Review and Exercise questions in Stroustrup's PPP book

[Osman Zakir]

I need help with two of those questions, so it'd be greatly appreciated if someone were to help me out here.

They are as follows:

What are some uses of software that can make our life difficult? I'm having a really hard time thinking about this.

Also, is there a different between RAM and main memory? If so, what is it? And how do I find out how much Disk space there is in my laptop? I mean, sure, I can see how much used or available space there is in my C Drive, for instance, but isn't there also a specific part of the C Drive that's reserved for System Files? So yeah, again, how do I determine what the total space in my laptop's Disk is?

Thanks in advance.

[Alpo]

Software that makes life difficult is malware/adware. It's rampant these days, with a lot download sites just bundling the crap along with what you were wanting. Even when it's not really malicious, bundled free software can be annoying, because it will tend to advertise fully paid versions of the product (that you didn't mean to download). Having to be on the lookout for this makes life difficult.

How you check various partitions on your disk will depend on your OS. Windows has the disk management tool that allows you to view partitions and make new ones, view formats, and some other stuff. With Linux I think you would use fdisk from the terminal (not certain it's the same thing though).

Edit: Also another tool on Windows to get disk information is wmic. You can type: wmic diskdrive get /all; To get a list of various information on the disks you have connected.

[Matticus]

What are some uses of software that can make our life difficult?

• Automated phone menus (makes it difficult to find a human to answer a simple question).
• Internet tracking software (if you're an employee who sometimes surfs the net at work)

Just a few off the top of my head

[Osman Zakir]

Thanks for the help. I'll list all of those, although since they aren't my own answers, I'll have to make sure to try to word them differently (it's okay with you if I take those, right?).

Another one I forgot to mention earlier that I need help with is one that the book actually asks its readers to have someone help out.
It's like a two-part question:

2. Pick a profession, preferably one that you have some interest in or some knowledge of. Make a list of activities done by people in that profession that involve computers.
3. Swap your list from exercise 2 with a friend who picked a different profession and improve his or her list. When you have both done that, compare your results. Remember: There is no perfect solution to an open-ended exercise; improvements are always possible.

I couldn't make an actual list, but this is what I put:

Graphics designing - humans use computers in this kind of profession to utilize image editing and image processing software to add and accentuate graphics into and on images to highlight them in some way and/or to change or set their look or feel.

@Alpo: My OS is Windows. I'll try checking out what you mentioned. Thanks for the help.

Edit: You guys haven't said anything about what the difference is, if any, between main memory and RAM. The last question in these exercises for Chapter 1 asks: "How much memory does you computer have? Main memory? Disk?". That's why I asked about it in the first place. So I'm wondering where I mention the RAM and if it's the same thing as main memory or not. Also, if they're two different things, how do I determine the amount of main memory my computer has?

[whiteflags]

Graphics designing - humans use computers in this kind of profession to utilize image editing and image processing software to add and accentuate graphics into and on images to highlight them in some way and/or to change or set their look or feel.

O_o That's a strange way to say that computers and image editing software have almost supplanted traditional media in graphic design.

Try focusing on the steps in producing an image.

An artist may start with a sketch, either drawn on a tablet or scanned in with a scanning machine. Then they edit and color the image with software. Then, finally, they may print the image, first choosing the paper and size of the print with printer software, and the printer generates the physical copy.

[Elysia]

Edit: You guys haven't said anything about what the difference is, if any, between main memory and RAM. The last question in these exercises for Chapter 1 asks: "How much memory does you computer have? Main memory? Disk?". That's why I asked about it in the first place. So I'm wondering where I mention the RAM and if it's the same thing as main memory or not. Also, if they're two different things, how do I determine the amount of main memory my computer has?

Main memory == RAM. Technically, it could be different, but all computers these days use RAM as their main memory. Well, most anyway.

As for amount of RAM, check task manager (ctrl+shift+esc) under the performance tab.
As for disk space, just open explorer and go to computer. You'll see all your disks with free space and total space.