After Hours: The Information Technology Quiz (The Answers)

Programming and Languages

1. Modern programming languages are usually object orientated, unlike older languages
(athough some of these have been updated by adding object orientated extensions). What is
object orientation and ho! is it defined".
#eal$!orld entities comprise objects (!hich embody both data and procedures). 1 point
%ey concepts are encapsulation, inheritance and polymorphism. 1 point
&ncapsulation' the ability of an object to hide its data and methods. 1 point
(nheritance' any object subclass can inherit the definitions of one or more
general classes.
1 point
)olymorphism' means allo!ing a single definition to be used !ith different
classes of object.
1 point
*. )robably the oldest procedural programming language is +,#-#./ (+ormula -ranslation),
!hich !as designed for scientific and engineering computing. Who0!here !as +,#-#./
developed, and !hen did it first hit the streets"
-he +,#mula -#./slator 1ystem, or +,#-#./2 !as designed by an (3M
team lead by 4ohn 3ackus. 3ackus made many contributions to (-, including
the 3ackus$/aur form.
1 point
+,#-#./2 !as developed in 1567 1 point
8. &verone kno!s that computers are, binary (base *) devices. ,ther number bases used in
(nformation -echnology are ,ctal (base 9) and hexedecimal (base 1:). What is pental
(apart from a pen) and !hat !ould the pental number *1 be if expressed in base *, 9, 12, and
1:"
)ental is base 6. 1 point
1211
*
1 point
18
9
1 point
11
12
1 point
23
1:
1 point
Networking and Connectivity
7. .t one time the ; symbol !as a poor and lonely keyboard key. With the invention of &$
mail it is no longer, being the delimiter bet!een the username and location part of the &$
mail address. Who first put the ; into your address"
#ay -omlinson of 3olt 3eranek and /e!man (33/) sent the first net!ork &$
mail message. <e also defined the classic format of the &$mail address
(username;hostname), including the use of the =;> symbol .
1 point
6. -he letters <--) are seen by every (nternet user just about every day, What do they stand
for"
<yper -ext -ransfer )rotocol 1 point
:. Well kno!n (&&& standards are 92*.8 (&thernet) and 92*.6 (-oken #ing), both are local
area net!ork technologies. What is (&&& 92*.7"
-oken 3us 1 point
Hsitorical Hardware and Companies
?. 3ack in the 1592@s, !hen (3M started producing desktop systems, it legitimised the ne!
industry. -he (3M )A B- had an 92990: processor, !ith 1: bit addressing internally but
only an 9 bit address bus (giving the systemCs segmented architecture). <o! fast !as the
processor clocked"
7.?? MhD (Aompare !ith present processor clock rates.) 1 point
9. 3ack in the 15?2s Eigital &Fuipment Aorporation (E&A) brought 8* bit computing to
minicomputer systems, taking the computer out of the data centre and putting it into the
engineering department. -hese !ere the G.B computers (the 110?92, is fondly
remembered in many engineering departments). What do the letters G.B stand for, and
!hat is the plural of G.B (hint, it isnCt G.Bs)"
Girtual .ddress eBtension 1 point
G.Ben 1 point
5. 3ack in the 15:2s the industry !as dominated by mainframe computer systems. .t the time
the companies building these systems !ere referred to as (3M and the 3H/A<. Who
!ere the 3H/A<"
3urroughs 1 point
H/(G.A 1 point
/A# 1 point
AEA (Aontrol Eata Aorporation) 1 point
<oney!ell 1 point
Movers and Shakers
12. MooreCs Ia! is often referred to in the (- industry. Who !as Moore, and !hat is his la!"
Jeorge Moore !as a cofounder of (ntel. 1 point
(n 15:6 Moore observed that the number of transistors on a chip doubles about
every 19 months. -his means higher performance for about the same
manufacturing cost.
1 point
11. Aharles 3abbage designed a mechanical computer, his machine !as never built but it !as
truly innovative. What !as 3abbage@s machine called, and !hy !as it so important"
3abbage designed a number of machines, but only the .nalytical &ngine can be
considered as the true forerunner of the modern computer. <is Eifference
&ngine is more akin to a simple calculator.
1 point
-he design of the .nalytical &ngine included concepts and ideas seen in
modern computing devices. -here !as the =mill> (analagous to the A)H), the
store (memory), punched cards and a printer (input0output devices), and, most
significantly, the device !as designed to be programmable !ith decisions as to
!hat to do depending upon the results of previous calculations.
