THEORY EXAMINATION (SEM–II) 2016-17 COMPUTER SYSTEM AND PROGRAMMING IN C

This document contains the complete Theory Examination Question Paper for Computer Programming (C Programming).
The paper is designed for B.Tech / Diploma / Computer Science students, with a total of 100 marks and duration of 3 hours.
It evaluates a student's understanding of C programming fundamentals, data structures, control structures, functions, arrays, pointers, files, and basic computer architecture.

Structure of the Question Paper

The question paper is divided into three major sections: Section A, Section B, and Section C, each focusing on different levels of understanding—from short answers to long descriptive programming-based questions.

SECTION – A (10 × 2 = 20 Marks)

This section contains ten very short questions, each carrying 2 marks.
These questions test the student's knowledge of basic C concepts, definitions, and short logic-based tasks.

Topics include:

Modular programming approach

Operators in C

Structured programming

Type conversion

Simple function writing (swap without third variable)

Function declaration

File opening modes

Linked list meaning

Use of switch statement

Basic data types in C

This section focuses on concept clarity and the student must answer briefly and precisely.

SECTION – B (5 × 10 = 50 Marks)

Students must attempt any five questions.
Each question is descriptive and involves theoretical explanation or C programming logic.

The topics covered:

(a) Digital computer & block diagram

Testing understanding of input, output, memory, CPU, ALU, CU, etc.

(b) Program for sum of digits

Checking logic-building and loop usage.

(c) Array reverse-copy program

Tests understanding of arrays and indexing.

(d) Operating System – Definition, types & functions

Checking OS fundamentals such as process management, memory management, I/O control, etc.

(e) Matrix multiplication program

Tests nested loops and multi-dimensional arrays.

(f) Sorting program (ascending order)

Evaluates ability to use sorting logic such as bubble sort/selection sort.

(g) String concept, functions & user-defined strcmp

Focuses on string handling and custom comparison logic.

(h) Pointer concepts & dynamic memory allocation

Tests concepts of pointer variables, malloc, calloc, realloc, free, etc.

This section checks a student’s programming ability, problem-solving approach, and clarity of core concepts.

SECTION – C (2 × 15 = 30 Marks)

Students must attempt any TWO questions.
These are long answer questions, requiring detailed explanation, syntax, and C programs.

Question 3:

Define structure with syntax and write a C program to compare two dates (dd/mm/yyyy).
If equal → print “Equal”
Otherwise → print “Unequal”

This tests conceptual and practical understanding of structures, user-defined data types, and conditional logic.

Question 4: (Any TWO short notes)

Stack – push and pop operations

Linked list (types, node structure, applications)

Command line arguments in C

This checks knowledge of data structures and basic program execution concepts.

Question 5:

File opening modes (r, w, a, r+, w+, a+, etc.)
PLUS
A C program to read student records (name + age) from a file and display them sorted by name.

This tests:

File handling

Structures

File input/output operations

Sorting techniques