Read each question, consider the options, then reveal the correct answer and explanation.
100 MCQs10 per page4 of 10
MCQ 31Computer Hardware & Architecture
Which of the following best describes the purpose of a 'translation lookaside buffer' (TLB) 'miss' and its typical performance impact?
A TLB miss has no performance impact whatsoever
A synonym for a cache write-back operation
A miss that occurs only in single-core systems
A TLB miss occurs when a requested virtual-to-physical address translation isn't cached in the TLB, requiring a slower page table walk, which adds latency compared to a cached TLB hit
Correct answerD — A TLB miss occurs when a requested virtual-to-physical address translation isn't cached in the TLB, requiring a slower page table walk, which adds latency compared to a cached TLB hit
Explanation
A TLB miss occurs when the requested virtual-to-physical address translation isn't found in the TLB cache, forcing the processor to perform a slower page table walk (potentially involving multiple memory accesses) to retrieve the translation, adding noticeable latency compared to a fast TLB hit.
MCQ 32Oop & Uml
What is the primary purpose of the 'Object Pool' design pattern?
To restrict a class to exactly one instance ever created
To define a family of interchangeable algorithms
A pattern used only for logging
To reuse a pool of pre-initialized, expensive-to-create objects rather than creating and destroying new instances repeatedly, improving performance for frequently used, costly-to-construct objects
Correct answerD — To reuse a pool of pre-initialized, expensive-to-create objects rather than creating and destroying new instances repeatedly, improving performance for frequently used, costly-to-construct objects
Explanation
The Object Pool pattern maintains a pool of pre-initialized, reusable objects that are expensive to create (like database connections or thread objects), allowing them to be checked out, used, and returned to the pool rather than being repeatedly constructed and destroyed, improving performance.
MCQ 33Computer Hardware & Architecture
Which of the following best describes the purpose of 'processor cache way prediction' techniques?
To permanently disable set-associative caching
To speculatively predict which specific 'way' within a set-associative cache set contains the requested data, reducing lookup latency and power consumption compared to checking all ways simultaneously
A synonym for branch prediction with no distinction
A technique used only for direct-mapped caches
Correct answerB — To speculatively predict which specific 'way' within a set-associative cache set contains the requested data, reducing lookup latency and power consumption compared to checking all ways simultaneously
Explanation
Way prediction speculatively guesses which specific way within a set-associative cache set is likely to contain the requested data, allowing the processor to check that way first, potentially reducing both access latency and the power consumption of checking every way in the set simultaneously.
MCQ 34System Analysis And Design
Which of the following best describes the purpose of 'observability' in modern software systems, as distinct from simple monitoring?
The ability to understand a system's internal state and diagnose novel, unanticipated problems by examining its external outputs, such as logs, metrics, and traces
A synonym for basic uptime monitoring with no distinction
A technique used only for visual design review
A method for tracking employee work hours
Correct answerA — The ability to understand a system's internal state and diagnose novel, unanticipated problems by examining its external outputs, such as logs, metrics, and traces
Explanation
Observability goes beyond traditional monitoring (which tracks known, predefined metrics) by providing the ability to explore and understand a system's internal behavior and diagnose novel, previously unanticipated problems using rich telemetry data like logs, metrics, and distributed traces.
MCQ 35Database Pl/sql
What is the purpose of 'database connection affinity' in load-balanced, multi-server database read replica setups?
To route a specific client's subsequent requests consistently back to the same database server (such as one it recently wrote to), helping avoid read-after-write consistency issues with replication lag
To permanently disconnect a client from the database
A synonym for connection pooling
A technique used only for encrypting data
Correct answerA — To route a specific client's subsequent requests consistently back to the same database server (such as one it recently wrote to), helping avoid read-after-write consistency issues with replication lag
Explanation
Connection affinity routes a client's related requests consistently to the same database server, which helps avoid read-after-write consistency problems that can occur if a client writes to a primary server but is then routed to a read replica that hasn't yet caught up due to replication lag.
MCQ 36C C++ Programming
Which of the following best describes 'short-circuit evaluation' in logical expressions?
Evaluating all operands of a logical expression regardless of the outcome of earlier ones
Stopping evaluation of a logical expression as soon as the overall result is already determined, skipping evaluation of remaining operands
A synonym for a syntax error
A technique used only for arithmetic operators
Correct answerB — Stopping evaluation of a logical expression as soon as the overall result is already determined, skipping evaluation of remaining operands
Explanation
Short-circuit evaluation stops evaluating a logical expression as soon as the final result is already guaranteed (such as encountering a false operand in an AND chain), skipping evaluation of any remaining operands, which can also be used deliberately to avoid unwanted side effects or errors.
MCQ 37Operating Systems
Which of the following best describes the purpose of an operating system's 'page cache' write-back policy for file-backed memory mappings?
To determine when modified pages held in memory (from a memory-mapped file) are actually written back to the underlying storage device
To permanently prevent any file modification
A synonym for swap space allocation
A policy used only for network file systems
Correct answerA — To determine when modified pages held in memory (from a memory-mapped file) are actually written back to the underlying storage device
Explanation
The write-back policy for the page cache determines the timing and conditions under which modified (dirty) pages backing a memory-mapped file are actually flushed back to persistent storage, balancing performance against the risk of data loss if the system crashes before a write-back occurs.
MCQ 38Computer Hardware & Architecture
What is the primary purpose of 'processor SIMD' (Single Instruction, Multiple Data) extensions, such as SSE or AVX on x86 processors?
To execute completely different instructions on multiple independent data streams
A synonym for multi-core processing
To perform the same operation simultaneously across multiple data elements packed into a wide register, improving throughput for data-parallel workloads like multimedia processing
A feature used only for network packet processing
Correct answerC — To perform the same operation simultaneously across multiple data elements packed into a wide register, improving throughput for data-parallel workloads like multimedia processing
Explanation
SIMD extensions allow a single instruction to perform the same operation simultaneously across multiple data elements packed into a wide register, significantly improving throughput for data-parallel workloads such as multimedia encoding, image processing, or certain scientific computations.
MCQ 39Computer Fundamentals
Which of the following best describes the purpose of 'device synchronization conflicts' and their resolution in cloud-synced applications?
A situation that never occurs in practice
A synonym for a factory reset
A situation where the same data is modified differently on two devices before syncing, requiring the application to determine how to reconcile the differing versions, such as by timestamp or manual user choice
A technique used only for photo storage
Correct answerC — A situation where the same data is modified differently on two devices before syncing, requiring the application to determine how to reconcile the differing versions, such as by timestamp or manual user choice
Explanation
Sync conflicts occur when the same piece of data is modified differently on two devices before either has synced with the cloud, requiring the application to reconcile the differing versions, often using strategies like 'last write wins' based on timestamp, or prompting the user to choose.
MCQ 40Computer Networks
What is the primary purpose of 'network function chaining' (service function chaining) in modern network architectures?
To physically link multiple network cables together
To encrypt traffic at every hop
To define an ordered sequence of network services (like firewall, load balancer, then IDS) that traffic must pass through, often implemented via NFV and SDN
To assign IP addresses sequentially
Correct answerC — To define an ordered sequence of network services (like firewall, load balancer, then IDS) that traffic must pass through, often implemented via NFV and SDN
Explanation
Service function chaining defines an ordered sequence of virtual network functions (such as firewalls, load balancers, or intrusion detection) that specific traffic flows must traverse, commonly implemented using NFV and SDN technologies for flexible, programmable network service delivery.
