Question

Which of the following traps is asynchronous to the current execution? (i.e., independent of the current execution)

a) Infinite loop trap
b) Null pointer trap
c) Divide by zero trap
d) Hardware interrupt trap

Answer 1

The hardware interrupt trap is an asynchronous trap, while the infinite loop trap, null pointer trap, and divide by zero trap are synchronous traps.

Step-by-step explanation:

The hardware interrupt trap is asynchronous to the current execution. It is an event that occurs outside the normal flow of a program and interrupts its execution. When a hardware device sends an interrupt signal to the processor, the current execution is paused and the processor transfers control to the interrupt handler, which deals with the interrupt.

In contrast, the infinite loop trap, null pointer trap, and divide by zero trap are synchronous to the current execution. These are coding errors that cause the program to enter an infinite loop, attempt to access a null address, or perform a division by zero, respectively. The program gets stuck or crashes at the point of the error, without any external interruption.