Operating Systems & Systems Programming Flashcards
6 cards from real B.S.W.E. Bachelor of Software Engineering practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 Operating Systems & Systems Programming flashcards as text
What is the purpose of a semaphore in concurrent programming?
Answer: To control access to a shared resource by multiple threads or processes
A semaphore is a synchronization primitive that controls access to shared resources by maintaining a counter and using wait/signal operations.
In C programming, what does the 'volatile' keyword indicate?
Answer: The variable may be changed by external factors (e.g., hardware or another thread), preventing compiler optimization
The volatile keyword tells the compiler not to optimize accesses to a variable because its value can change unexpectedly from outside the program's control flow.
What is the role of the kernel in an operating system?
Answer: It acts as the core component managing hardware resources and providing services to user programs
The kernel is the core of an OS that manages hardware resources (CPU, memory, I/O), provides system calls, and mediates between software and hardware.
Which memory region stores local variables and function call information?
Answer: Stack
The stack is used to store local variables, function parameters, and return addresses; it grows and shrinks automatically with function calls.
What is a race condition in concurrent programming?
Answer: A bug where program behavior depends on the relative timing or ordering of uncontrolled events
A race condition occurs when two or more threads access shared data concurrently and the outcome depends on the non-deterministic order of their execution.
What is the purpose of paging in memory management?
Answer: To divide physical memory into fixed-size frames and logical memory into pages, enabling non-contiguous allocation
Paging divides both physical and logical memory into fixed-size blocks (frames and pages), eliminating external fragmentation and enabling efficient memory use.