Probashi Kallyan Bank Programmer: 2019 Exam Taker: AUSTপ্রশ্ন ও সমাধান

Correct answer: (d) six bits

Read as a character code "used in computing", BCD is the six-bit code (also called BCDIC) that IBM used on its early computers for digits, upper-case letters and some special characters. Six bits give 2⁶ = 64 code patterns: the low four bits carry the digit value, as in ordinary BCD, and two extra zone bits mark letters and symbols. IBM's later 8-bit EBCDIC (1964) was built on this code.

Why the other options are wrong

• (a) seven bits: 7 bits is the size of standard ASCII, a different character code; the BCD character code has six.
• (b) twelve bits: 12 bits is three 4-bit BCD digits (enough for 000–999), not the size of the code itself.
• (c) eighteen bits: 18 bits would be three 6-bit BCD characters; no BCD code uses 18 bits for one symbol.

Exam note: In digital logic, "BCD" normally means 8421 BCD, which uses 4 bits per decimal digit (59 → 0101 1001). 4 is not among these options, so this paper must mean the old six-bit BCD character code. If a question asks how many bits one BCD digit needs, the answer is 4.

Tip: BCD digit = 4 bits; old IBM BCD character code = 6 bits; EBCDIC = 8 bits.

Source: HyperPhysics (Georgia State University): Binary Coded Decimal; Wikipedia: BCD (character encoding)

Correct answer: (c) macros

A macro is a series of commands and instructions grouped into a single command that carries out a task automatically. Programs such as Word and Excel let users record or write macros (in VBA) and attach them to a button or keyboard shortcut, so each user can automate repetitive work and customize the program to fit the way they work. Of the options, only macros exist to let users customize programs.

Why the other options are wrong

• (a) freeware: Software that is given away free of charge. The term describes price and licensing, not customization.
• (b) shareware: Software distributed free on a trial basis, with payment expected for continued use or full features. It is also a distribution model.
• (d) none of these: Wrong, because (c) fits.

Tip: Freeware/shareware = how software is distributed; macros = how users automate and customize it.

Source: Create or run a macro - Microsoft Support

Correct answer: (a) transaction file

A master file is the permanent, up-to-date file (for example, all customer accounts with their balances). A transaction file collects the changes that happen over a period (deposits, withdrawals, new or closed accounts). At update time, the transaction file is matched with the master file on a key such as the account number, and the changes are applied to produce the new master.

Why the other options are wrong

• (b) direct file: Describes how a file is organised and accessed (records reached directly by address or key), not the role of holding updates.
• (c) order file: Not a standard file classification; at most it would be an application file holding customer orders.
• (d) sequence file: Also a type of file organisation (records stored one after another in key order). A transaction file may be sequential, but "sequential" does not describe its purpose.

Tip: Master = permanent data; transaction = changes that update the master.

Source: UPDATE command overview - IBM SPSS Statistics documentation

Correct answer: (c) CATV

In LAN terminology, a broadband network sends analog (RF) signals and uses frequency-division multiplexing to put many independent channels on one cable. The cable used for this is the 75 Ω CATV (cable-television) coaxial cable, the same broadband coax that delivers many TV channels to homes. The IEEE 802.3 broadband Ethernet, 10BROAD36, also runs on this broadband coaxial cable.

Why the other options are wrong

• (a) Coaxial: Too general. Baseband LANs such as 10BASE5 and 10BASE2 also use (50 Ω) coaxial cable; the medium that specifically defines broadband LANs is CATV coax.
• (b) Optic fiber: Fibre is used for LAN backbones, but it is not the classic broadband (multi-channel RF) LAN medium.
• (d) DUTP: Twisted pair (UTP) carries a single baseband digital signal in LANs such as 10BASE-T; it is not a broadband LAN medium.

Tip: Baseband LAN: one digital signal on 50 Ω coax or twisted pair. Broadband LAN: many FDM channels on 75 Ω CATV coax.

Source: SECL 1.0 Glossary (Cisco)

Correct answer: (a) Test Closure

Test closure belongs to the test process (often called the Software Testing Life Cycle, STLC), not to the SDLC itself. The ISTQB Foundation syllabus lists the test process as groups of activities (planning, monitoring and control, analysis, design, implementation, execution and completion) and says test completion usually happens at project milestones such as a release or the end of an iteration. There it archives testware, shuts down the test environment, records lessons learned and issues a test completion report.

Why the other options are wrong

• (b) Coding: a core SDLC phase in which the design is implemented as source code.
• (c) Testing: also an SDLC phase; the STLC lives inside it.
• (d) None of these: wrong because (a) is not an SDLC phase.

Exam note: ISTQB syllabus v4.0.1 calls this activity "test completion"; "test closure" is the older name for the same step.

Tip: a phase with the word "Test" in its name (test planning, test execution, test closure) is usually an STLC step.

Source: ISTQB Certified Tester Foundation Level Syllabus v4.0.1