4 mistakes learners make with systems and networks, each one named and explained.
Each component and each layer has one job, and the jobs are not interchangeable.
Compiler is defined as interpreter, or a database term is matched to the wrong clause.
The vocabulary is large, precise and learned as definitions, so close terms trade places.
Question. What does a compiler do?
A common answer. Runs the code line by line as it goes
The answer. Translates the whole program into machine code before it runs
Why. A compiler translates everything first and produces an executable. An interpreter translates and runs line by line.
Learn each term with what it does and when it does it.
A router is described as doing a switch's job, or a protocol matched to the wrong task.
The components sit in the same diagram and the acronyms are learned as a list.
Question. What does a router do?
A common answer. Connects devices within one local network
The answer. Connects different networks and forwards traffic between them
Why. A switch connects devices inside a network; a router joins networks and decides where traffic goes next.
Say what each device connects, and the roles separate.
AND is used where OR belongs, so the output is right for only one input pattern.
Both gates take two inputs and give one output, and the words and and or are used loosely in speech.
Question. An AND gate outputs 1 when:
A common answer. either input is 1
The answer. both inputs are 1
Why. AND needs every input true. OR needs at least one. The truth table settles it in one line.
Write the truth table rather than reasoning from the word.
RAM is described as permanent, or ROM as the working memory a program runs in.
They are named as a pair and both hold data, so which one survives a power cut gets reversed.
Question. Which memory loses its contents when the power is off?
A common answer. ROM
The answer. RAM
Why. RAM is volatile working memory. ROM keeps its contents without power and holds the start-up instructions.
Tie each to what happens when the power goes off.
WAJD spots these patterns in your child's answers and names the one behind their wrong answers, instead of just marking them wrong.