ST.
PAUL’S UNIVERSITY
S
UN
P A U L ’
I VE R S I TY
Private Bag 00217 Limuru, 00217, KENYA
Tel: 020-2020505/2020510/0728-669000/0736-424440
.
S T
SE R TY
VANT
S OF GO D AND HUMANI
SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION AND COMPUTER STUDIES
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN COMPUTER SCIENCE
MAY - AUGUST 2023 SEMESTER
CSC1105: COMPUTER SYSTEMS
DATE: AUGUST, 2023 TIME: 2 hours
INSTRUCTIONS
Section a is compulsory. Answer any other two questions in section b.
SECTION A (COMPULSORY – this section carries 30 Marks)
Question One
a) Define the following terms in relation to operating systems. (3 Marks)
i. Kernel
ii. shell
iii. Process
b) Describe any THREE types of registers found in a computer system. (6 Marks)
c) Discuss THREE factors to consider when choosing a programming language to use in software
development (6 Marks)
d) With the aid of logical circuits with two inputs, explain each of the following logic gates:
i. OR Gate (2 Marks)
ii. AND gate (2 Marks)
iii. XOR Gate (2 Marks)
e) Give any THREE features of ROM (3 Marks)
f) Draw the truth table of ~PvQ (6 Marks)
Page 1 of 3
SECTION B (answer ANY TWO. Each question carries 20 Marks)
Question Two
a) Outline FOUR features of assembly language. (4 Marks)
b) The main role of the CPU is to execute instructions. Explain THREE steps involved during the
execution of an instruction. (6 Marks)
c) Contrast between lexical analysis and parsing. (4 Marks)
d) Explain the functions of the following in Operating systems:
i) Debugger (2 Marks)
ii) Assembler (2 Marks)
iii) Linker (2 Marks)
Question Three
a) Explain THREE reasons that may make a company consider investing in networking. (6 Marks)
b) Explain THREE main functions of the operating system as used in a computer system. (6 Marks)
c) With examples, discuss the THREE basic types of operands that can be placed in a register,
immediate, memory or another register. (6 Marks)
d) Differentiate between half adder and full adder (2 Marks)
Question Four
a) Briefly describe the roles of the data bus, control bus and the address bus within the central
processing unit (6 Marks)
b) Name and describe any TWO sections of an assembly program. (4 Marks)
c) Perform the following operations: (6 Marks)
i. 1011+1100
ii. 10110001-101111
iii. 1001 x 1101
d) Discuss the client-server concept as used in computer networks, use a well labeled diagram. (4 Marks)
Page 2 of 3
Question Five
a) Discuss the importance of loops in programming. (2 Marks)
b) Describe the structural components of a computer system. (8 Marks)
c) Find the two’s compliment of 01001110. (4 Marks)
d) Perform the following number conversions: (6 Marks)
i. (13A7)16 to decimal
ii. (3F2)16 to binary
iii. 26210 to octal
Page 3 of 3