1 point
1*. Who is Iinus -orvalds, and !hy is he important to the (- industry"
Iinus -orvalds is, of course, the +innish soft!are engineer !ho, as a student,
developed the Iinux kernal.
1 point
-he Iinux kernal, still under active development, !hen used !ith the free
soft!are foundationCs J/H soft!are forms the basis for a !ide variety of Hnix
like operating system releases (e.g. #ed <at Iinux, 1use Iinux, etc.). (t is
probably the most serious competitor to the dominence of MicrosoftCs
Windo!s.
1 point
18. 1eymour ArayCs contribution to the development of computing is almost legendary. Who
!as he, and !hat did he do"
1eymour Aray !as a computer engineer !ho developed very high performance
computer systems (supercomputers).
1 point
Aray developed some of his first supercomputers for Aontrol Eata Aorporation,
they !ere largely aimed at large scale, computer intensive, science and
engineering !ork . <is first supercomputers, !ere the AEA ::22 and ?:22
systems. Iater he founded Aray #esearch !hich developed the Aray
supercomputers, including the legendry Aray 1 (a vector processor) and the
ArayB$M) (a four processor system).
1 point
17. Who said :72 % should be enough for anyone, and !hy might this comment be seen as
some!hat amusing no!adays"
3ill Jates, !ho company !ill soon be releasing the latest version of Windo!s,
called Gista. Gista, !ill reFuire slightly more than :72% to run, it !ill need
1J3.
1 point
16. Who invented the first electronic computer"
-his is a very difficult Fuestion, the ans!er being shrouded in debate based on
terminology and technology. +or a time &/(.A (H1., 157:, 4ohn William
Mauchly and 4. )resper &ckert) !as the number one contender for the title.
More recently, ho!ever, there have been challenges to this assertion. Aolossus
(H%, 1577, -ommy +lo!ers) is earlierK it !as an electronic device used for
code breaking purposes. &ven earlier, if !e assume =electronic> to include
devices using relays rather than valves as logic elements, the title might go to
the L1 (Jermany, 1589, %onrad Luse).
1 point
1:. Who is generally considered to be the +ather of the World Wide Web, that is !ho initially
defined and developed the Web"
1ir 4ohn -im 3erners$Iee, %3& is the inventor of the World Wide Web. 1 point
Mixed Bag
1?. 1ecurity is important for everyone, not just for people in the (- industry. Alassically
security is defined as comprising three components (sometimes referred to in shorthand as
A(.). What are these components"
Aonfidentiality 1 point
(ntegrity 1 point
.vailability 1 point
19. (n (- the <allo!een Memos have an almost legendary status. What are they, !ho issued
them, and !hy are they important"
-he <allo!een Memos are a set of leaked Microsoft documents allegedly from
senior company staff.
1 point
-he documents outlined an assessment of the threat that open$source soft!are
(,11) and the Iinux operating system represent to MicrosoftCs market.
1 point
-hey are important because they implicitly ackno!ledge the increasing
competativeness of open source soft!are.
1 point
15. -here is a mammal called a Jnu (pronounced gune!)K for same strange reason it tends to
be considered as something of a figure of fun (there is even a comic song about Jnus). (n
soft!are you !ill also find a J/H $ !here"
J/H is not Hnix. J/H is a library of soft!are (largely for Iinux0Hnix
systems) developed under the J)I, the Jeneral )ublic Iicence (sometimes
called copyleft).
1 point
Humour
*2. (t has been said that =#eal )rogrammers EonCt Hse )ascal>. What is a =real programmer>
and !hy doesn@t he use )ascal"
(t is too long to explain here, just look at one of the references and a!ard
yourself the point any!ay.
http'00!!!.ee.ryerson.ca0Melf0hack0realmen.html
http'00!!!$users.cs.york.ac.uk0susan0joke0Fuiche.htm
http'00!!!.pbm.com0Mlindahl0real.programmers.html
http'00!!!.codeproject.com0scrapbook0realprog.asp
1 point
. real programmer doesnt use )ascal because he is not a Fuiche eater. . real
programmer uses +,#-#./.
1 point
Scoring
78 -he best
72 N 7* &xcellent
82 N 85 Jood
*2 N *5 Mediocre
1 N 15 )oor