might find on a printed page.
2.
What are the tasks performed in the editing process?


Four tasks
1. Select the part of the target document to be viewed and manipulated.
2. Determine how to format this view on-line and how to display it.
3. Specify and execute operations that modify the target document.
4. Update the view appropriately.
3.
What are the three categories of editor’s devices?


1. Text device/ String devices
2. Button device/Choice devices
3. Locator device
4.
What is the function performed in editing phase?


In the actual editing phase, the target document is created or altered with a set of operations such as insert, delete, replace, move and copy.
5.
Define Locator device?


Locator devices are two-dimensional analog-to-digital converters that position a cursor symbol on the screen by observing the user"s movement of the device. The most common such devices for editing applications are the mouse and the data tablet.
6.
What is the function performed in voice input device?


Voice-input devices, which translate spoken words to their textual equivalents, may prove to be the text input devices of the future. Voice recognizers are currently available for command input on some systems.
7.
What are called tokens?


The lexical analyzer tracks the source program one character at a time by making the source program into sequence of atomic units is called tokens.
8.
Name some of typical tokens.


Identifiers, keywords, constants, operators and punctuation symbols such as commas and parentheses are typical tokens.
9.
What is meant by lexeme?


The character that forms a token is said to be a lexeme.
10.
Mention the main disadvantage of interpreter.


The main disadvantage of interpreter is that the execution time of interpreted program is slower than that of a corresponding compiled object program.
11.
What is meant by code optimization?


The code optimization is designed to improve the intermediate code, which helps the object program to run faster and takes less space.
12.
What is error handler?


The error handler is used to check if there is an error in the program. If any error, it should warn the programmer by instructions to proceed from phase to phase.
13.
Name some of text editors.


  • Line editors
  • Stream editors
  • Screen editors
  • Word processors
  • Structure editors
  • 14.
What for debug monitors are used?


Debug monitors are used in obtaining information for localization of errors.
15.
Mention the features of word processors.


Moving text from one place to another
Merging of text
Searching
Word replacement
16.
What are the phases in performing editing process?


a. Traveling phase
b. Filtering phase
c. Formatting phase
d. Editing phase
17.
Define traveling phase.


The phase specifies the region of interest. Traveling is achieved using operations such as next screenful, bottom, find pattern.
Filtering phase: -The selection of what is to be viewed and manipulated in given by filtering.
Editing phase: - In this phase, the target document is altered with the set of operations such as insert, delete, replace, move and copy.
18.
Define user interface?


User interface is one, which allows the user to communicate with the system in order to perform certain tasks. User interface is generally designed in a computer to make it easier to use.
19.
Define input device?


Input device is an electromechanical device, which accepts data from the outside world and translates them into a form, which the computer can interpret.
20.
Define output devices


An output device is the user to view the elements being edited and the results of the editing operations.
21.
What are the methods in Interaction language of a text editor?


A. Typing –oriented or text command oriented method
B. Function key interfaces
C. menu oriented method
22.
Define interactive debugging systems


An interactive debugging system provides programmers with facilities that aid in the testing and debugging of programs.
1. Debugging functions and capabilities
2. Relationship with other parts of the system
3. User interface criteria.
23.
Define editor structure.


The command language processor accepts input from the users input devices and analyzes the tokens and syntactic structure of the commands.
24.
Give the components of editor structure


4 components
a. Editing component
b. Traveling component
c. Viewing component
d. Display component
25.
What are the basic types of computing environments used in editors functions?


Editor"s function in three basic types of computing environments
i. Time sharing
ii. Stand-alone
iii. Distributed





PART - B
1.
1. Explain in detail about the following


i) Editing process
ii) User Interface
Editing process: Tasks

Select the part of the target document
Determine how to format
Specify and execute operations
Update
UI-Conceptual model
Operations on numbered sequence
Manipulate portions of the plane
Concerned i/p devices
2.
Explain about the editor structure.


Diagram
Explanation
3.
Discuss in detail about debugging functions and capabilities.


Different levels
Procedure
Branch
Individual Instructions & Examples
4.
Explain in detail about the following


i) Relationships with other parts of the system
ii)User Interface criteria
i. Requirement-Always be available
Debugging
Application development time
Production environment
Coordinate with existing and future language compilers and interpreters
ii. simple organization
full screen displays and wind owing systems
command language should be clear
On-line help facility
5.
Explain about various software tools.


Text editors
Debugging systems
M.E. CSE advanced system software
ASS MATERIALS 
SS MATERIALS