CSC305-Week 1 Written Assignment

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Wilmington University *

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305

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Computer Science

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Feb 20, 2024

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Week 1 Written Assignment Britta Wise Wilmington University CSC 305 Computer Architecture Mr. Pugh January 14, 2024

Week 1 Written Assignment 1 1. What is the difference between a dedicated and general-purpose computer? A general-purpose computer hardware is directed by a program to perform a wide range of activities that are associated with a computer and can be used for any purpose, whereas a dedicated computer has a specific function and is built to perform only that specific task. 2. Is an aircraft’s automatic pilot an example of a dedicated or a general-purpose computer? Since the aircraft’s automatic pilot is designed to perform a specific task, which is controlling the aircraft’s flight path, this would make it a dedicated computer. 3. We said that the pattern of 1s and 0s used to represent an instruction in a computer has no intrinsic meaning. Why is this so and what is the implication of this statement? The pattern of 1s and 0s used to represent the instruction in a computer is also known as a machine code, and has no intrinsic meaning because it is up to the computer’s hardware to interpret the code and execute the operation. The implication of the statement is that unfortunately, the same machine code can be used by different computers with different hardware as long as the code is compatible. 4. Why is the performance of a computer so dependent on a range of technologies such as semiconductor, magnetic, optical, chemical, and so on? The performance of a computer is so dependent on a range of technologies because each technology plays a different role in the functioning of the computer. The semiconductor is used to create transistors that form the basis of the modern computer processors. Magnetic technologies such as hard drives and magnetic tapes store data, whereas optical technologies are used for data storage and retrieval. And lastly chemical technologies are use for batteries and other power sources for computers. Ultimately, the performance of a computer depends on the interactions between these wide range of technologies that work together to make a fully functional and efficient system. 5. Modify the algorithm used in this chapter to locate the longest run of non-consecutive characters in the string 1. Read the first digit in the string and call it New_Digit 2. Set the Current_Run_Value to New_Digit 3. Set the Current_Run_Length to 1. 4. Set the Max_Run to 1 5. Repeat 6. Read the next digit in the sequence 7. If its value is the same as Current_Run_Length 8. Then Current_Run_Length = 1

Week 1 Written Assignment 2 9. Current_Run_Value = New_Digit 10. Else Current_Run_Length = Current_Run_Length + 110 11. If Current_Run_Length > Max_Run 12. Then Max_Run = Current_Run_Length 13. Until the last digit is read 6. I was once criticized for saying that Charles Babbage was the inventor of the computer. My critic argued that Babbage’s proposed computer was entirely mechanical (wheels, gears, and mechanical linkages) and that a real computer has to be electrical. Was my critic correct? I feel that the critic was partially correct, simply because there is no true definitive as to whether computers have to be electrical or mechanical to be considered a real computer. 7. What is the effect of the following sequence of RTL instructions? Describe each one individually and state the overall effect of these operations. Note that the notation [x] means the contents of memory location x. a. [5]←2 The value of “2” is loaded to the memory location “5” b. [6]←12 The content of memory location “6” is “12” c. [7]←[5]+[6] The content of memory location “5” and “6” are added and stored in memory location “7”. This is value “2” and “12” are added and stored in memory location “7” d. [6]←[7]+4 The content of memory location “7” is added with 4 and stored in memory location “6”. This is content of memory location “7” is 14. “14” is added with “4” that results in “18”. Now content of memory location “6” is “18”. e. [5]←[[5]+4] The content of memory location “5” is content of memory location “5” plus “4”. This is [5] is 2. “2” is added with “4”, which results in content of memory location “6”. Now content of memory location “6” is “18”. Valu “18” is moved to memory location “5”. 8. What are the differences between RTL, machine language, assembly language, high- level language, and pseudocode? RTLS, also known as register transfer language, makes it easier to define operations that take place within a computer. Machine language uses 0s and 1s in the code, where translators are not required since the machine itself can understand the code with just 0s and 1s. Assembly language is low level programming language that is used to write programs that can be done directly by the computer’s CPU. High-level language is deigned to be easy to read and write, and are used to write programs that can be executed on modern computers. Lastly, pseudocode is a high-level description

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