Computer Fundamentals and System Concepts

Relocation refers to the ability to load and execute a program at any arbitrary location in memory, not just the address for which it was originally compiled. This is essential for efficient memory utilization in modern systems.

This program is used to manage the storage and processing resources of the computer and performs other management and monitoring functions. System control programs also control the execution of the programs. Example of system control program is operating system.

This program is a program that is used to perform specific task for the computer user such as sales analysis, payroll analysis etc..

This program is used to execute from a storage area other than the one designated for it at the time of its coding or translation. Such relocation is possible because of the availability of information about the address senstive instruction in it.

A subroutine is a sequence of program instruction that perform a specific task.This program is stored on the system residence device to perform a specific standard function.

This program relocates its own address-dependent instruction and data when run and is therefore capable of being loaded into memory at any address. This program not only contains information regarding its address sensitivity but also the code to make use of this information to relocate the address sensitive part of its code.

This program does not contain the information about address sensitivity of the parts of the program.

A virtual machine is a software based, fictive computer. Virtual machines may be based on specifications of a hypothetical computer or emulate the computer architecture and functions of a real world computer.

A mode switch occurs when transitioning from user mode to kernel mode (or vice versa). This happens during system calls, interrupts, or exceptions - the process changes privilege levels but remains the same process.

The ready list (also called the ready queue) is the operating system data structure that holds the Process Control Blocks (PCBs) of all processes that are ready to execute. These processes have all required resources except the CPU and are waiting for processor time.

Both 'process descriptor' and 'process control block' are valid terms for the data structure that contains all information about a process. PCB is the more common textbook term, while 'process descriptor' is used in some systems like UNIX. They represent the same concept.

A dormant process is not known to the operating system; it has not been created yet or has been terminated. Dormant processes exist only as potential programs on disk without an active PCB. The OS only tracks processes that have been created and admitted to the system.

Processes have attributes such as priority, state (running, ready, blocked), PID, memory allocation, and resource holdings. These attributes are stored in the Process Control Block (PCB) and enable the OS to schedule, manage, and control process execution.

Trace-driven simulation processes recorded event traces from actual system execution, using real-world data as input to study system behavior patterns without affecting the production environment. Self-driven simulation generates synthetic workloads instead.

A 'number crunching' computer is specifically designed for heavy numerical computations and mathematical processing. While it excels at handling large volumes of numbers, it can also process other types of data. The term 'only numbers' (option D) is incorrect because such computers are not limited exclusively to numerical data.