4.1.8. Components of CPU and Their Importance

Try these first

1. 1.

   What is the purpose of the program counter?

   Hint

   Think about the instructions' sequence.

2. 2.

   Define what a stack does in terms of procedure calls.

   Hint

   Consider how procedures are managed.

3. 3.

   What role does the program counter play in a CPU?

   • Tracks the execution state
   • Stores local variables
   • Points to the next instruction

   Hint

   Focus on what helps to follow instructions.

4. 4.

   True or False: The stack is used to store the current context during procedure calls.

   • True
   • False

   Hint

   Remember what context means.

5. 5.

   Analyze a scenario where a program calls multiple nested procedures and illustrate how values are pushed to and popped from the stack.

   Hint

   Sketch how the stack looks before and after calls.

6. 6.

   Consider a program without a stack for context management. Predict the issues that might occur in terms of execution and data integrity.

   Hint

   Think about how different procedures need to keep track of their own variables.