---------------------------------------------------------------------------- COP3610 -- Exam #1 Review Notes M. Schmalz 0010212 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- This exam will cover three topics: 1) Operating system basics (including some history) 2) UNIX shells - basic concepts only, no details 3) UNIX file, directory, and system commands To study effectively, use the following outline, which is expressed in terms of practice questions that can be answered from the book, Web notes, and class notes. The recommended size of the answer is indicated in square brackets: OPERATING SYSTEM BASICS: 1 - What is an operating system, and what services does a modern operating system provide to the user? To applications programs? 2 - How does an operating system support editing, compilation, linking, and loading of a program? [3-4 sentences or paragraph] 3 - What is batch processing? When and how was batch processing used? [A sketch would be helpful] What technology did batch processing improve upon, and how? What are three advantages and three disadvantages of batch processing? 4 - What is multiprogramming, and where is it used? What hardware and software requirements are needed to implement multiprogramming? 5 - What is time sharing, and why was it developed? Under what conditions does time sharing work or fail? How is time sharing different from multiprogramming? 6 - What were the innovative features introduced by the Multics OS? What changes were made to Multics to produce the first version of UNIX? 7 - What two personal computer operating systems are most like UNIX? Why? UNIX SHELLS: 8 - What does a UNIX shell do? 9 - Why is the "C shell" called by that name? the C shell? UNIX file, directory, and system commands * Know the syntax and functionality of each UNIX command given in the Web page. No question will be asked about commands or command options that were not discussed on the Web page. 10 - What are the "more" and "less" commands used for, and what are the *specific* differences between them? 11 - How do "more" and "less" differ from "cat"? 12 - What is the difference between "cp" and "mv"? 13 - What is the function of an i-node in UNIX? [You do not have to know its structure] 14 - Suppose you were building a UNIX operating system on top of DOS :( What DOS file or data structures would you have to manipulate to implement the "cp" command? 15 - Compare and contrast "df" and "du". [Easy] 16 - Why can't you use the "cd" command with a file, or the "cat" command with a directory? 17 - What is the purpose of the "man" command? Which command is "man" most similar to: "du", "df", "cat", "head", "more", or "less"? Why? Hint: Explain your answer in terms of what the user sees on screen. 18 - What commands in UNIX are identical to their counterparts in DOS, with the exception of the way the filename/pathname is specified? Give an example of how to use each of these commands. 19 - Know how file permissions work, and what the character string that describes permissions (e.g., "drw-r--r--") means. How to modify permissions would be a good candidate for a multiple choice question - for example, given a command like chmod go+w, how does this change the permission string "drw-r--r-- ? What is the correct version of the new permission string? NOTE: The exam questions will be adapted some from the questions listed above. There might also be some simple matching problems, and maybe two or three multiple choice questions that embody one or more of the above-listed practice questions. -EOF-